These creamy red, white, and blue lemonade popsicles are sure to be a hit at your fourth of July cookout, or on any other hot, summer day.
I LOVE summer desserts. Give me a bowl of ice cream or berry cobbler (or both!) almost any day of the week. But when I’m really hot and tired, or after eating a burger at a fourth-of-July cookout, I don’t want something super sweet and heavy. Instead I want something refreshing with just a hint of sweetness. That’s what I was going for here. I wanted to create a sweet treat for the kids (and grown-ups) that uses real less-processed ingredients, is filled with fruit, and doesn’t have tons of sugar. But of course, it also has to be delicious!
For the past few weeks, every time I’ve gone on a walk with the kids, there has been much protesting about the heat. My favorite trick is to bribe them with a popsicle when we get home. Ha! At our house, popsicles have to be eaten in the backyard (because…mess) – which typically leads to more outside play time. Win, win!
For weeks they’ve been begging me to make some homemade popsicles. I finally got my act together and got all the ingredients to test out and make these creamy red, white, and blue popsicles just in time for the Fourth of July! I hope your family will enjoy them, too!
Creamy Red, White & Blue Lemonade Popsicles
These popsicles are really easy to make, but they do require a bit of patience. You want to plan ahead a bit so that you can have them ready when you want them. (Obviously not my forte as I sit here typing this post on the fourth of July. Oh, well!) The good news is, they don’t require a ton of ingredients or gadgets, and the hands-on time is very minimal!
You will want to use a blender of some type to blend the ingredients in each layer one at a time. I started with the red strawberry layer, but you could start with any layer you would like.
Red Strawberry Lemonade Layer
For the red layer you will make a strawberry lemonade mixture by blending together strawberries, sugar, lemon zest & juice, yogurt, and corn starch. You can also add red food coloring if you would like a brighter red color. Put all ingredients in blender or blender cup, and puree until smooth. (Note: these will be small quantities of ingredients for each layer, so if your blender comes with a blender cup or small food processor attachment, I highly recommend using that.)Fill your popsicle mold a little less than 1/3 full (remember – it will expand as it freezes), and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
White Creamy Lemonade Layer
This is probably my favorite layer because it’s creamy and tart and just a bit sweet: think lemonade creamsicle! For this layer, blend yogurt, lemon zest & juice, sugar, and cornstarch.
When your red layer has been freezing for an hour, remove from freezer and add the white lemonade mixture. Fill mold a little less than 2/3 full. Place back in freezer and freeze for another hour.
Blueberry Layer
Last layer! For this layer, you will blend together yogurt, blueberries, lemon zest & juice, and cornstarch. The color is honestly a bit more purple than blue, but I didn’t really mind. You could always add some food coloring here if you want a brighter blue color.
Next, remove your popsicle mold from the freezer. Fill (almost) full with the blue mixture, leaving about 1/2 inch – 1 inch at the top to allow room for expansion. Replace lid and add your popsicle sticks (don’t forget this step!). Freeze for 12 hours for best results, though they may be ready a little sooner.
When your popsicles are fully frozen, remove from freezer. Run under lukewarm water to loosen just enough to remove from molds. Individually wrap each popsicle in a strip of parchment and place in a ziplock baggie in the freezer, or eat right away!
A Note on Ingredients
Yogurt is one of the main ingredients in this recipe. I used our favorite honey-vanilla greek yogurt from Aldi that we had on hand. It does have some sugar in it, so if you use a plain greek yogurt, you will want to add your sweetener of choice to taste. Otherwise the greek yogurt plus the lemon will be very tart!
You can substitute other sweeteners for the sugar – honey, maple syrup, etc. It may change the taste & texture a tiny bit, but will probably not be a noticeable difference.
Why corn starch? Corn starch is the ingredient that helps make the popsicles creamy. Without it they become very icy. If that’s your jam, feel free to leave it out!
Happy 4th of July!
This Fourth of July we have much to celebrate and be thankful for! We are thankful for the gift of LIFE. We are thankful for the FREEDOM we have in this country, and more importantly in Christ. We are thankful for those who have stood firm, sacrificed and fought so that we can have independence as a nation. We are thankful for health, family, and friends. We are thankful for this day that the Lord has made – let us REJOICE and be glad in it!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Declaration of Independence
What freedoms are you thankful for today?!?
Creamy lemonade popsicles are the perfect red, white, and blue treat for a July 4th BBQ or summer afternoon treat! Puree ingredients for red layer in blender until smooth. Pour mixture into popsicle mold, filling each with a little less than 1/3 of red mixture. Place lid on popsicle mold and freeze for 1 hour. Meanwhile, puree ingredients for white layer until smooth. After 1 hour, remove the mold from your freezer. Top the red layer with your white mixture. Fill to a little less than 2/3 full. Place lid on top of mold and freeze for 1 hour. Next, puree ingredients for blue layer until smooth. After it has been in freezer for another hour, remove popsicle mold. Fill each mold with the blue mixture, leaving about an inch at the top for the mixture to expand in the freezer. Wipe anything that has spilled on top of the mold. Replace lid. Add popsicle sticks, pushing about half way in. Place popsicles in the freezer, and allow to freeze for 12 hours for best results. When completely frozen, remove from freezer. Run mold under lukewarm water just enough to loosen popsicles. Remove popsicles from mold and wrap each popsicle in a strip of wax or parchment paper. Place in a baggie in freezer until ready to eat. Red, White, & Blue Creamy Lemonade Popsicles
Ingredients
Instructions
Sara Jo Moore
July 4, 2022 at 12:46 pmI am grateful for being your Aunt and seeing you produce this blog. It is so interesting. I am sure that the Lord is pleased with how you are using you God given talents! Happy 4th of July to the Guillory’s. My love to all!
Mary Guillory
July 4, 2022 at 12:48 pmThank you, Sara Jo! Grateful to be your niece! ā¤ļø
Sara Kathryn
July 6, 2022 at 9:59 pmThese look amazing! Can’t wait to try and experiment with even more flavors!
Mary Guillory
July 14, 2022 at 7:49 pmThank you, Sara Kathryn!