DIY Frozen Treats

Summer has finally arrived in Ottawa after literally weeks (and weeks!) of rain.  We've restocked our popular stainless steel popsicle molds in both the rocket and paddles styles.  These popsicle molds are durable and easy to clean, and they will last for years -- even their bamboo sticks are reusable (but you will have to train your family not to throw them out). 

DIY popsicles are a great way to give your family healthy frozen treats, and they're so simple to make, your kids can help.  DIY popsicles can be as simple as frozen juice, but once you get hooked on DIY popsicles, it's fun to get creative in the kitchen. 

 

We've made the following recipes successfully (meaning more than once).  You don't 'need' popsicle molds, you can get by with cups and popsicle sticks, but the portion size and design of our stainless steel molds makes them easy to eat, and their drip catchers help cut down on mess.  I've linked the original recipes in the titles, the recipes below reflect any adjustments we made.

Avocado and Coconut Ice Pops

This recipe is not terribly sweet, so I liked it more than our kids (and to be honest, having popsicle in the freezers that the kids don't like as much as you do is not a terrible thing!).

Ingredients 
 

1 fresh (large) avocado

1 cup coconut milk

2 Tbsp. honey (may substitute with 2 Tbsp. sugar)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

 

Instructions 

1. Place avocado, coconut milk, honey and lemon into a blender. Blend on high until smooth.  Mix in shredded coconut.
2. Pour into popsicle molds, insert lidded sticks into the popsicle molds.
3. Freeze until firm.
4. Run popsicle molds under warm water for about 15 seconds to loosen the popsicles so they slide out easily.

3 Ingredient Coconut ice cream

 

This recipe is quite sweet, the original recipe calls for up to 1 3/4 cups of sugar -- that's cray cray, 1 cup of sugar is more than enough (and quite frankly you could probably use even less).  Naturally, our kids love this recipe.  I like this recipe enough to make a point to keep two cans of coconut milk in our fridge at all times so I can whip this up whenever we feel like it -- it actually blends up into a nice, soft ice cream right out of the blender if you want instant gratification.

 

Ingredients

 

2 (13-oz.) cans of chilled, full fat coconut milk (don't use 'light' or fat-free coconut milk!).
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Instructions 

1. Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend on high until smooth. 
2. Pour into popsicle molds, insert lidded sticks into the popsicle molds.
3. Freeze until firm.
4. Run popsicle molds under warm water for about 15 seconds to loosen the popsicles so they slide out easily.

Optional: if you have the paddle-style popsicle mold, you can slide an Oreo cookie into the mold -- just slide the stick into the cookie cream before you insert it into the popsicle mold.

 

Homemade Fruit Popsicles

 

This recipe is great because you can use frozen fruit -- using frozen fruit reduces the work involved (who doesn't like easy?).

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups fruit (fresh or frozen)

1-2 tablespoons honey

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup water, juice, milk or yogurt (add enough to achieve smoothie-like consistency)

 

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend on high until smooth. 
2. Pour into popsicle molds, insert lidded sticks into the popsicle molds.
3. Freeze until firm.
4. Run popsicle molds under warm water for about 15 seconds to loosen the popsicles so they slide out easily.