Nothing says kids and summer time like something frozen on a stick! Making home made popsicles totally makes me feel like a child again. I realize that if your kids are like mine and eat 27 popsicles a day that the most economical thing to do is head to Costco and buy a box of otter pops, but take a break every once and a while and have some fun creating your own flavor combos in homemade popsicles. There’s something magical about it! Kids love helping out and these recipes are so quick and easy that you won’t mind extra “helpers.”
You can pick up all kinds of shapes and sizes of molds just about anywhere these days. The ones in this picture are from Target and Walmart. They’re only a couple of bucks too. Totally worth the tiny investment! You can use the plastic sticks they come with, or just buy a bag of popsicle sticks and then you can make multiple batches.
I started thinking about pudding pops about a month ago and I couldn’t stop dreaming about different flavor combos that sounded good. I kept a list on my fridge and kept adding to it thinking I’d just try out as many as I could and then post the best one. Problem: they were ALL good! So since my family has had pudding pops coming out of their ears for the last month, you all will as well. I’m going to share all of them with ya! First of all, read this:
Notes on dairy:
I tested a lot of different dairy combos from non-fat milk to low-fat to whole milk to heavy cream. You can choose what you put into these. Just know that the higher the fat percentage the creamier the end product. Don’t go up to full cream though, that doesn’t work so well. My most favorite result was half and half so that’s what I wrote in most of the actual recipes. You can absolutely substitute low-fat milk (or even soy milk if you’ve got allergy issues), it just makes the pops a little icier whereas the half and half obviously makes them richer and more creamy. Also, I used the sugar free puddings, and Jello brand definitely tastes the best.
Are you ready for this?? Here we go! (The first one is totally my favorite)
Mint-Chocolate Cookie Pudding Pops
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 3/4 C half and half
10 Oreo cookies, crushed (about 1 heaping cup)
1/4 t peppermint extract
Blend pudding mix, extract, and half and half in a blender until smooth. Stir in crushed cookies by hand. Place in molds and freeze.
* I loved Aubri’s idea in the comments- try banana pudding with crushed nutter butters. Yum!!
Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Pudding Pops
1 small box cheesecake instant pudding
1 3/4 C half and half
1 C blueberries
1 t lemon zest (or more if you like your lemon!)
In a blender mix cheesecake pudding mix and half and half until smooth. Add in lemon zest and blueberries and pulse a couple of times to break up the blueberries. Place in molds and freeze.
Cherry Almond Fudge Pudding Pops
1 small box instant Chocolate Fudge Pudding
1 3/4 C half and half
about 20 cherries ( 1 1/4 C) pitted and halved
1/4 t almond extract
1/3 C mini-chocolate chips
Blend pudding mix, half and half, and almond extract in blender until smooth. Add in cherries and pulse 2-3 times. Stir in chocolate chips by hand. Place in molds and freeze.
Piña Colada Pudding Pops
1 small box instant coconut pudding
1 13.5oz can coconut milk
1 8oz can crushed pineapple
1/3 C shredded coconut
1 T fresh lime juice
optional: coconut extract*
Blend coconut milk, lime juice, and pudding mix in a blender until smooth. Add crushed pineapple and shredded coconut and pulse a couple of times to incorporate. Add extract if desired. Place in molds and freeze. * the coconut flavor was more mild than I expected. If you want a boost, add a little coconut extract.
These might be my 2nd favorite!
PB Banana Pudding Pops
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 3/4 C milk
1 ripe banana*
1/4 C Peanut Butter
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Place in popsicle molds and freeze. *Bananas that aren’t quite ripe yet tend to taste especially bitter when frozen, so make sure you use a sweet, ripe, banana.
Strawberries and Cream Pudding Pops
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 C milk
6oz vanilla yogurt (strawberry is great too)
12 medium strawberries (about 1 3/4-2 C roughly chopped)
2-3 T sugar
remove stems from berries and pulse with 2 T sugar in a food processor until completely smooth. Taste and add more sugar if needed. You should have just over a cup of puree. Set aside.
In a blender combine pudding, yogurt, and milk and blend until combined. Layer or swirl the pudding mixture with the strawberry mixture in popsicle molds and freeze until solid.
Other
Posts from Kids Week:
Hand-Tossed Ice Cream
Edible Playdough and Finger Paint
Homemade Hot Pockets
Giveaway
Wow…these look so yummy! I just made some pudding pops like the mint cookie ones, except with banana pudding and crushed nutter-butters. You should try those…mmmmmm. Thanks for the new ideas!
This is definitely going to put a good dent in the #10 can of chocolate pudding we've been working on for months. Thanks!
Okay these look delish!! Thanks for sharing. If only it were warm enough to have a popsicle here in Nebraska. Mild Summer–booo!
those look great, my kids will love them!
We just made boring chocolate pudding pops the other day and my boy inhaled his! I wonder what would happen with one of these- thanks for sharing such yummiliciousness!
Awesome idea. Easy peasy lemon squeezie. I'm going to try it. Thanks!
Can't wait to try these.
those look so good
Jello pudding pops were my favorite popsicles as a kid. I was so sad when they started making them. I found a new version of them at my local Walmart but they just aren't the same. Anyhow, I'm excited to try and make my own.
They are beautiful. I wonder if you could do it with homemade pudding?
Those look so good. I can't decide which flavor to try first. Those flavors are so creative!
These look so good! Heck with sharing these with my kids… I want them all for me. I'm so excited to make them. (Plus, you do such a good job photographing them – that's an art in and of itself.)
You are genius! My girls have been wanting to try something like this for a while, I have a feeling these are going to go over well in the Texas heat.
Sar, first, you're amazing. Second, I'm going to be sitting around twiddling my thumbs WAITING for that last one. I know my kids will love that one! 🙂 I'm excited to try it.
I can't wait to try the pina colada pops!
Can't wait to try these, they look so yummy!
Yum! I'm excited to try them with soymilk so Captain Allergies can have them.
yum.. those mint cookie pops look great!
Ms. Sara, these are too cute! My kiddos are going to think these are the best. I can't wait to try them (especially the mint chocolate one…YUM) Thanks for doing all the creative work and passing it to us!
Oh I love these and they don't make the vanilla pudding pops anymore (at least where I live)…will definitely try these. Love all the variations!
Those look soo good. I had no idea you could do so much with homemade popsicles. Thank you!
these look SO yummy!!!
so many fun flavors! I have got to go out and buy some popsicle molds now!
If my kids see this, I'm in trouble!!! LOL!!! Hopefully we can get around to these recipes this summer! At 106 degrees out there…we need some relief! These look delicious!
Wow. They all look delicious! I have no idea which one we're going to try first! Yum!
Wow, you came up with some creative flavors! The mint cookie looks so good, but you definitely have to make the strawberries and cream again so we can try that too! Yum!
I absolutely love these ideas. I'll have to give these a try.
mnhub-junk at yahoo dot com
yum, yum , yum..summer just got a whole lot better!!
Yum!! Those look amazing!!!
Okay, you are amazing! I love these wonderful flavor combinations. They are much better than the kool-aid pops I remember making as a kid. Thanks Sara!