Yesterday I had fun decorating my house in red, white, and blue. I usually bring it out on Memorial Day weekend and it stays out until almost Labor Day. This way it takes me through all 3 summer patriotic holidays! Now that the heat is here my kids love having summer popsicles. This time of year the red, white, and blue popsicles are always their favorite. Because I was in the mood for red, white, and blue today, and Memorial Day is tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to try making my own patriotic popsicles. The store-bought ones are so pretty with the bright blue, and I knew I could have achieved that with blue Poweraid or Gatorade but I wanted to go for the more natural, non food coloring route. So my blue actually looks a little more purple but they were still a hit with the kids!
So for these I just used 3 simple ingredients. Frozen Strawberries, lemonade, and frozen blueberries. You could use fresh fruit too of course but I had these bags of frozen fruit that I use in smoothies, and they are just going to be frozen anyways, so I figured I would save my fresh fruit for snacking. You could use homemade lemonade too but I had this lemonade and I think it is pretty good for store-bought, not having any food coloring or artificial flavors.
So these are super easy but you do have to make them in three parts to get the separate layers. I only had 8 popsicle molds so my measurements are for that quantity. With this you can make as much or as little as you need for how many popsicle molds you have. First you need to make your red layer. In a blender add your strawberries, I used about 1 cup, and then add just enough lemonade to get your strawberries to blend. Pour in the bottom of your popsicle molds about 1/3 of the way up.
Put them in the freezer for about 1 1/2 – 2 hours and then check. At this point you want them to be slushy and not totally frozen. Add in your popsicle sticks and try to get them to stand up as best as you can. Some of mine still wanted to fall over. 🙂
Put them back in the freezer to finish freezing. Then add in your lemonade for the white, filling up your mold until it is about 2/3 of the way full. I poured in the lemonade from my little measuring cup so I didn’t accidentally overfill using the big bottle. I was thinking about this after the fact that to get a brighter white next time I am going to try blending up some Chobani Vanilla Greek yogurt with a little lemonade. I always have that on hand for making smoothies and it is a nice bright white color. But if you need or want to keep them dairy free the lemonade still worked great! Put them back in the freezer for about 2-3 hours.
Next to make your blue layer blend up your frozen blueberries with just enough lemonade so that they will blend. I used about a cup of blueberries. Then pour the blueberries on top of the white layer and put them back in the freezer for about 3 more hours or until frozen.
And there you have it! Homemade patriotic popsicles!
Here is your printable recipe!
I would love if you would join my Friday link-up party!
- Frozen or fresh Strawberries
- Lemonade
- Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt (optional to blend with some lemonade to make your white layer whiter)
- Frozen or fresh blueberries
- popsicle molds
- wooden popsicle sticks
- ***amounts will vary depending on how many popsicle molds you have
- First start with your red or strawberry layer. Add your strawberries to a blender (I used about 1 cup) and then add just enough lemonade to blend up your strawberries.
- Pour your strawberries into your popsicle molds and fill about ⅓ of the way up.
- Put in the freezer for about 1½-2 hours and then check. You want your strawberries to still be a little slushy and not totally frozen.
- Add your popsicle sticks into the strawberry layer. Put them back in the freezer to finish freezing.
- For your white layer pour your lemon juice in the popsicle mold until it is about ⅔ of the way full. You can also try blending up the yogurt with a little lemonade to get a whiter white layer before pouring it into the popsicle mold. Put into the freezer for about 2-3 hours.
- For your blue layer add your blueberries to a blender( I used about 1 cup) and add just enough lemonade to blend your blueberries. Pour on top of the white layer.
- Put them back in the freezer for about 3 hours or until frozen.
Julie- Logger's Wife says
That’s an awesome idea! I prefer to avoid dyes with my family. I’m not a fanatic about it but love how easy this would be to do. #TuesdayTalk
Jen says
Thank you! I am not a fanatic about it either, but I like to avoid food coloring when I can. So easy and the kids loved them!
Gentle Joy Homemaker says
Those are fun and special! 🙂
Jen says
Thanks!
DearCreatives (@DearCreatives) says
I bet these are good! Thanks for sharing at the #InspirationSpotlight party @DearCreatives
Jen says
Thank you!
Miz Helen says
These are great popsicles! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
Jen says
Thank you Miz Helen!