Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Pops

When the August edition of Canadian Living arrived a few weeks ago, I think I may have let out what some people may consider a squeal of excitement when I saw that the cover photo feature was on "Light & Fruity Ice Pops." Next I probably sent Jo a text asking her if she had seen the magazine yet - something that seems to go on between us just about every month when the new Canadian Living comes out. I was excited to make my own popsicles because it is such an easy, refreshing treat for the summer. Also you can make pops that are quite healthy - and it's a lot cheaper to make your own than to buy a box of the fat free, yogurt based ones at the grocery store.

I have fond memories of eating homemade popsicles as a child - although I'm fairly certain that those were just made of frozen orange juice. Remember how great it was to suck out all the flavour and sweetness? Then you'd be left with a watery orange tasting block of ice that normally ended up in the garbage...

Since I guess that was quite a few years ago though, we no longer had the popsicle moulds, so I had to set out on a mission to find some before I could get to testing out one of the recipes from the magazine. I tried William Sonoma first - and rather than selling popsicle moulds, they carry a product called the "Zoku Quick Pop Maker." From what I gather, it is your own personal freezer that makes up to nine popsicles in a mere seven (7) minutes! The downside of this marvellous invention: the cost. It sells for about $75 Canadian for this size, and even the smaller sized one that makes six popsicles costs $55. So if buying your own Quick Pop Maker isn't in your price range, or maybe you just don't quite feel committed enough to making your own popsicles yet, there are other cheaper options for moulds. I bought a popsicle mould at Kitchen Stuff Plus for $3.99 that makes 4 pops. Sure, it looks a bit juvenile - but it makes popsicles just fine!


I halved the original recipe and made a few other changes - such as cutting down on the honey and using cranberry cocktail, which I already had in the fridge, rather than going out to buy pure cranberry juice.

The Recipe:

1 cup hulled strawberries
3 tbsp cranberry juice
3 heaping tsp liquid honey
3/4 cup plain yogurt (I used a mixture of 0% Greek yogurt and 0% plain yogurt)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In a blender or food processor, puree together the strawberries, cranberry juice and 1 tsp of honey. Strain strawberry mixture through a sieve into a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, vanilla and remaining honey.
3. Pour strawberry mixture into yogurt mixture and stir together. Spoon into moulds.
4. Freeze until firm, about 3 hours.

The original recipe did not call for mixing the strawberry and yogurt mixture together, but rather layering the 2 into the moulds. I thought the popsicles would taste better with the strawberry and yogurt together for a consistent taste throughout. I did follow the part of the recipe that said to strain the strawberry mixture through a sieve, but I think this was a bit unnecessary - strawberries seeds have to be just about the least offensive seed of a fruit, and I really wouldn't mind them in my ice pop. Raspberry seeds are a completely different story though...

These ice pops taste like exactly what they are: strawberries, yogurt, vanilla, honey, etc. all frozen together. If for some reason strawberries don't appeal to you, or you decide to make these a bit later in the summer when other fruit is in season, try them with raspberries or blueberries or peaches - or try mixing a combination of any of the above.

Happy Freezing...?! Or... happy popsicle making?

...Happy Eating!
Caroline