When our son had the good sense to leave home after college, popsicles became obsolete in our kid-free zone. Silly me. It’s time for a comeback. Those cooling, refreshing treats are going to be in my freezer all summer!
Why Make Homemade Yogurt Pops
Of course, you could buy popsicles, but why? Why would you do that, when you can have a freezer full of all-natural, healthy treats on hand for when the temperature makes you want to lie down and take a long nap? It makes so much more sense to capture all the fresh fruit of summer in frozen blocks of deliciousness yourself. It actually takes less time to make a batch of pops than it does to go to the store and buy them. Admittedly, there is a waiting period while they freeze, but that’s why you should always keep one batch ready to eat while you get the next batch going!
How to Make Yogurt Popsicles
This recipe is a blueprint: Puree beautiful ripe fruit (in this case strawberries) with simple syrup (or not) and some lemon juice. Pour into molds, swirl in a little yogurt, and voila! Once frozen, remove the pops from their molds and place them in plastic bags for longer storage. This also frees up the mold for MORE POPSICLES!
Sweeten the Fruit…or Not
The fruit can be sweetened with honey, your preferred liquid sweetener, or simple syrup. (Make simple syrup by simmering equal parts sugar and water until the sugar dissolves, then letting it cool. Store leftover syrup in the fridge for several weeks, and use it for iced tea, coffee, cocktails or, even better, for more popsicles.) You can also leave out the sweeteners and go sugar-free, which makes for a handy snack when you are counting calories.
Regular Yogurt or Greek Yogurt?
Regular yogurt works best if you are looking for a swirled effect with your finished frozen popsicles, but Greek yogurt is fine to use, too. Greek yogurt needs to be thinned with a little milk if you want to achieve the swirl, but you can also just stir it into the fruit and fill the molds. Lemon or vanilla yogurt would also pair nicely with summer fruits.
Variations on These Yogurt Pops
So many choices! Once you’ve made this strawberry version, you can try others. Peaches, melons, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries (strain the seeds) are just a few fruits to experiment with. You can also use either lemon or lime juice to bring out the fruits best flavor, or infuse the syrup with herbs by immersing them in the sugar syrup and then straining it.
Use Any Kind of Popsicle Mold
If you haven’t quite gotten around to buying popsicle molds yet, you can pour the puree into Dixie cups. Freeze them for at least an hour on a flat tray, and then insert popsicle sticks before freezing them all the way.
More Cool Summer Treats
Make Your Own Juice Popsicles Strawberry Ice Cream Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Melon Sorbet Mango Sorbet
This will make about 3/4 cup syrup; you will not use it all for this recipe. The leftover syrup can be stored in the fridge for several weeks. With a skewer or chopstick, poke deep into the popsicle molds and swirl the yogurt and fruit together. Note: Exact proportions will depend on the size of your popsicle molds. You may end up with leftover strawberry puree, which can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months for future popsicles or stirred into plain yogurt for breakfast. Serve at once, or transfer them to freezer bags and store in the freezer. Three popsicles will fit snugly in a quart-sized freezer bags. Leave them out to soften for a few minutes before diving in, if you can wait that long.
