Berry Popsicles

I meant to make this post yesterday and forgot…so here it is today!

I know in most places, it’s probably not hot enough for popsicles. It definitely isn’t here. But I’m just so sick of cold weather, so I’ve been putting myself in a summer mood by gardening (even though I probably shouldn’t) and making summery foods.

Oddly, I used to be the girl who hated any temperature that went above 70. I swore that one day I would move to Canada for the snow. Now I’m longing for 80…which we  had for about a week. But then it dipped back down into the 30-50 range and we seem to be stuck there. I still love snow, but our last two winters have been cold, wet, and dreary with very little snow. If winter isn’t going to bring me a Winter Wonderland, then I frankly want nothing to do with it.

Anyway.

I’ve been craving something sweet lately, so I decided to make some berry popsicles. So easy!

What you’ll need:

• 100% cranberry juice (my favorite brands are Northland and Apple & Eve, though I also love Simply Cranberry…does it have a company brand name?)
• 1 bag frozen mixed berries (fresh will also do, but you’re just going to freeze them anyway)
• 1 ice cube tray OR popsicle mold
• toothpicks or popsicle sticks (optional–only if you’re using an ice cube tray)

Step 01: Get out your bag of mixed berries (mine were blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry). Begin putting as many of each one as you want in your ice cub tray. I went 1 blackberry, 2 blueberries, 2-3 raspberries.

Step 02: Pour cranberry juice over the fruit. This is easier if you pour about 1 cup into a measuring cup that has a spout. (I wound up using about 1 1/8 cups of cranberry juice, by the way.)

Step 03: Put it in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes.

Step 04: Remove the popsicles. When you take it out, it should be beginning to set. Mine was a gelatin-like consistency. This is solid enough for you to insert your toothpicks.

Step 05: Put the tray back in the freezer for at least 3 hours (preferably, overnight). When you pull them back out, they will be popsicles!

Some of them were crooked. Oh well.

They are delicious. And who doesn’t love a popsicle made with real fruit?

If you don’t like cranberry juice, other juices that would be really good are grape (red would be best, but white would also be really good), blueberry, pomegranate, or apple (though I’m reaching a bit with that one). I can’t see orange working with this at all, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. If you try something different from what I did, let me know how it is! 😀

Making these in an ice cube tray instead of a popsicle mold is beneficial for two reasons. Firstly, you don’t have to buy and store a popsicle mold. (Mine kept getting in the way and falling out of the cupboard. Eventually, I threw it away.) Secondly, if you’re making these for children, the ice cube tray gives them a nicer serving size. You can control the portion and it won’t melt (hopefully) before they can finish it. Plus a lot of kids like bite-sized things because they feel like it’s specially made with them in mind. And you can feel good about your kids (and you!) not consuming so much sugar in one sitting.

If you or your kids don’t really like fruit chunks, you can puree the fruit in a blender, add the cranberry juice, blend again, and then pour into the trays.

Nutritional Information (for the entire tray)
Calories: 210, Fat: 0 g, Carbs: 54 g, Sugars: 38 g, Fiber: 9 g

(For individuals in a tray with 16 sections)
Calories: 13, Fat: 0 g, Carbs: 3.4 g, Sugars: 2.4 g, Fiber: 0.6 g

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