Guilt-free freezer pops - Food on Shine

While working on five new freezer-pop recipes in the EatingWell Test Kitchen, I was greeted by, “Mom, Mom, did you bring me another popsicle?” when I got home at the end of every day. My son Sawyer was our official under-5 taste-tester and he took his job seriously. Although his hands-down favorite was the Vanilla-Orange Freezer Pop, he gave high marks to all, except the coffee-flavored confection. Just one taste of the chocolaty Mocha Ice Pop and he declared, “This one’s just for moms and dads.” What Sawyer didn’t know is that all the pops we developed are less than 90 calories each, so you can experience guilt-free pleasure when cooling off with one.

In addition to all the healthy Frozen Dessert Recipes we already have, we developed delicious recipes for Banana Pudding Pops, Watermelon-Blueberry Ice Pops and Mocha Ice Pops. But my favorite of the five pops we made this summer? The chocolate-raspberry yogurt pop. (The little beauty is pictured below.) Raspberry, after all, is the best summer fruit, but add in a little chocolate and I’m truly in heaven. You can make these with any basic popsicle molds, but we loved the ones from Tovolo that we used for these photos. They’re $9.95 a set and you can order them on amazon.com. If you don’t have your own funky molds, divide the ice-pop mixture among small paper or plastic cups instead. Freeze until very thick, but not completely frozen, 1 to 2 hours. Insert frozen-treat sticks and continue freezing until completely firm, 4 to 5 hours more.

Chocolate-Raspberry Frozen Yogurt Pops
Chocolate chips add a sweet counterpoint to these tangy bright-pink raspberry pops. Strawberries would work equally well.

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2 cups nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style (see Note)
3-5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Puree raspberries, yogurt and sugar to taste in a food processor until smooth.
2. Divide the mixture among freezer-pop molds, stopping about 1 inch from the top. Evenly divide chocolate chips among the molds. Stir the chips into the raspberry mixture, stirring out any air pockets at the same time. Insert the sticks and freeze until completely firm, about 6 hours. Dip the molds briefly in hot water before unmolding.

Makes about 10 (3-ounce) freezer pops.

Per serving: 87 calories; 3 g fat (2 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 13 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 2 g fiber; 18 mg sodium; 69 mg potassium.

Ingredient Note: Greek-style yogurt is made by removing the whey from cultured milk, which gives the yogurt an extra-thick and creamy texture. Look for it with other yogurt in large supermarkets.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Freeze for up to 3 weeks. | Equipment: Ten 3-ounce (or similar-size) freezer-pop molds

By Stacy Fraser

Stacy Fraser is Test Kitchen manager at EatingWell. With a background in ecological agriculture and many past growing seasons under her belt, Stacy began her study of food in the field, literally. Before joining the crew at EatingWell, Stacy managed the kitchen of breakfast and lunch hot spot Penny Cluse, in downtown Burlington, Vermont, where she learned how to make simple, delicious food from fresh ingredients.

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