Healthy Homemade Frozen Treats for Hot Alabama Days
Making frozen treats is a great way to get creative and spend time in the kitchen this summer with the kids. Making frozen treats also keeps those little hands busy and little bodies hydrated in the heat. It’s the perfect time to try these kid-tested favorite frozen treat recipes.
If you’re feeling adventurous, turn a popsicle session into a Chopped episode for the older kids giving them a few odd ingredients they have to incorporate into their popsicle recipe and watch the fun begin… Ricotta Cheese? Avocado? Black Beans? Let their imaginations and taste buds go wild! This is also the perfect opportunity and fun way to let the kids pick a unique fruit they have never tried before. Lychee? Dragon Fruit? Jackfruit? The more exotic, the better!
Our Favorite Popsicle & Frozen Treat Recipes
Easy Frozen Grapesicles
Ingredients:
- Red and green seedless grapes
- Skewers, straws, or chopsticks
Directions:
Skewer grapes on chopsticks, skewer or straw. place flat on cookie sheet and freeze for 4-8 hours or overnight. Optional; Sprinkle with sugar before putting in freezer.
Frozen S’mores
These were great to pack for a picnic!
Ingredients:
- Graham crackers
- Chocolate bar, like Hershey’s
- Your favorite marshmallows
- Parchment or wax paper or silicon mat
Directions:
Microwave marshmallows on top of graham cracker for 8-10 seconds or broil, watching closely until the marshmallow tops turn golden brown. When out of the oven, top the warm marshmallow with graham cracker.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler/water bath and dip one side of marshmallow graham cracker sandwich into chocolate and place on parchment/wax paper or silicon mat and place in the freezer for 4-8 hours or overnight.
Frozen Yogurt Bites
Perfect for the toddler!
Ingredients:
- Flavored yogurt
- Sprinkles
- Parchment/Wax Paper or Silicon Mat
- Ziplock bag or piping bag
Directions:
Place yogurt into ziplock bag. Cut a small hole in one of the corners of the plastic baggie and squirt a small amount onto the wax paper. Top with sprinkles and freeze on a flat surface in freezer for at least an hour. Remove using spatula and place in ziplock or freezer container. Keep in the freezer until needed for a day at the splashpad.
Fresh Fruit Popsicles
Ingredients:
- Fresh Fruit: mango, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, pomegranate seeds
- Coconut water/Flavored sparkling water/tea
- Fresh herbs: rosemary, mint, basil, lavander
- Sprinkles or Gummy Bears
Directions:Â Place fruit and/or herbs in popsicle mold and fill with coconut water or flavored sparkling water. Freeze for 4-8 hours or overnight.
PRO-TIP: Coconut water makes a great popsicle with its sweet and creamy consistency and the flavored sparkling water added an electric fizz to the fruit we added to the molds. If you are making your popsicle with tea, make your brew stronger than you would normally drink to make the flavor stand out. Some examples of our favorite combinations includes:
- Earl Grey tea with rosemary and blueberries
- Cucumber & Blackberry sparkling water with fresh cucumber and blackberries
- Coconut water with pineapple and gummy bears
The options are limitless with popsicle making. Have fun and be creative!
Frozen Fudgesicle
Ingredients:
Chocolate Almond, Coconut, or Cow Milk
Directions:Â Pour chocolate milk into mold and freeze 4-8 hours or overnight. These are so easy and one of our favorites!
Avocado Popsicle
Ingredients:
- 1 banana
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- Optional: lime/lime zest or coconut milk
Directions:Â Freeze in mold for 4-8 hours or overnight.
Pickle Popsicle
Pickle pops are a wacky and on-trend treat to experience. Pickle juice, as well as coconut water, are a great ingredient to use this summer as a more natural way to rehydrate with their natural electrolytes. Later, gator…ade!
Ingredients:
- Pickle Juice (dill or bread & butter pickle juice)
- Chopped pickles, sweet, spicy, or dill
Directions:Â Pour juice and chopped pickles into mold and freeze for 4-8 hours or overnight.
How Will You Mold Your Popsicle?
If you plan on making popsicles more than once, you may find that the silicon molds, which tend to be more expensive, are worth the cost. Compared to the cheaper hard plastic molds that break easily, silicon is also much easier to remove the finished product. We found our favorite popsicles were the RingPop Silicon molds, as they are a great small size and the kids love wearing them on their fingers. But you don’t have to get that fancy! You can also use small paper cups with wooden popsicle sticks or ice cube trays.
Whatever ingredients you decide to freeze and eat this summer, be creative, have fun and branch out! Stay cool and hydrated! And share your favorite frozen treat recipes with us in the comments.
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Rachel Brown is a foodie by heart and Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator by trade. A mother of two young children, she is always searching for fun and exciting things to eat and create as a family. Rachel moved here from Nashville, TN in 2016 and is enjoying exploring Huntsville and all the exciting things happening here. You can follow her exciting Huntsville foodie finds on her Instagram @RocketCityDietitian or on FaceBook as Rocket City Dietitian.