Ice cold and refreshing on a hot summer day, popsicles always take me back to childhood. Frizzy hair, sundresses, flip flops, sun beating hard on my back, ice pop melting down the side of my arm, and the sweetest most artificial flavors ever! Seriously, I’d like to say we bought all fruit ice pops but mostly we had flavors like green, red and orange, that’s all my pocket change could get me. Some things never change though, I still love the sun on my back, my hair is still frizzy only now my popsicle flavors are much more interesting and grown up. These watermelon cilantro and jalapeno ice pops will remind you of those summer days long gone but nothing artificial here.
These spicy watermelon ice pops are made with fresh, sweet watermelon. The cilantro balances the sweetness and brings out more of the watermelon flavors while the jalapeno gives it an extra kick. First you’ll taste the ice cold fruit and cilantro then you’ll feel the heat in the back of your throat soon after.
I made a cilantro and jalapeno simple syrup instead of just infusing the cilantro and jalapeno with the watermelon juice since my watermelon wasn’t as sweet as I would have liked. Just keep in mind that even though the mixture may taste too sweet once it’s frozen it loses the sweetness. If you have a really sweet watermelon then let the cilantro and jalapeno sit in watermelon juice overnight.
Another option with this recipe is you can reserve a couple of pieces of watermelon and give it a coarse chop. Add it to the mixture for a more chunky and fruity ice pop!
Watermelon Cilantro and Jalapeno Ice Pops
Ingredients
- 1 quart of seedless watermelon cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1/2 large jalapeno sliced
- juice from 1/2 lime
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Puree watermelon in a blender.
- In a small saucepan add sugar and water and stir to dissolve sugar. Add the cilantro and jalapeno to mixture and bring to a boil. Let the mixture cool and remove jalapeno slices.
- Add about 1/4 of the spicy cilantro syrup to the pureed watermelon and stir. Squeeze all the juice of the lime.
- Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze. Once frozen, run hot water over molds to release ice pops.
