- 1). Wash the desired fruit, selecting about 2 cups of each fruit chosen; you can make single-flavor freezer bars, blends or even layers. Good choices for fruit include strawberries, blueberries, peaches, kiwi, watermelon, apricots, plums and pineapple.
- 2). Skin, peel, hull or otherwise clean the fruit to expose the flesh beneath. Cut into the fruit to remove any large seeds or pits inside, such as in peaches and watermelon. Rinse the fruit again.
- 3
Layer blueberries, raspberries and vanilla ice cream for a "red, white and blue" bar.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Chop the fruit into small pieces 1 or 2 inches in diameter to make it easier for blending. Drop the fruit into the blender as you work. - 4). Sprinkle approximately 2 tbsp. sugar over each 2 cups of fruit, or a similar measure of honey, if preferred. A blend of 2 cups pineapple and 2 cups orange, for example, would need around 1/4 cup sugar, but watermelon alone will use about 2 tbsp. Tart fruit requires more sugar, and sweeter fruit will require less.
- 5). Sprinkle the fruit with 1 or 2 tbsp. lemon juice for every 2 cups of fruit, unless you are going to include yogurt or ice cream. Add a dash of water for firmer, less juicy fruits such as pears, apples and apricots. Substitute fruit juice if preferred. Puree the fruit to a smooth texture.
- 6). Add 1 to 2 cups ice cream, frozen yogurt, yogurt or sherbet, if desired, omitting the previous lemon juice for best results. Blend the ingredients well. Adjust the ingredients to attain the consistency you want, adding more juice, fruit or ice cream as necessary.
- 7
Best thing about fruit freezer bars -- the kids will love them!Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images
Arrange molds or cups in front of you. Pour the fruit mixture into the molds, filling them until full for single-flavor freezer bars, and filling them only partially with each flavor if making a "rainbow" freezer bar. - 8). Place Popsicle sticks in the middle of each mold or cup -- this might be easier if you first allow the mixture to chill until just beginning to set -- then allow the freezer bar to harden around the stick. Watch the fruit bars carefully if you are waiting to insert the stick to prevent them from hardening before you get the sticks in.
- 9). Freeze the fruit freezer bars a minimum of 4 hours, although it may take longer. Remove the freezer bar from the mold or peel the cup away to eat the finished bar.
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