With such an abundance of fresh fruit available, I was inspired to make homemade frozen berry yogurt pops. The weather has been hot and humid, so these treats were very refreshing!
I purchased the President’s Choice popsicle molds from Loblaws, which are BPA-free, and come in 2 different shapes.
I experimented with a few recipes but I was disappointed with the ice crystals that formed. The popsicles tasted like fresh fruit with major freezer burn! I must have looked at over 20 recipes until I found one that included light corn syrup. I normally don’t like to add a lot of sugar and my goal was to keep these treats as healthy as possible, however, I found it was necessary to cut down on the ice crystals. To compensate, I decreased the amount of syrup, and informed H they may be a bit on the tart side! I also found that adding a banana made the pops sweeter.
These frozen pops are so much healthier (and economical) than store-bought varieties, and, you know exactly what’s in them!
What flavor do you think you will make?
Frozen Berry Yogurt Pops
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain low-fat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 – 3 tbsp light corn syrup, to your taste, according to the tartness of the fruit (start with 1 tbsp at a time)
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, or your choice of fruit
- Puree yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, corn syrup (1 – 2 tbsp) and 1 cup of the fresh fruit in a food processor until smooth. Add the remaining 1 cup of fresh fruit (so there will be tiny specs of strawberries left in the mixture). Taste to determine if you need more corn syrup, and adjust accordingly
- Transfer to a measuring cup with a spout and pour into popsicle molds
- Let freeze for 5-8 hours or until the popsicles are very firm
- Gently unmold. Run under hot water for a few minutes if necessary
Notes:
- You can use any flavor of berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries) or even add a banana. Mangos, pineapple and kiwi are great too
- If you don’t have popsicle molds, you can easily make your own with small cups of your choice. Just fill the cups and wrap plastic wrap around each one, poke a small hole and insert a popsicle stick in the middle! Use a rubber band to keep the plastic wrap in place (careful not to squeeze too tight). If the cup is paper, you can just peel it off
Enjoy!
