Make The Easiest Coffee Granita Ever By Using One Kitchen Staple

Granita is one of the unmistakable hallmarks of Sicily's summertime lifestyle. Across the triangle-shaped Italian island — aptly nicknamed "Trinacria," or the "three-pointer" in local dialect — cafés brim with locals enjoying the dog-day morning special — that is, a refreshing granita with fluffy brioche — which also just so happens to be Italian-American TV chef Giada de Laurentiis's own favorite breakfast. But you don't need to book a trip across the pond to enjoy the flavors of the Sicilian summer: All you need to make a delicious coffee granita at home is some cold coffee, ice, and a plastic bag. Yes, all you need to make a quick version at home is a resealable zip-top bag.

Sicilian granita is so exquisitely luscious in texture that many are surprised to find it only requires two ingredients beyond the ice: sugar (or sweetener of choice) and some flavoring or syrup. The most common varieties are lemon, pistachio, almond, peach, chocolate, and — for the more caffeine-dependent among us — coffee. While we're downing iced lattes to keep cool amid the inferno, we're missing out on Italy's very own frosty coffee treat. But while the basic, traditional preparation method for making a coffee granita might be on the fiddlier side, we've got you covered for a no-frills, home-friendly approach to this southern Italian summertime classic.

A traditional granita-making process typically involves pouring the flavoring at hand — in this case, the coffee mixture — into a shallow dish, and then periodically scraping it with a fork, typically every 30 minutes or so, as it freezes. All of this arm work can be happily tossed out of the window once you're acquainted with a plastic bag. All you need to do is brew strong coffee or use cold brew, add your sweetener of choice (unless you like it "amaro," dark, as the Italians would say), and let it cool. If you're using regular sugar or a granulated artificial sweetener, make sure it dissolves in the coffee while hot; a syrup or honey might be the easier choice here, or a pre-made coffee mixture.

Once adequately chilled, pour it into a freezer-safe, sturdy zip-top bag. Make sure to press out any excess air, seal it carefully, and lay it flat on a tray in your freezer. Once it's frozen solid, take it out and whip out a rolling pin — or any hard object — and smash it until it's crushed into small pieces. Tip it into a glass or bowl, and voilà: Your granita is ready.

To make the most of your DIY coffee granita, you can further elevate it by serving it the Sicilian way: with a dollop of whipped cream on top and accompanied by a plain pastry of choice (a fluffy, hat-shaped "brioche col tuppo" would be most traditional). But you can give the recipe a real kick in a multitude of other ways — turning it alcoholic with a dash of Bailey's or amaretto, for instance, as well as stirring some vanilla, peppermint extract, almond, or limoncello into your mix, as Giada de Laurentiis does herself.