Homemade popsicles have come a long way since the days of Dixie cups and wooden popsicle sticks. These days, there are just so many brilliant and creative popsicle recipes floating around the internet. I know I’m prone to Pinterest paralysis—all those amazing and complicated ideas, and I never get started on any of them.
To help you avoid a similar fate, here are a few options for creative shapes and rather simple popsicle recipe ideas to help you make use of your fancy new popsicle molds and get started beating the heat this summer.
Fun Popsicle Molds
- The Zoku quick pop makers are the fanciest I’ve seen, and perfect if you need a homemade pop on the spot. Zoku claims the quick pop makers will freeze your pops in 7–9 minutes. Forget delayed gratification! Zoku also offers a single quick pop maker, so if you’re a small household or just want to experiment with different flavors without committing to a full batch of pops, this could be a great option.
- These ring pop molds are a nice way to enjoy a frozen treat without committing to a full-size popsicle.
- Want to manage the number of sticky little fingers in your house? These push-up ice pop molds minimize drips while keeping little hands clean. Ok, cleanish.
- Light saber popsicles that actually light up should definitely make an appearance at your next Star Wars themed summer party.
- You can even pretend you’re eating soft serve with these ice cream pop molds.
Classic Root Beer Float
When I was a kid, I would beg my mom to order root beer float pops from Schwan’s every time the “Swan Man” rang our doorbell. There was just something so delicious about the icy root beer shell around the creamy vanilla ice cream on a stick. It’s probably too complicated to get that particular form factor at home, but mixing up the ice cream with the root beer until you can pour it into a mold will work just fine, and yield that same classic deliciousness we remember from childhood.
Variations: Make a tasty Creamsicle float pop by subbing out the root beer for orange soda. Give yourself an afternoon pick-me-up by using coffee in place of the soda for a coffee float pop. Or get experimental with your favorite soda. Not Your Father’s Root Beer float pops, anyone? Sign me up.
Nutella Fudgesicle
These were my first foray into homemade popsicle attempts as an adult. I’m not sure what recipe I used originally for these, but they were a delicious twist on the classic Fudgesicle, and with two ingredients—milk and Nutella—you can’t go wrong.
Sprite and Gummy Bears
While I’m not totally sure I’d love the taste of these, they definitely are adorable. Since the recipe is so simple, it’d be easy to experiment with these at a small scale. Most of us could stomach at least one of these.
Variations: Sub out the soda for fruit juice as a healthier way to ingest your gummy bears. I recently tried making these with coconut La Croix and some floating gummies. Next time, I’d wait until the liquid was more frozen and then drop in a few gummy bears so that they’re more likely to stay suspended in the liquid.
Green Tea and Honey Pops
Everyone hates getting sick, especially during the dog days of summer, but these soothing pops will have you feeling like you can enjoy summer, even if you should be drinking tea with honey to sooth your throat.
- Photos: Lisa Yoder
