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Homemade popsicles are easy to make, fun to eat, and so much better for you than commercial brands! You can save money and make your own all summer long.
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Across the bulk of my parenting years, popsicles have been relegated to the times when my kids have been sick or when I could pair a coupon with a great sale and get the things for practically free. Yeah, no ice cream truck for these kids.
FishPapa is usually the good cop in our scenario, so he’s occasionally grabbed the fruit kind at the store. Unfortunately, the “fruit kind” are either really, really expensive or they aren’t really fruit. There’s still junk in them.
For years I envied those Pinteresty popsicles that I saw, wondering if I should spend the money on the expensive molds. Gramma Ruthie even gave me one of these metal ice pop molds years ago, and I gave it away because I couldn’t make it work for me. Forget the fact that I had four kids seven and under and was lucky to get a shower, let alone make homemade ice pops.
Last year when I started to get serious about reducing our sugar and still eating fun food, I bought a set of molds at Walmart. They looked like this:
We made some homemade ice pops, but it was really frustrating when the stick would slide out of the pop, no matter that I had run the mold under warm water, yada yada, yada.
What was wrong with me?
This past spring, I started looking at fancier molds. I read lots and lots of reviews. I also found the Tovolo brand of molds that I really like and that I could afford.
The stick is the trick.
What I learned was that there needs to be a hole in the stick, if you’re using plastic. If there’s no hole in the stick, then the liquid can’t really cling to the stick. When you pull, the stick will come out and your ice pop will stay behind, a frozen wasteland in a plastic mold.
Wooden popsicle sticks are porous, absorb a little liquid, and freeze to the stick. Plastic can’t do that without holes.
I bought two sets of BPA-free molds that are awesome: these and these. And then I had FishPapa retrofit the other plastic sticks I owned. A man and power tools is a beautiful thing, ladies. Never forget that.
Now we are in homemade popsicle making business, people!
Another trick I learned? The liquid that you use must be liquidy enough to seep through the holes. Do not try to pour very thick smoothies into your ice pop molds. Might work if you’re using wooden pop sticks, but it doesn’t work with the plastics. You want the pop mixture to easily flow through the holes of the stick.
OK, so, you’ve got your molds, right?
Yes, that is a lot of molds. Do you know how quick SIX KIDS go through a supply of ice pops? I gotta buy myself some time, you know.
If you don’t want to buy the molds, that is fine. Just go old school and use paper cups and wooden spoons. Ice cube trays work, too.
Make homemade popsicles!
Now for the pop mixture. I’ve found that pretty much anything’s game, so long as the liquid is tasty and thin enough to seep through the holes.
We’ve poured lemonade and juice into the molds.
We’ve blended fresh fruit with a bit of honey to make our own “fruit kind”.
We’ve layered yogurt with fruit puree for fancy swirl pops.
Got leftover smoothies or milk shakes? Pour it into a pop mold.
Stick a pop stick in a banana and wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Really good, really yummy and absolutely no added sugar of any kind. “Yes, dear, you can have two.” Makes the kids super happy.
I am a popsicle lover and 36 yrs old. My 12 yr old feels the same way about them. I was just looking for a good set of molds last night so we can make our own. All of them I’ve gotten in the past were junk. Thanks!!
I’m going to chime in, since this came up again. I do remember making popsicles with Kool-aid and Jello. The ratio, as I recall, was one box of jello to one pkg. of drink mix and I think used less water, obviously. I think adding dissolved gelatin to a juice or lemonade mixture would work equally well.
But while I’m a grandma now, years ago when the kids were pretty young, the budget was tight, and drips were an issue; I got brave and gave the kids ‘icicles’ made of frozen water in the popsicle mold instead of popsicles. They thought it was a real treat. After all it was cold and looked like a popsicle. And I didn’t nag about drips, which was probably a benefit for them also.
Don’t know if it would work for anyone, but thought I’d throw it out if anyone wanted to try. The obvious other benefit is that water was cheaper than buying juice or drink mix.
I’ve only ever seen these one place, and I wish I’d bought more then, but I have these popsickle makers called Twist Stix. They are awesome! It’s like making a push pop at home….
My mum made these when we were little and always added a little geletin to the juice to help them hold together as they melted. Worked great. We also like the silicone freezer moulds for homemade freezies
Dena
Stick a pop stick in a banana and wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Really good, really yummy and absolutely no added sugar of any kind. “Yes, dear, you can have two.” Makes the kids super happy.
Dena
Oh and bananas stick to just about anything when frozen. Good use for junk molds.
Jessica Fisher
Great idea. When you want to go bigger, you can make these https://lifeasmom.com/magic-monkey-bananas-evidence-that-i-can-be-a-yes-mom/ 😉
Amy
I am a popsicle lover and 36 yrs old. My 12 yr old feels the same way about them. I was just looking for a good set of molds last night so we can make our own. All of them I’ve gotten in the past were junk. Thanks!!
Jessica Fisher
Yes, they are junk unless they have holes in the sticks. So, drill holes in those junky ones and they’ll work just great!
Alice E
I’m going to chime in, since this came up again. I do remember making popsicles with Kool-aid and Jello. The ratio, as I recall, was one box of jello to one pkg. of drink mix and I think used less water, obviously. I think adding dissolved gelatin to a juice or lemonade mixture would work equally well.
But while I’m a grandma now, years ago when the kids were pretty young, the budget was tight, and drips were an issue; I got brave and gave the kids ‘icicles’ made of frozen water in the popsicle mold instead of popsicles. They thought it was a real treat. After all it was cold and looked like a popsicle. And I didn’t nag about drips, which was probably a benefit for them also.
Don’t know if it would work for anyone, but thought I’d throw it out if anyone wanted to try. The obvious other benefit is that water was cheaper than buying juice or drink mix.
Jessica Fisher
Love the icicles! Great strategy.
Ellen
Sorry, I meant Twistix. Google that and frozen pop maker, and you should see some images.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for the tip!
Ellen
I’ve only ever seen these one place, and I wish I’d bought more then, but I have these popsickle makers called Twist Stix. They are awesome! It’s like making a push pop at home….
Leigh
My mum made these when we were little and always added a little geletin to the juice to help them hold together as they melted. Worked great. We also like the silicone freezer moulds for homemade freezies
Jessica Fisher
That’s interesting. I never heard of doing that.
Laura C
They sell some in the stores now that are called “slow melt”-I think they have gelatin added to them.