Your best poopsicles will be just mashed fruit....perhaps a little sugar added.
The other possibility is freeze washed whole fruit....grapes of all sorts, blue berries, chunks of melon ( small enough so you don't get brain freeze) pineapple tidbits....
Back when I made popsicles for kids, the best were those of real fruit juice thickened with gelatin.

POPSICLES

(source: Instant Delite Recipes - by Merrilyn Lloyd - Recipes especially developed for use with Instant Clear Jel)

1 c. sugar
2 T. Instant Clear Jel
1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid
1 3-ounce package Jell-O
4 c. water

Mix sugar, instant clear jel, Kool-Aid, and Jell-O together. Add water and blend until smooth and syrupy. Pour into popsicle molds or small paper cups and freeze.
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A healthier choice:

1 cup of 100% fruit juice
1 cup of fruit
Whirr in the blender and freeze in molds.
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You can also make pudding pops and yogurt pops. Lots of recipes on-line.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Tip Nut - 100+ Popsicle Recipes

I love making popsicles! Not poopsicles, though :/ I think if it tastes good in a smoothie, it will taste just as good frozen. You can also blend half of the mixture, and leave the rest whole so you get those nice chunks of fruit. My mom's were pretty gnarly, too. And always orange juice... can I get a little variety, moms? On that note, orange cream popsicles (creamsicles) are the best!

LOL bwj (and Linda)!!! That reminds me of something we chased each other around the neighborhood with as kids! Strangely happy memories...

ANYWAY, coincidentally, I was flipping through my "Throwdown" cookbook just this morning and stopped on the ice pops episode. Bobby made Sangria Ice Pops (which I'll gladly type up if interested) but here was the winner:

Norma and Irma Paz's Pinapple-Chile Ice Pops

1 Medium ripe pineapple, peeled and cored
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
4 pinches fine salt
2 cups sugar
10 pinches chile de arbol powder or cayenne, or to taste

Puree pineapple with an immersion blendre or in a FP, but keep some texture to it. Stir in the lime juice, salt and sugar by hand until dissolved. Add the chile powder. Fill 3oz molds and freeze the popsicles for ast least 24 hours and up to two days.

You will get better texture if you use inverted sugar instead of regular sugar.

dcarch

Honey will also work....if indeed you are adding sugar to the fruit.
OR...you can simmer sugar with the fruit....the acid will convert the sugar.....as it does when you make jam.
But I would just avoid sugar in pure fruit 'sicles! The difference in texture won't be noticeable for your uses.

I just dragged out the popsicle forms a couple weeks ago. We have Halo Farms here, they sell lemonade that has nothing but lemon juice, sugar and water. And it's not sickening sweet. Only 50 or 60 calories a cup? I've been making that in the ice cream freezer and turning it into italian ice. I just portion it out after making it and freeze in the individual cups. I also have been making popsicles out of it. Great. At less than a dollar for for a half gallon, it's cheap and good. Buy 3 get one free too.

So, until I started using the Halo Farms I would just make lemonade and freeze that. I also use the lemonade and with a hand blender grind in a few strawberries and make that into popsicles. Personally I don't think it needs to be all fruit or all fruit and fruit juice. Part of it being refreshing to me is some of the water. I also haven't been having the problem of them being all ice at the base and all the good stuff on the end. Sometimes there is a slight separation of the juice and water but it's not enough to worry about. So, for me, many fruit juices work. I made cranberry raspberry juice ones last week. We've really been enjoying them.

Don't discount using lemonade or your fruit mixes in the ice cream freezer too. Some days I'll make a batch and put some in two glasses for us to enjoy as frozen slushies right away and the rest into individual containers as italian ice later.

Put a little vodka or rum into that lemonade mix and you won't have to think about invert sugar to keep it from freezing rock hard....
Just sayin'....*wink*.

Here is one I came up with a couple of years ago.

Kiwi Mango Ice Pops

3/4 c simple syrup
4 kiwis
1 mango
1T lemon juice
Juice of 1 lime

Peel and dice the kiwis and mango. Put fruit in bowl of food processor, add simple syrup, lemon juice and lime juice. Process until smooth. Pour into ice pop molds and freeze until firm.

I just tore out and saved these recipes from Martha Stewart. Haven't tried them yet, but I plan to!

Fudge Bars

2 tsp cornstarch
1-1/2 c whole milk, divided
1-1/3 c heavy cream
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c unsweetened coca powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cornstarch and 2 T milk until smooth; whisk in remaining milk, cream, sugar, cocoa and salt. Bring toa boil over medium high heat stirring constantly and cook 1 minute.

Transfer to a large liquid measuring cup and stir in vanilla. Pour into ten 3oz. ice pop molds and insert sticke.
Freeze until pops are solid, about 6 hours (or up to 1 week). Briefly run pop molds unter hot water to release pops.

Red White and Blueberry Pops

2c halved hulled strawberries
6 T sugar, divided
5 T lime juice, divided
1/2 c full fat plain yogurt
3 T heavy cream
2 c blueberries

In a blender, combine strawberries, 2 T sugar and 1-1/2 T lime juice. Puree, scraping down sides as needed. Pour through fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Divid puree among six 4oz. pop molds. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Combine yogurt, cream and 2T each sugar and lime juice. Remove molds from freezer and top with yogurt mixture. Insert sticks and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

In clean blender puree blueberries, ramaining 2T sugar and remaining 1-1/2 T lime juice.Pour through clean sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids. Discard solids. Remove molds from freezer and top with blueberry puree. Freeze until solid, 6 hours more (or up to 1 week). Briefly run molds under hot water to release pops.

Linda

Yep. Like several people have mentioned - my favorites are made of juice, fruit or a mixture of both. I have some right now made from purple grape juice for my 6 yr old niece. I tend to like things a bit tarter though. I also like to mix in some herbs or iced tea. Yogurt is also good in popsicles mixed with fruit. I also dream of having a slurpee machine. I once worked at a farm/orchard where we made fresh cider slurpees - amazing. I find cider too sweet but it was delicious half frozen.

Make a sugar syrup, let it cool, then add the zest and juice of a like. Whazz up some watermelon and mix with the syrup and freeze. Lovely, as Lindac said, with a splash of vodka too.

I made black cherry/raspberry popsicles using the Kool-Aid and Jello and thought they were terrible. Despite mixing thoroughly, I wound up with some places like Jello and other places like ice. I got a small book with popsicle recipes in it at Kohl's for just $5 about a month or so ago and I'm going to dig that up and try some of their recipes.

FOAS, I thought your recipe reminded me of Las Paletas here in Nashville... but they are Las Paletas. Ha! Y'all c'mon on down. This is one place you will not believe the combinations they make. Each one even more delectable than the last. Cucumber Chili, Avocado and Lime with Mint, Raspberry Chocolate, the list goes on and they're all good. I do have an upper hand here as they pass out samples once a year on my work campus.

They make me think there are loads of things one could try as the combos make sense. The sky's the limit!

LindaC's first post reminded me of paletas that I got in Mexico. I don't have recipes for them, but if you want to do a search, I recommend searching for paleta recipes, or paleta receta. My favorite flavors are guanabana, mamey, melon, and coconut. You can puree cantaloup (or other similar melons), add a sweetener of choice, and then freeze that into popsicle molds. Paletas have a lot more fruit than popsicles and are generally 90% fruit. I can find guanabana paletas from street vendors here, and sometimes mamey as well.
Home-Ade

Lars

Lars, " --My favorite flavors are guanabana, mamey, melon, and coconut. You can puree cantaloup (or other similar melons), add a sweetener of choice, and then freeze that into popsicle molds.--"

I have made them all. Today, cantaloup is $0.99 each. I will be making that.

Just something to watch out for. If you splash too much alcohol, you will end up with slush and not popsicles.

Alcohol is anti-freeze.

dcarch

Cantaloup paletas are especially good! When I make more room in the freezer, I will buy some cantaloups for this, but I do not put alcohol in them. I do put Cointreau or Grand Marnier in strawberry ice cream instead of vanilla, and the last time I made it (two weeks ago), I put 1-1/2 Tbsp of Grand Marnier (I was out of Cointreau - used it in Margaritas), and the ice cream never got very hard, but this actually made it easier to serve. Next time I might use just one tablespoon.

When I cleaned out the fridge a couple of weeks, I found some mango liqueur (tiny sample bottle) that I've been adding to my mango juice, and now I need to get more. I think I may have to go to a major liquor store to find it again.

Lars

Thanks folks, can't wait to do some experimenting, maybe this weekend.

I have a recipe for brandy slush, had it as a friend's house once--yum!

Yes! I do! I bought a cute popsicle set last year. I throw fresh fruit and plain yogurt or coconut milk in the blender with some Splenda if needed. I've also tried coffee, cocoa powder, vanilla and chocolate-flavored protein powder and Indian-flavored kulfis with cardamom. I've got to try the Mexican flavors like chili, lime and tamarind. Mmmm - cucumber/chili or watermelon/lime sound great! I got some unflavored gelatin also to add a nice texture.

I haven't tried avocado, but I do make smoothies with avo - a little adds a very creamy texture to a smoothie, and the avo flavor is overpowered by just about any fruit, coffee or protein powder.

Lars, I go to Spanish stores here and get fruit flavored sugar to add to the paletas/popsicles. There are many flavors to select from.

They intensifies the fruit flavors you are making.

dcarch

Gina,

When you make the watermelon and lime, add some avocado. Makes it good and smooth, not to mention adds great flavor. You're gonna love it!

I bookmarked these because they looked good. I haven't tried them yet, but Chow is pretty reliable. If you're enjoying them after work, can you add a splash of booze to keep the juice kind from freezing too hard? :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade fudge bars