Recipe: Fresh Frozen Yogurt & Peach Ice Pops

I knew my 3 1/2 year old niece, Virginia, would be coming to visit us for a few hours over the weekend so I wanted to make a special summertime "treat" that was also a healthy snack her mom would approve of at the same time.

I decided to mix up a few fresh ingredients we had on hand, pour them into a few ice pop molds we had laying around the house and make sure to get them in the freezer to set up at least a few hours before she'd be coming later that afternoon.

For the fruit, I went with white peaches since we'd bought a 1/4 peck at the market the weekend before and the bottom of the bag was just beginning to get over-ripe. Fruit on the verge of over-ripening is always at its sweetest — great for incorporating into dessert-like recipes or jams.

The freezer pops couldn't be easier to make so long as you have molds. Tim and I are on the hunt for a full set of classic ice pop molds but have 3 - 4 vintage ones we got off Etsy a while back that did the trick for a small batch.

Ingredients:

• Almost over-ripe peaches (or fruit of your choosing), sliced and peeled
• Plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• Splash of vanilla extract (optional, honey would also work) 

*Quantities will just depend on how many molds you have. For 3 molds, I used about 3/4 cup Greek yogurt, 1 1/2 sliced peach and literally just a splash of vanilla extract — it really doesn't have to be exact.

Combine peaches, yogurt and vanilla extract in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Gently pour smooth mixture into ice pop molds, leaving a small amount of room for mixture to expand as it freezes.

Rest filled ice pop molds in the freezer for 2-4 hours or until completely frozen before removing — serve immediately and enjoy!

This ice pop recipe is really so versatile — so long as you have plain or vanilla flavored Greek yogurt as a base, the recipe combinations are endless with all the different fresh fruits you could try.

I was thrilled when my niece begged to try one and approved of her "special treat" at aunt Mary's house. We'll keep it between us that she really just ate the equivalent of fresh sliced peaches and plain Greek yogurt — thinking it was some great dessert!

Those of us in the adult variety enjoyed our "special treat" as well, ha. So this is how I do it guys — my secret for trying to earn "cool aunt" points. So far, I think it's working.

Because we had so few molds on hand, I had some extra yogurt and sliced peaches after making these, so what did I do? I made a peach smoothie! Stay tuned for the recipe coming up in our next post.

Have you been using up any particular seasonal fruit this summer or have a great idea for a healthy kids' snack that they just go crazy over?