A honey sweetened herbal infusion becomes a cool summer time treat.
The Lemon Balm in my garden has quickly gone from herb status to WEED status! This fragrant herb has taken over my garden! I needed to think of some other ways to use it. Typically, I make iced tea with it during the summer months, but I just don’t drink enough of it, so I came up with this as a way to get my kids to enjoy it also.
Lemon Balm has a very delicate lemon flavor. I simmer the leaves in water on the stove with just a bit of honey. If you use too much honey it ends up over powering the lemon balm flavour and you end up with honey granita instead of lemon balm. The first time I made it my daughter and I loved it. My son however told me, “It tastes like nothing” or like “tea.” I must say, it did need a little oomph! The next time, I added the juice and zest of one lemon and it really made it perfect! I like it just as much as the Blueberry Lavender Granita I made last year.
This is an awesome dairy alternative for anyone sensitive or allergic like my family. You should also check out these other great dairy free recipes: Creamy Tropical Popsicles, Roasted Banana Ice cream or Chocolate Coconut Icecream.
- 1 cup packed roughly chopped lemon balm herb leaves
- ¼ cup honey (optional)
- 4 cups water
- The zest of 1 lemon
- The juice of 1 lemon
- Place all ingredients in a medium pot. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to low. Simmer gently covered for 5-8 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a shallow baking dish. I used my 1.8L corning ware dish.
- Place the liquid filled dish into your freezer, allow it to freeze almost completely (a few hours) and then scrape the frozen liquid with your fork to create your granita texture.
- Store in an air tight container in the freezer.
Danielle Rouse is the creative energy behind; Fresh4Five Real Food | Fresh Ideas. Danielle is the mother of three with a passion for nutrition and cooking with fresh and wholesome ingredients. She’s become an expert at developing recipes to meet the complex dietary needs of her family.
In 2009, her youngest son was diagnosed with multiple food intolerances. It turned out to be what Danielle calls “A blessing in disguise” as it opened her eyes to her own food intolerances and completely changed her entire family’s way of eating; for the better. Since witnessing amazing overall health improvement in her family, Danielle yearned to learn more about the connection between our food and our health. She enrolled in the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in January 2013, studying to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Danielle can not wait to follow her dream and use her new education to help others on their journey to health and wellness.
On Fresh4Five Danielle shares an array of family friendly recipes that are among other things, free of Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Nuts and Paleo Friendly
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Latest posts by Danielle Rouse (see all)
- Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits | Vegan & Paleo - October 11, 2013
- Marinated Cherry Tomatoes | Raw, Vegan & Grain-Free - September 6, 2013
- Lemon Balm Granita (honey sweetened and dairy-free) - August 6, 2013
This sounds delicious. I don’t have lemonbalm in the garden, but am wondering what it would taste like with another herb… maybe some mint.
Hi Salixisme,
I think this would work great with any other fragrant Herb. Mint sounds great!
I’ve made this twice in the last week. It is wonderful! It’s tastes like a mild lemonade. Extremely refreshing when you finally finish freezing it. I’ve always wondered what to do with my patch of lemon balm. Thank you for this fabulous recipe!
Thank you so much for the review! I am glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I’ve made this twice in the last week. It is wonderful! It’s tastes like a mild lemonade. Extremely refreshing when you finally finish freezing it. I’ve always wondered what to do with my patch of lemon balm. Thank you for this fabulous recipe!