Healthy Summer Popsicle Recipes

Now that it is summer and the weather has become quite sweltering, I'm always in the mood for a cold treat.  While my love for ice-cream has no bounds, eating my way through the summer in ice-cream is not exactly figure or swim suit friendly.

So I have moved away from ice-cream and moved toward popsicles.  Refreshing and delicious, I found some wonderful healthy popsicle recipes from Women's Health Magazine.  They have satisfied my sweet tooth, while making me feel guilt free as I'm eating them.  My personal favorite that I tried to make were the Strawberry Balsamic Basil (surprisingly interesting but extremely tasty ... would never on my own thought to create a popsicle with these flavor pairings).

6 Healthy Summer Popsicle Recipes From Women's Health Magazine:

1.) Thai Iced Coffee

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled (prepared with 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom added to coffee grinds)

1 tablespoon half-and-half

Directions:

Boil sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and add almond extract.

Combine syrup with remaining ingredients.

Distribute into ice-pop molds, add sticks, and freeze for 8 hours.

Health Benefits:

Antioxidant-packed java may help ward of diabetes and some forms of cancer- and keep your mind sharp.  Adding cardamom to the grinds while brewing gives this cool dessert a spicy kick.

2.) Melon Stripe

Ingredients:

1 cup cantaloupe, diced

2 tablespoons lime juice, divided

2 teaspoons honey, divided 

1 cup honeydew, diced

Directions:

In blender, combine cantaloupe with 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 teaspoon honey.

Fill a fourth of each ice-pop mold with a layer of cantaloupe and put in the freezer for 1 hour.

Set remaining mixture aside.  In blender, combine honeydew with remaining lime juice and honey.

After cantaloupe layer has set, add a layer of honeydew.

Freeze for 1 hour.  Add one additional layer of cantaloupe and then honeydew, allowing pops to set in the freezer for 1 hour between each layer.

After pouring the final layer, insert sticks and freeze for another 4 hours.

3.) Pomegranate Swirl

Ingredients:

8 ounces of pomegranate juice

1/2 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt

Directions:

Fill two-thirds of each ice-pop mold with pomegranate juice.

Add enough yogurt to fill the molds to the top, about 2 tablespoons per mold.

Slide a knife or chopstick into each mold and swirl until a pattern forms.

Insert sticks and freeze for about 8 hours.

Health Benefits:

Pack three whole grams of protein into a 50-calorie serving.  Plus, yogurt is full of bone-building calcium.

4.) Blood Orange and Cream

Ingredients:

1 small blood orange, peeled and segmented

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup of orange juice

1/4 cup 1% milk

Directions:

Cut orange slices lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.  

Boil sugar and water in saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Reduce heat to simmer, add orange pieces, and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Combine blood orange-sugar syrup (including orange slices), orange juice, and milk in a bowl.

Pour mixture into ice-pop molds, insert sticks, and freeze for about 8 hours.

Health Benefits:

Offers both fiber and protein, thanks to the fruit and dairy combo.

5.) Blueberry-Lavender Lemonade

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon culinary lavender

1 1/4 cups water, divided

3 tablespoons lemon juice (or juice of 1 to 1 1/2 lemons)

1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:

Bring sugar, lavender, and 1/4 cup water to boil in saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and steep for at least 30 minutes.

Combine remaining water with lemon juice.

Strain lavender from sugar syrup, add syrup to lemon water, and mix well.

Evenly distribute into ice-pop molds, filling each about three-quarters full.

Drop several blueberries into each mold, until the liquid reaches the top.

Insert sticks and freeze for about 8 hours.

Health Benefits:

Blueberries, especially the wild kind, have among the highest antioxidant count of any berry.  And pairing them with an aromatic floral herb like lavender gives these pops a decidedly summery flavor.

6.) Strawberry-Balsamic-Basil

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh hulled or thawed frozen strawberries, divided 

2 tablespoons chopped basil, divided

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Place 2 cups of whole strawberries in a glass or plastic bowl with 1 tablespoon basil.

Top with sugar and balsamic vinegar.

Toss and let marinate for 1 hour.

Slice remaining strawberries and set aside.  In blender, puree strawberry-vinegar mixture until smooth.

Add strawberry slices and remaining basil.

Mix well and pour into ice-pop molds. Insert sticks and freeze for about 8 hours.

Health Benefits:

Vinegar punches up the flavor without adding fat, while the hefty helping of strawberries loads these icy treats with all the vitamin C you need in a day.