How To Make Blueberry Popsicles
These blueberry popsicles are a great way to enjoy a homemade sweet treat while cooling down in the summer with real fruit!
Making Homemade Popsicles
Popsicles are a delicious and often a nostalgic treat to enjoy in the summer time. The addition of a good quality yogurt adds some much needed nutrition to a classic treat.
Homemade vs Store Bought Popsicles
Making your own homemade popsicles may seem intimidating and difficult. However, once you see how easy and delicious they are, you might never go back to buying them from the store!
Not only are these popsicles more delicious with the REAL fruit and whole food ingredients, they only use a few ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen. When you look at the complicated ingredient list of a store bought version, you’ll surely be convinced that these homemade popsicles are the best, more simple option for you and your family.
Looking for more recipe inspiration for summer time treats? You might also enjoy this Homemade Blueberry Ice Cream or these Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles.
Ingredients For Homemade Blueberry Popsicles
Blueberries
Since these popsicles are going to be blueberry flavored, you will of course need blueberries! If blueberries are in season, you can certainly use fresh blueberries. However, if your household is like mine, fresh berries tend to be a hot commodity and get eaten pretty quickly. In that case, frozen blueberries will still work great in this recipe. In fact, I often use frozen berries in popsicles and ice cream because it’s what I have available.
Lemon Juice
While fresh lemons are a great way to get fresh lemon flavor, peak citrus season is in the winter and popsicle season is in the summer! Using bottled lemon juice also saves time. When making these blueberry popsicles, I recommend using bottled lemon juice to save time and money.
Sweetener
While it isn’t completely necessary to add extra sweetener to your homemade popsicles, it does add to the overall flavor of the treat. This is especially important if you or your family are JUST making the transition from store bought treats to homemade treats. Over time, you can adjust the level of sweetness to be less or more depending on your preferences.
If you enjoy this occasional treat with some extra sweetener, I suggest using a less refined sweetener. This recipe calls for using raw cane sugar. However my favorite sweetener is Maple syrup due to its ability to easily incorporate into most mixtures.
Other sweeteners you could use include honey or unrefined cane sugar. If you like to use any kind of granulated sugar alternatives (such as coconut, maple, date or turbinado), you can also use them here. Depending on your sweetness preference and the kind of sweetener you use, you may need to adjust the sweetener amount.
How to Store Homemade Blueberry Popsicles
To keep the best possible texture, these popsicles are best stored in the freezer until you want to enjoy them. Since popsicle molds only have a few compartments, it’s usually easiest to just keep them in the mold until they’re all gone. If you’re using single use plastic popsicles bags, I recommend making a dedicated spot in your freezer to store this delicious treat!
The Shelflife of Homemade Blueberry Popsicles
As with just about anything homemade with real food ingredients, the shelf life of these treats are much shorter than store bought versions. If stored in a chest freezer that stays consistently really cold, these popsicles will stay fresh and tasty for 3-6 months. However, you and your family will likely finish them off well before that time has passed.
Ingredients and Tools
1 cup Cane Sugar (or sugar equivalent sweetener like coconut sugar, date sugar, maple syrup or honey)
2 Cups Blueberries
4 cups Filtered water
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
A medium saucepan
Measuring cups and spoons
A large pitcher or glass jar
A whisk or spoon
An immersion blender
Disposable popsicle bags or A popsicle mold
Directions
- To begin, add 1 cup of filtered water and 1 ½ cups sugar in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Bring the sugar mixture to a light boil.
- Add the blueberries to the pan and blend until smooth.
- Remove from the heat. Set aside until completely cool.
- If you don’t want any blueberry pulp in your popsicles, you’ll need to strain the blueberry syrup. Once cool, strain the blueberry pulp from the simple syrup by pouring the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
- While the blueberry simple syrup is cooling, combine lemon juice and remaining 3 cups of filtered water into a pitcher or large glass jar.
- Once the blueberry pulp is strained from the syrup, add the blueberry simple syrup to the pitcher or container, stir and add mixture into each compartment of your popsicle mold.
- Place popsicles on a flat surface in your freezer until solid.
- Once the popsicles are solid, they are ready to be enjoyed!
Blueberry Popsicles FAQ:
Why Make Homemade Popsicles?
Making your own homemade popsicles may seem intimidating and difficult. However, once you see how easy and delicious they are, you might never go back to buying them from the store!
Not only are these popsicles more delicious with the REAL fruit and whole food ingredients, they only use a few ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. When you look at the complicated ingredient list of a store bought version, you’ll surely be convinced that these homemade popsicles are the best and more simple option for you and your family.
Should I Use Fresh Or Frozen Blueberries?
Since these popsicles are going to be blueberry flavored, you will of course need blueberries! If blueberries are in season, you can certainly use fresh blueberries. However, if your household is like mine, fresh berries tend to be a hot commodity and get eaten pretty quickly. In that case, frozen blueberries will still work great in this recipe. In fact, I often use frozen berries in popsicles and ice cream because it’s what I have available. You can use either fresh or frozen berries!
Does This Recipe Really Need Lemon Juice?
While fresh lemons are a great way to get fresh lemon flavor, peak citrus season is in the winter and popsicle season is in the summer! When making these blueberry popsicles, I recommend using bottled lemon juice to save time and money.
What Kind Of Sweetener Should I Use For Homemade Popsicles?
While it isn’t completely necessary to add extra sweetener to your homemade popsicles, it does add to the overall flavor of the treat. This is especially important if you or your family are JUST making the transition from store bought treats to homemade treats. Over time, you can adjust the level of sweetness to be less or more depending on your preferences.
If you enjoy this occasional treat with some extra sweetener, I suggest using a less refined sweetener. This recipe calls for using raw cane sugar. However my favorite sweetener is Maple syrup due to its ability to easily incorporate into most mixtures. Other sweeteners you could use include honey or unrefined cane sugar. If you like to use any kind of granulated sugar alternatives (such as coconut, maple, date or turbinado), you can also use them here. Depending on your sweetness preference and the kind of sweetener you use, you may need to adjust the sweetener amount.
How Do I Store Homemade Blueberry Popsicles?
To keep the best possible texture, these popsicles are best stored in the freezer until you want to enjoy them. Since popsicle molds only have a few compartments, it’s usually easiest to just keep them in the mold until they’re all gone.
What’s The Shelflife of Homemade Blueberry Popsicles?
As with just about anything homemade with real food ingredients, the shelflife of these treats are much shorter than store bought versions. If stored in a chest freezer that stays really cold, these popsicles will stay fresh and tasty for 3-6 months. However, you and your family will likely finish them off well before that time has passed.
Did you try this? Share your creations in the comments or by tagging @MissysHomestead on Instagram.
Easy Blueberry Popsicles
Equipment
- A medium saucepan
- Measuring cups and spoons
- A large pitcher or glass jar
- A whisk or spoon
- An immersion blender
- Disposable popsicle bags or A popsicle mold
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cane Sugar or sugar equivalent sweetener like coconut sugar, date sugar, maple syrup or honey
- 2 Cups Blueberries
- 4 Cups Filtered water
- 2 TBSP Lemon Juice
Instructions
- To begin, add 1 cup of filtered water and 1 ½ cups sugar in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Bring the sugar mixture to a light boil.
- Add the blueberries to the pan and blend until smooth.
- Remove from the heat. Set aside until completely cool.
- If you don’t want any blueberry pulp in your popsicles, you’ll need to strain the blueberry syrup. Once cool, strain the blueberry pulp from the simple syrup by pouring the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
- While the blueberry simple syrup is cooling, combine lemon juice and remaining 3 cups of filtered water into a pitcher or large glass jar.
- Once the blueberry pulp is strained from the syrup, add the blueberry simple syrup to the pitcher or container, stir and add mixture into each compartment of your popsicle mold.
- Place popsicles on a flat surface in your freezer until solid.
- Once the popsicles are solid, they are ready to be enjoyed!
