Homemade Popsicles
I remember my mother making homemade popsicles when I was a child—what a treat! I can’t wait to make them for my daugther this spring and summer. The variety of popsicles a home chef can make is limitless, and the number of popsicles molds is endless.
The basic popsicle recipe is super easy:
3 ounces of your favorite Jell-O flavor
1 packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid (a flavor that complements the Jell-0)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of boiling water
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher that can hold at least 2 quarts, and stir until dissolved. Next, add enough cold water to make 2 quarts. Then, pour the mixture into your molds and freeze unit it starts to thicken. Finally, insert a popsicle stick (if needed, you can find the sticks at your local grocery store) and let it freeze completely.
If you want, you can experiment by adding pureed fruits, but remember by pureeing the fruit you’ll add some additional liquid so may have to adjust the amount of water needed.
For molds, go to www.amazon.com and in the search bar type in “popsicle molds.” You’ll find 16 different kinds, varying in price. The picture of the blue rock pop models is from Tovolo (no sticks needed here). Too cool!
Have fun, and let me know what kind of frozen pops you create!
Homemade popsicles were a staple for my toddler. I used Tupperware popsicle molds and made them two ways: orange juice (his favorite) or a mixture of plain yogurt and homemade applesauce. These popsicles are healthy and great for little teething mouths. Warning: like all popsicles, they are messy. I have a clear memory of my one-and-a-half year old jumping on the sofa, wearing only a diaper, sucking away on an orange popsicle with sticky drips running from chin to chest, all the while chanting “eee-pop, eee-pop.” (his word for ice pops). We wisely chose to leave that sofa behind when we moved.