I feel like popsicles have a reputation as a children’s snack and don’t get me wrong—my children LOVE them. That being said, I can personally attest to the fact that nobody is too old to enjoy a good lemon lime popsicle. It’s cool, refreshing, and bursting with lemonade flavor. What’s not to love?
I can see how it might feel a little silly to throw back a Flintstones Push-Up Pop as an adult (no judgment here, those suckers are delicious!), but I think of homemade popsicles as the wiser and more mature cousin of the popsicles we all grew up on.
In fact, we love popsicles around here. You don’t want to miss these Strawberry Popsicles, Fresh Fruit Popsicles, and Homemade Fudgisicles.
I’ve always had a strong affinity for frozen treats (like this Watermelon Ice Cream and Banana Nice Cream), but now that I’m all grown up (or so they say) one of my favorite tricks is adding a little booze to my homemade popsicles.
If I’m having company over for a barbecue, I’ll make two batches of these delicious Lemon Lime Popsicles—one that’s rated G for the kiddos and one with booze for the adults. It’s such a fun treat and it never ceases to impress people!
Whether you’re looking for fun healthy treats for the kids or refreshing desserts to serve at your next cookout, these popsicles are guaranteed to hit the spot.
Best part? They only take a couple of minutes of hands-on work, then the freezer does the rest of the work for you. Now that’s my kind of recipe!
Key Ingredients
To make these tasty lemonade-inspired popsicles, you will need the following key ingredients:
- Lemons. Loaded with antioxidants and known for being excellent for hydration, lemons are the perfect fruit to pair with limes.
- Limes. Like the lemons, we will be using both the juice of the lime and the fruit itself to create the ultimate refreshing popsicles.
- Honey. This is my sweetener of choice, but feel free to swap it out for agave or simple syrup for a vegan option.
- Water. Make sure to use filtered water rather than tap water. You can also swap this out for coconut water, another type of flavored water, or fruit juice.
Lemon Lime Popsicle Variations
Here are some of my favorite ways to get creative with this dish:
- Make them even sweeter. If you like super sweet and tart popsicles, try swapping out the lemons for Meyer lemons and/or the limes for key limes.
- Make them creamy. For creamy lemon-lime popsicles, try reducing the amount of water by half and adding Greek yogurt or coconut milk.
- Use a different sweetener. Not a fan of honey or looking for a vegan alternative? No problem. You can swap out the honey for agave or simple syrup.
- Add fresh herbs. Fresh mint leaves add a ton of bright flavor that really complements the flavors of the citrus fruits in our popsicles.
- Use a different base liquid. Feel free to switch out the plain water for a different liquid like coconut water, fruit juice, or flavored water. White grape juice and strawberry-flavored water would both work really well here.
- Make them boozy. Hosting a pool party or barbecue? Make a separate batch of popsicles just for the adults and add a bit of rum or vodka.
- Kick it up a notch. If you’re a spicy food lover and want to add a slight kick, try adding some thinly sliced jalapenos to the popsicles.
- More nutritious: Blend in some spinach or cucumber to the lemon-lime mixture to make a nutritious green popsicle. No one will know! You can also add some chia seeds to the pops to add some extra nutrition.
How Do You Make Popsicle Molds at Home?
If you don’t have popsicle molds at home, don’t worry! You can make homemade popsicles without popsicle molds, you just need to let that creativity shine. You can use a wide variety of regular household objects as makeshift popsicle molds; from muffin tins and ice cube trays to the small paper cups that you normally use for mouthwash.
Once you’ve identified the objects you want to use as your popsicle molds, you will need something to act as the popsicle stick. This can include wooden sticks, toothpicks, or plastic spoons.
Once you’ve got your mixture into your makeshift molds, stick the popsicle sticks into the center of each mold after about 20-30 minutes in the freezer and then continue to let your popsicles freeze for at least 6 hours.