A refreshing, healthy Summer smart popsicle recipe made with mangoes and kefir. Don’t tell the kids they are healthy popsicles, they will never know!
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Benefits to homemade popsicles
You know exactly what’s in them!
I really don’t need to say more but I will, because these are super easy to make and can be healthy if you use the right ingredients. My motivation for learning how to make healthier Smart Pops is my husbands insatiable sweet tooth and our hot Summers here in Utah. My husband will never be cured of his sweet tooth and the Summers will always be hot so I concentrated my mass indulgence of popsicles intense kitchen research on the healthier popsicle recipes and now I am sharing them with you.
I like a little creaminess to my popsicles so I have been playing with cottage cheese with this popsicle recipe and now kefir. Yes, kefir and MANGO! Seriously, a good combination.
What is Kefir?
Kefir is a fermented milk product. It is similar to yogurt and I like to think of it as drinkable yogurt. It is made by adding kefir ‘grains’ to milk and allowing fermentation to happen over a 24 hour period at room temperature. The kefir ‘grains’ are actually a mix of symbiotic bacteria and yeast in a matrix of proteins, fat and sugar that work together in a series of fermentation reactions that produce lactic acid, propionic acid, ethanol and carbon dioxide. The many by-products of this process add to the many layers of flavor and richness to this milk product. The bonus is that there are live cultures in kefir so… good for your GI tract, if you like that sort of thing. There is almost no lactose left in kefir so easier for lactose-intolerant people to enjoy. And that’s where I will end the talk about GI stuff in a popsicle post;)
I started out with some $2 popsicle molds I picked up at my local store. I highly recommend you start out with the good molds, usually in the $15-30 range. It may seem expensive but honestly, will it break the bank? You definitely get what you pay for in popsicle molds. My cheap ones I regretted buying with my first batch. They were tiny and didn’t ‘pop-out’ well. I was left eating my ‘popsicle’ in a bowl with a spoon.
The mold I now use is Astra Gourmet 10-Cavity Slicone Frozen Ice Pop Maker – BPA Free
I like this product because the popsicles are normal sized, not miniatures and they are easy to un-mold. You just run the bottom under hot water for 10-20 seconds and squeeze the bottom while pulling up on the stick at the same time. They also have a lid so the popsicle sticks stay upright and secure. It’a flexible mold, made of silicone so it’s very easy to work with.
Let us know if you come up with any healthy-ish popsicle recipes of your own. 
A healthy, Summer popsicle recipe! Mangos and kefir:)
Ingredients
- 15 oz can of mangos with syrup
- 2 cups vanilla kefir
Instructions
- Add the two ingredients in a blender, mix until smooth.
- Pour into popsicle mold, freeze at least 3 hours.
Summer Popsicle Series:
Syn Free Strawberry Banana Creamy Popsicles
