Watermelon Popsicles
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Watermelon Popsicles are cool, sweet, and full of summer vibes. Fresh watermelon is blended with sugar and lemon juice, then frozen in your classic popsicle mold with mini chocolate chips as the “watermelon seeds”. Next, coconut milk and then kiwi receive the same treatment with time to fully freeze between each step. The end result is the best cool summer treat that tastes delicious and is mostly fresh and healthy fruit—a treat that kids and parents can feel good about!
Hello, summer/hello popsicle and ice cream season! At long last, I’m finally getting into the whole popsicle thing. I’ve always been more hooked on ice cream but then I realized how incredibly awesome you can make popsicles on a hot summer day. This summer I’ll be making popsicles all the time and not just at my kids’ request. The flavor possibilities and combinations are as endless as the ingredients in your fridge!
Homemade Watermelon Popsicles
I absolutely love these layered Watermelon Popsicles, as did my kids! They are made with mostly fruit, a few chocolate chips and then the white portion is coconut milk. So as long as you use good, ripe fruit the flavors will be utterly delicious and irresistibly refreshing. If you don’t have enough ripe watermelon, or your watermelon puree isn’t as pink as you want, you can also add strawberries or raspberries. I also like to add fresh mint leaves or fresh lime juice to the watermelon—the best flavor combination!
I made this watermelon popsicle recipe a few times trying to find the best way to keep the layers from blending but you’ll probably always find just a little bit even if you are keeping the sides very clean.
Another thing that will likely be hard to avoid is that some will be more “water-logged” than others (as in some of them will have a little separation on the bottom because of the high concentration of water in watermelon) leaving a lighter portion on top of a few of them, but they will still taste just as delicious – it’s just watermelon juice.
If you’d like you could also cut up little raisins to use for the seeds but I always love a little chocolate if you don’t mind the added sugar. Honey, agave, or maple syrup can also help with the sweetness if you don’t want to add refined sugar.
Light coconut milk would probably work fine too, it won’t be quite as white and not quite as creamy but should still be delicious. Sticking with coconut milk makes these a good vegan dessert—but if you’re ok with dairy you can also use Greek yogurt.
I hope you all have a fun summer! And you might as well start it out with these easy homemade popsicles, right? They take a little bit of extra effort and patience because of the layers but they are so worth it.
If you don’t already have a popsicle mold, this is the one I have and it works great!
Follow Cooking Classy
Watermelon Popsicles
Ingredients
- 19 oz cubed seedless watermelon (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 5 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar , divided
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk , well shaken
- 13 oz kiwi (about 6 medium)
- 1 Tbsp mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add watermelon, 2 Tbsp granulated sugar and lemon juice to a blender and blend until well pureed. Skim off foam then carefully pour into 10 popsicles molds filling each about 2/3 full (try not to splash on sides, I found it worked best to let it run down the outside edge then just wipe off that part later with a damp paper towel or q-tip).
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips over tops then using a popsicles stick gently push down to immerse chips (push towards sides so you can see them once the freeze). Wipe sides clean as needed. Cover with the lid and insert popsicles sticks. Freeze 3 1/2 hours.
- During last 30 minutes of popsicles freezing, whisk together coconut milk with 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar until sugar has dissolved, chill 30 minutes (you want it to be a nice pourable consistency after chilling, not too thick. If you find that it is stir in 1 - 2 Tbsp cold water to thin. I recommend chilling it because you just don't want it warm or it will melt the watermelon layer when pouring in).
- Remove popsicles from freezer, remove lid and carefully pour a scant tablespoon coconut milk into an even layer over watermelon layer (again, it works best to pour it down the outside edge then wipe clean). Clean sides as necessary. Return to freezer, uncovered, and chill 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut tops from kiwi and use a spoon to scoop flesh from kiwi while leaving skins. Transfer kiwi to blender along with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar. Pulse until well pureed. Force mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl using a rubber spatula to remove seeds (at this point I mixed int just a tiny bit of blue gel coloring because mine weren't the best shade of green, so that's optional). Chill kiwi mixture 30 minutes.
- Remove popsicles from freezer and carefully pour about 1 Tbsp kiwi mixture over coconut layer. Return to freezer and chill until popsicles are solid about 2 - 3 hours.
- To remove popsicles from molds, turn tray to the side and run plastic molds under warm water several seconds (don't let the water touch the kiwi portion at the top) then slowly pull from molds.
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