TROPICAL POPSICLES

Summer is almost here! We get more and more sunny days, and as the rule, kids ask for popsicles and ice cream more often. To avoid buying popsicles with artificial colors and flavors, I make my own. Possibilities are endless. I still have a lot of frozen berries, which have to go, so I can stock up with fresh ones. This time I had a very ripe pineapple that had to be used right away. So fresh fruits and berries popsicles and smoothies are  daily treats at my house.

This recipe is just an example of how easy and effortless it is to make popsicles at home. Basically, you pick your favorite combination of fruits and berries and pour it into molds. Easy summer treat! The pineapple that I used was so ripe and sweet that I didn’t use any sweeteners. You can add honey or maple syrup to adjust the amount of sweetness to your liking. Also, I wanted to use the whole pineapple at once, so I ended up with about 20 popsicles. Combination of pineapple and coconut makes me think of tropics. Hope you enjoy my Tropical Popsicles.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups pineapple (1 medium pineapple)
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• honey or maple syrup (optional)
• shredded coconut (optional)

You will need some popsicle molds for this recipe.

Add all ingredients to the blender, and process on high speed until smooth. As an optional step, you can add honey or maple syrup. I didn’t do it this time, because the pineapple was very sweet and ripe. I like adding shredded coconut, but it’s also optional. I only added it to few popsicles, because somehow my kids don’t like pieces of coconut in theirs.

Now pour the mixture into molds and freeze for at least four hours or overnight.

To release popsicles from the molds, I find it very helpful to dip molds in a bowl with warm water for no longer than 30 seconds.

Enjoy!