Natalie of Good Girl Style ^[1] is back today to share a summer dessert you’ll love if one of the following applies to you: you don’t eat dairy, you don’t eat gluten, you don’t have an ice cream maker, and you don’t love eating crazy rich desserts during bikini season. Natalie joins us each month to share incredible desserts with Big Girls, Small Kitchen readers–desserts that are entirely gluten-free ^[2], but not like obviously gluten-free. That means no specialty flours or hard-to-find ingredients, just good old-fashioned butter, sugar, chocolate, cream, and almonds. Don’t miss her most recent posts, about Lemon Bars ^[3] and Almond Horns ^[4].

Coffee granita is one of my go-to summer desserts. It sounds impressive but couldn’t be easier to make. However it might leave you wondering what in the world a granita actually IS! It is similar to a fancy slushie or a flavored, grainy ice-like Italian ice. While some liquids lose flavor when frozen, this coffee flavor actually intensifies. Frozen coffee slushie with whipped cream to end a cookout on a warm night? Nothing more refreshing.

**Recipe**

Coffee Granita
Serves 2-4, depending on serving size

Ingredients
2 cups strong brewed coffee, hot
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional garnish
Whipped cream or cream/half-and-half, for topping
Chocolate covered espresso beans, for topping

Stir the coffee, sugar, and vanilla extract together until sugar melts. Pour into a metal loaf pan. Place in freezer (carefully! Keep it level). After 1 hour, stir the mixture, then return to the freezer. Continue stirring every half hour or so until the granita has reached slushie consistency (you can leave this overnight or longer after the first few initial stirs, it will simply be a firmer ice). Use an ice cream scoop to serve immediately out of the freezer in small dishes. Top with whipped cream or a drizzle of cream on top.