Happy Fourth of July! (to those of you who celebrate it.)

Today there were many things around here that felt like summer- heat, a giggling toddler playing in his pool, watering the garden, and…. popsicles! And not just any popsicles. Red, white, and blue popsicles! 

I’ve seen red, white, and blue popsicles around the web and was especially inspired by Nicole’s version with strawberries, yogurt, and blueberries. When she wrote about them last summer, I knew I wanted to make some for the Fourth of July this year! We don’t buy popsicles from the store because they always contain ingredients we don’t like. Popsicles with just fruit was something I was excited to make. I’ve had some stainless steel popsicle molds on my wishlist for many years. Jeff loves popsicles and I wanted reusable containers to make them in that I felt good about. I bought some of these popsicle molds and they arrived just in time.

We had some strawberries and blueberries in the freezer and had a can of coconut milk, which we used for our white layer. I got out some strawberries (raspberries or pitted cherries would work too), let them thaw, and then put them in the food processor and ground them up to make them easy to pour. I poured the strawberries in the bottom third of the mold and then stuck them in the freezer.

I put the popsicle sticks farther down than you normally would because I wanted it to reach all three layers. I’m not sure if it was necessary to do that or not, but I wanted to be sure.

 This shows after the first layer, the strawberries, were frozen.

 After the white layer, the coconut milk, was poured. The nice thing about these particular popsicle molds is that they have three ridges in them, which makes it easy to tell how much to pour in each one if you want three layers in your popsicles.

 I mixed a tiny bit of raw, local honey with the coconut milk. 

(The berries I left as they were, I knew they’d be plenty sweet on their own.)

 I used this brand of coconut milk, which is the only brand I know of that comes in BPA-free cans.

Last night I let the blueberries thaw, ground them in the food processor, and then poured the final layer. This morning I couldn’t wait to see them out of the molds! I took one and it didn’t come out so I put the mold under some warm running water. It came out, but it made the colors melt into each other a little bit. Oh well. 

I love the way they turned out!

 After I took a few pictures, it was time to taste them. Bracken was the first to dive in.

 He wanted to eat the blueberry layer first (surprise surprise.)

 Jeff enjoyed his too and gave it a big thumbs up. (He had just been digging in the garden and joked, asking me if his dirty nails would be “acceptable” for the picture.)

 See the juice running down his arm? These popsicles can get quite messy, they are wonderful to enjoy outside on a hot day.

 They are also nice followed up by a dip in Bracken’s pool to wash all the stickiness off.

 He wanted the blueberry part and I realized it would be much easier for him without that stainless steel piece at the bottom so I took it off.

 Much easier.

 Then I had my turn. It tasted wonderful! I don’t remember when the last time I had a popsicle was. The blueberry layer was my favorite, followed by the strawberry, and finally the coconut milk. 

They were a hit! 

If you are looking for a cool, refreshing treat to enjoy during your festivities this weekend 

or on a hot day this summer, these colorful popsicles are delicious and fun!