DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops}

DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops} have made me a hero in my home. All five of my boys have a mania for freezer pops in the summer. They go bonkers for the little frozen tubes of sweet ice. If left to their own devices, they would eat through one of those massive bulk boxes from the big box store in one day and lay happily among the discarded, strewn-about wrappers like they were trophies to their eating prowess.

They were seldom, however, allowed to eat to their desired levels when it comes to freezer pops because I’m one of those mean moms who won’t permit her children to get the entirety of their recommended daily caloric intake from a frozen mixture of sugar, food dye, and artificial colouring. I know. I’m cruel. Luckily for them, I devised a solution: DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops}.

DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops} make me feel brilliant in a multitude of ways, not the least of which is that it’s a fabulous way to polish off the end of a jar of fruit juice, blender of smoothies, dessert sauces, or any other number of other drinks that need to be used.

There are a few options on containers for creating DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops}, starting from most expensive and moving to the least expensive.

1. Zipsicle Zip Top Ice Pop Pouches. I love these things. They ring in at about $9 for 36 pouches, so they’re not cheap and they’re not in the same category price wise as the flav-or-ice variety from Wally World. HOWEVER, they are reusable, resealable, and you can fill them with far better ingredients, both in terms of quality and nutrition. They’re easy as heck to fill when you tuck a little funnel in the top. As long as you mind the “maximum fill line” you’ll be fine and they’ll be simple to zip shut. They’re just the right size (think the same size as the standard freezer pops from the store) and made of BPA free material.  Bonus: you can also order these adorable little neoprene sleeves that insulate the finished ice pops, helping keep them frozen longer and keeping your hand from freezing. They’re ice pop koozies. Added bonus: should you decide to freeze leftover margaritas or mojitos or other adult beverages, the material of which they’re made will not leak unlike the following option.
2. FRIOPOP Ice candy disposable bags. I also love these. They are only $9 for 100 of them and they’re disposable, so no worrying about rinsing them out after the kids eat their way through 20 of them in an hour. They hold a larger amount of ingredients, making them the choice of my kids. They’re also relatively easy to fill with the use of a funnel. These are just the teensiest bit trickier to close. After experimenting extensively, I’ve found that the easiest way to fill them is to hold the top of the bag cinched to the bottom opening of the funnel with my thumb and forefinger on one hand, resting the bottom of the ice pop sleeve on the bottom of a tall drinking glass. I pour the liquid into the funnel with the second hand. When the liquid rises to within 2 inches of the top, stop pouring. At this point, I keep holding the top of the bag, ease the funnel out, twist the top, and secure with a twist tie or rubber band. I’ve been told you can simply tie off the top of the bag, but attempts at that yielded many puddles of spilled future ice pop and more than a few words muttered in frustration. If you’re looking for a solution that better resembles the commercial counterpart, you can use one of these nifty little, battery-operated, pocket-sized heat sealers which is also handy for re-sealing chip and snack bags. It takes a little finagling, but once you’re used to it, it’s a nice solution.
3. Snack sized zipper top bags. These are available at about every grocery store, and run around $3 for 50 bags in our neighborhood. This is my church of the last resort option for homemade freeze pops because the size of the frozen pop is not convenient for eating and the bags are awfully difficult for me to seal when filled with liquid. Maybe I’m just not coordinated enough to pull the manoeuvre off, but it’s just not my preferred method.

Now that I’ve covered the bases on what you’re going to put the ice pops into, let’s talk about what to put INTO the DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops}. Below are some of our favourite combinations:

• leftover iced coffee (with or without milk and sweetener.)
• leftover iced chai
• leftover tea of any sort (most especially Earl Grey)
• fruit juice, any variety. Particular favourites are unsweetened grape juice, pineapple juice, and apple or pear juice.
• leftover smoothies. Sometimes I make gigantor batches of smoothies that far outstrip anyone’s appetite at that moment. When the kids can’t finish up their serving, we siphon the rest of it into a freezer pop sleeve and drop it in the freezer for later.
• leftover dessert sauces. You can freeze any leftover fruit coulis or purees in ice pop form. They’re delicious.
• leftover soda. It’s true. I enjoy my occasional soda, but I can’t always drink the quantity in the bottle before it’s ready to go flat, so into the freezer pop bag it goes to be a refreshing treat later.
• Irish Coffee Pops. This is another great use for leftover coffee. Mix coffee to taste with Irish Cream and a little bit of sweetened condensed milk and stash in the deep freeze.
• Cocktails. Put your favourite Moscow Mule, Cosmo, Mojito, Margarita, Tequila Sunrise, or whathaveyou into one of the zipsicle sleeves and freeze. How fun is that?

Do you make your own DIY Freezer Pops {Ice Pops}? What do you freeze in yours? If not, what will you put in yours if you do try it? You can also make these gorgeous rainbow popsicles!

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