Make Your Own Popsicles: "Great Taste...Less Added Sugar!"

June 10, 2011 15 Comments

Having something cold to refresh yourself on a hot summer day is essential. Snack Girl usually reaches for a ~~beer~~ POPSICLE when she is feeling droopy.

Popsicles are SO easy to make. All you have to do is mix some 100% fruit juice with some fruit and put it in a popsicle mold or a cup. You don't need fancy equipment and popsicle sticks can be found at your supermarket or crafts store.

You are using the natural sugar found in the fruit juice to sweeten these popsicles and they turn out plenty sweet.

When I was a kid, we made popsicles with KoolAid and about 10 cups of sugar. I LOVED those :)

Below I have featured a book called "Pops" which is an amazing collection of ideas for making popsicles. Truly, you will be disturbed by the detail and beauty of these recipes and photos.

Since, I am lazy, I like to keep it simple. Some easy ideas for popsicles:

pureed watermelon
blueberry juice and blueberries
apple juice and crushed strawberries

I made these "Grape Pops" with popsicles sticks that I bought from a craft store (I also saw popsicle sticks at a Dollar Store) and Dixie Cups.

The key to using cups and sticks was that I had to wait 30 minutes before adding the sticks to the cups. When the grape juice got slushy, I could add the popsicle stick and it would stand up on its own. You could also do with with an ice-cube tray.

I have included a link to the most popular popsicle molds on Amazon. I bought some EL-Cheapo ones ($4) at the grocery store and they didn't work properly. If you think you are going to make a lot of popsicles, I say go with the top.

Ever attempted to make your own popsicles? Please share!

Grape Pops Recipe

1.6 from 25 reviews

(from Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella (Quirk Books, 2008))

(makes eight 6-ounce pops)

Print Pin

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, cut in half
4 1/2 cups white grape juice

1. Divide the grape halves among the pop molds. Pour in the grape juice and insert the sticks. Freeze for at least 6 hours.
2. Remover from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds. Enjoy these pops as you would a fine wine.

Instructions

66 calories, 0.2 g fat, 15.7 g carbohydrates, 0.8 g protein, 0 g fiber, 2 mg sodium, 1 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

Want to read about snacks?
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15 Comments:

I just bought popsicle molds last week. I can't wait to use them! Laura's Best Recipes has complied a list or recipes if anyone is interested in more ideas- http://laurasbestrecipes.com/2010/07/100-homemade-popsicle-…

Souzapalooza

I've always loved making my own popsicles! I used Kool-Aid too, when I was little. Now I just use pureed fruit and little water. No sugar added, and it counts as a serving of fruit!

Cristina @ An Organic Wife

You can also freeze vanilla or chocolate Rice, Almond, or Coconut milk for a creamy "sicle" that's non-dairy. Look for unsweetened varieties.
To put the sticks in right away - place the filled cups on a cookie sheet and then cover tightly with a sheet of plastic wrap. Poke the sticks through the plastic wrap and they'll stay suspended in the "pop" until it freezes. I used to make chocolate Rice Dream "fudgesicles" for my kids all the time.

Sue

The Tovolo molds are the best- I just got mine on Amazon a few weeks ago. What I like about them is they are each INDIVIDUAL, so you can just take out one pop at a time and run it under warm water to release. A lot of the other molds you have to take out the whole tray just to access one pop. I'm the only one who eats them, so that's too much hassle. Diet Cranberry Juice (5cals) makes a great addition to the pureed fruit for those counting cals or points. I made my first batch with pureed pineapple, watermelon and diet cranberry juice. Yummy! I also got the book Ice Pop Joy on Amazon, similar to the one featured here. Lots of great, healthy ideas!

KatyDid

I would have gone for the beer myself.

Cathie

You don't have to wait thirty minutes here's an easy tip when your making cup Popsicles just put foil on top of cup and insert stick foil will hold it in place and you don't have to remember to do it thirty minutes later yeah. I so would not remember, hope this helps.

Tabitha

Well, I couldn't resist with all this warm weather we have had lately. Purchased the book and the molds. So excited. I've been playing around with blending frozen berries, V8 Fusion, frozen banana and just a little vanilla yogurt. I pop it in the freezer and then eat it with a spoon. Tastes like a magical sorbet. :) Now I can put it in my molds... plus play around with new recipes. Yippee!

Christy

I saw Popsicle molds at this Asian store (the whole store is called Great Wall Shopping Mall, but has a bunch of mini stores + a grocery store on the inside) and it costs only $1.50! (but then there's the addition of tax). All the things I bought from there all work well too ;)

Kathy

I've made popsicles with lemonade and limeade before. I also just saw popsicles that had beautiful edible wild flowers dispersed throughout.

Felicity

I am a mother of 4 boys. We have always loved trying different recipes for making our own pops. We use dixie cups with plastic wrap on top to hold the stick until frozen. On a lazy day pop a stick in a sugar free pudding cup & freeze. My boys love these!

Dani

WOW! Great minds think alike! I just took pics of my kids having our homemade ones today...I was going to post tonight! :) LOVE IT!

melonbelly

Those little paper dixie cups work perfectly too. I used to make my own popsicles out of cranberry juice.

Amanda

Another low calorie frozen treat is Capri Suns. They are only about 100 calories a pouch, come is tons of flavors and the serving size is huge. Just lay the pouches in your freezer and in a few hours, just cut the top off and you have a yummy frozen treat.I wrap a paper towel around it since it is very cold to hold otherwise. Enjoy !!

Jami

My mum used to make yogurt popsicles when I was a kid. As far as I know, all she did was put whatever flavour of yogurt into the molds and stick them in the freezer. All the benefits of yogurt in an extra refreshing form!

Cayla

I got molds from dollar tree and they work great!

Josie