Summer wouldn’t be complete without an ice cold grape popsicle, especially when it’s boosted with protein-rich Lifeway Kefir. Grapes are a terrific choice for healthy snacks when it comes to natural sweetness and health benefits making them perfect for easy, nutritious frozen desserts like popsicles. While you can put grapes in the freezer and enjoy them as an ice cold treat that way, we say, take them to a whole new level and blend them with creamy, probiotic-packed Lifeway Kefir.
Both Strawberry and Blueberry flavors of our Lowfat Kefir options would work wonderfully in this recipe, or, for less sweetness and to let the grape flavor shine through more, you can also use plain flavor of Lifeway Kefir. Feel free to choose your favorite grape variety for this recipe; we chose red and purple grapes, but we say, all grapes are great! Grapes are packed with nutrients including vitamin C, potassium, and a heart-healthy antioxidant known as resveratrol making them an excellent popsicle pairing to our kefir.
We suggest freezing the grapes first for one hour before blending the ingredients up and freezing into popsicle molds. This way, they not only freeze faster once you pour them into molds, but it produces a colder, creamier treat than using fresh grapes. You can just put the grapes in a bowl after you wash and drain them, then place in the freezer for one hour before blending them into the kefir to make your popsicles. You can also use them fresh too, if preferred.
Lifeway Kefir’s natural protein and probiotics are just two reasons why it’s one of the most the best frozen dessert ingredients for healthy recipes like this that you can enjoy without needing any special equipment. The options are nearly limitless!
The Benefits of Cultured Dairy for Better Health:
Research continues to show the importance of eating healthy foods, including cultured dairy such as kefir, for better gut health, a strong immune system, and to support the microbiome. Fermented foods like kefir hold important value in this line of research due to the link between the gut-brain axis and overall health. Specifically, kefir has been shown to help diversify the microbiome, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, and even help support healthier blood sugar levels and improve levels of satiety due to how it triggers the release of GLP-1 since it is an excellent source of protein and high in bioavailable nutrition.
Lifeway Kefir contains a variety of nutrients that are vital for healthy bones and overall health: vitamin D3, K, calcium, and vitamin B12. Lifeway also offers our artisan-made Farmer Cheese, a creamy cultured cheese made with live and active cultures to support a healthy microbiome that is also an excellent source of complete protein.
Prep Time: 4-6 hours Servings: 4-6 popsIngredients
For the Popsicles
- 2 cups grapes of choice*
- 2 1/2 cups Lowfat Strawberry Kefir
- **or use Lowfat Blueberry Kefir
- 1 tbsp. raw honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- optional: 1-2 scoops vanilla protein or collagen peptides powder
For Decorating Your Popsicles:
- 2/3 cups fresh grapes, rinsed, and chopped in half- reserved for decorating
Directions
- For the Popsicles: Rinse your grapes in a colander, pat dry well, then freeze for one hour either directly in a colander you rinse them in, or you can put them in a bowl to freeze for one hour (no longer or they may freezer burn).
- While the grapes are freezing, prepare your popsicle molds: Place a few pieces of the reserved cut-up fresh grape pieces into each mold, spreading them out evenly amongst all the popsicle molds.
- Blend the frozen grapes from step 1 with Lifeway Kefir, raw honey, vanilla, and your choice protein powder or collagen (if using, this is optional).
- Pour this mixture into your prepared popsicle molds, insert a stick (if your popsicle molds don't have their own), then tap each mold gently to remove any air bubbles, and freeze for 4 hours to set. Note, the smaller your popsicle molds are, the quicker they'll freeze.
- Once time has passed, remove them from the freezer, and enjoy!
- *The grapes work best if frozen first, around an hour. The pops will freeze faster that way!
- For less sweetness and a more neutral flavor, you can use Lowfat Plain Lifeway Kefir.
