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These berry protein popsicles are the best healthy popsicles, packed with protein and berries to boost brain function. With cottage cheese, dark berries, cherries, milk and a touch of honey or maple syrup, they’re great for enjoying a sweet treat while balancing blood sugar.
With this easy protein popsicle recipe, you get all the health benefits of berries with a little extra protein, and it’s a great snack for kids too!
Enjoy these berry cottage cheese popsicles by themselves on a hot day as a snack or dessert. They would pair perfectly with a healthy meal like these chicken kabobs or grilled chicken thighs. These and my protein brownies are my favorite snacks!
Berry Protein Popsicles
This summer my kids have been asking for popsicles non-stop, but I feel like giving them store-bought ones or ones with juice means I have to try to plan it around a meal time. That’s when I had the idea for these berry protein popsicles.
By combining fresh fruit with a little bit of milk and cottage cheese, I could create a creamy pop for them that has a good balance to the natural sugars. You’ll love these cottage cheese popsicles because:
- Easy – As just as easy as a smoothie! Just blend everything together and pour into popsicle molds.
- Customizable – These are fairly easy to make substitutions to below to fit your personal needs.
- Delicious – Both kids and adults love these pops!
- Great for kids – Since protein powder isn’t automatically added, you can share these with kids for a great balanced snack.
Ingredients
These protein popsicles have only 5 simple ingredients!
- Mixed berries – Use any combo of berries you like. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries. I added frozen cherries to mine for a little extra sweetness and I like that they add a little magnesium!
- Cottage cheese – I recommend Friendship Dairies, Breakstones, or Daisy Cottage Cheese. Good culture is great if you can tolerate their cultures, but I find I’m personally sensitive to it. Full fat will give you the best texture, but any kind can be used.
- Milk – Use any type of milk you like! I used Whole Organic A2 milk since it works well for my kids. Low fat or non-dairy milks may result in icy popsicles. I recommend full fat coconut milk.
- Honey or Maple syrup – This cuts some of the saltiness of the cottage cheese without making it overly sweet. You can adjust this to your own tastes since you’ll taste test before freezing!
- Vanilla Extract – I like to use Trader Joe’s alcohol free vanilla (you can find this other places too) for things I’m not baking.
- Freeze-dried berries (optional) – I used freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joe’s as an extra, fun coating. This is totally optional!
How to Make Protein Pops
These homemade popsicles with protein are so easy to make. Here are the basic steps.
Step 1: Add ingredients to the blender – Combine everything but the freeze-dried berries into the blender. This includes the mixed berries, cherries, cottage cheese, milk, and honey or maple syrup.
Step 2: Taste and adjust sweetness – Depending on the type of fruit you use, you can adjust the honey or maple syrup here.
Step 3: Pour into the popsicle molds – Place a popsicle stick in the center, cover it and freeze for 12-24 hours.
Step 4: Remove the pops – Remove the popsicles from the mold. This can be done by running the mold under warm water if it’s sticking too much.
Step 5: Add freeze-dried berries (optional)– Crush these in a plastic bag with a mallet (or your fist) until they’re very small and crumbly. Press them onto the outside of the popsicles. If they’re bigger pieces, they may not stick as well. You can brush the popsicle with a little bit of honey to get them to adhere (or just wait for them to soften a bit!).
The crushed berries are an optional step, but just make them pretty and more fun with a nice crunchy texture – like a crunch popsicle, but healthy!
Variations
- Berries – You can substitute any fruit you’d like in the same amounts, I just recommend frozen fruit. Using more mixed berries versus cherries can sometimes lessen or increase the amount of natural sweetness added, so keep that in mind.
- Cottage cheese – If you’re dairy free or want to replace the cottage cheese, I’ve heard Icelandic Skyr is a great substitute and well-tolerated for some who have issues with regular yogurt. Yogurt is also a good substitute, but wouldn’t be migraine diet friendly.
- Sweetener – Any sweetener can be used for this recipe or you can completely omit it and just use the fruit.
- Protein powder – Because I wanted the texture to still be creamy and I also wanted to share these with the kids, I just used cottage cheese to add protein here. But you could boost the protein content by adding your favorite protein powder. I generally use Sprout Living Pumpkin Seed. I recommend using 1/2 a serving for these popsicles.
- Dairy free – Use your favorite dairy free yogurt substitute, like the Icelandic Skyr mentioned above.
- Low sodium – Use a no salt added cottage cheese like Friendship Dairies.
Popsicle Molds
There are so many great popsicle molds out there now. I used a silicone one, but here are some options for these berry cottage cheese popsicles.
- Silicone Popsicle Molds
- Stainless Steel Popsicle Molds
- Mini Popsicles for Kids
- You can also use popsicle sticks inside a small, tall jar or cup.
Storage Information
Protein popsicles can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months for best results. Try to avoid having them defrosted and re-frozen multiple times as this will cause an increase in icing. It’s best to pull out a popsicle one at a time if you plan to freeze the rest again.
If you don’t plan to eat them all right away and need the popsicle mold, remove all the popsicles and individually wrap them in saran wrap, then place them into a freezer bag. Or you can place them all on a baking sheet, place that in the freezer for a few hours, then place the frozen popsicles into a freezer bag.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best way to do this is by running them under cool to warm water until they can lift out of the molds. Be careful to not get any water near the top of the mold. Using hot water may cause the popsicles to break apart in certain spots as you pull them out.
Adding protein to any sweet treat can help keep a good balance that won’t contribute to major blood sugar rises and crashes. This is something I personally struggle with when it comes to snacks for myself and for my kids! I love that this is a great low-sugar popsicle alternative.
Yes! I actually specifically designed this protein popsicle recipe for kids, which is why it doesn’t automatically contain protein powder. Use any fruit they like to change up these pops.
Cottage Cheese Recipes
For more protein-rich cottage cheese recipes like these protein popsicles, check out these posts. And for an ultra-hydrating option, don’t miss my Electrolyte Popsicles.
Smoothies
Berry Protein Smoothie
Breakfast
Cottage Cheese with Fruit
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Protein Popsicles
Equipment
- 1 popsicle mold (for 8 pops)
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups frozen mixed berries + frozen cherries, I did about 1 1/4 cup mixed berries and 1 cup cherries
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 tablespoons optional: honey or maple syrup to sweeten
- 1 oz optional: freeze dried strawberries
Instructions
- In a blender, add the frozen mixed berries and cherries first, then cottage cheese, honey, milk, and vanilla. Blend till smooth.
- Pour into a popsicle mold and add popsicle sticks to the center. Wipe off any excess that may spill so they are easy to remove after freezing. Cover with a popsicle mold cover and freeze for 12 hours or overnight.
- If using the freeze dried strawberries, place them in a plastic bag and use a mallet or your hand to crush them up into fine pieces.
- Place the crushed freeze dried strawberries on a plate or sheet pan. Carefully remove the popsicles from the mold and dip the top sides with the freeze dried strawberries. If it's not sticking, brush the popsicle with a little bit of honey then dip them in.
Notes
- Sweetener – After blending taste and adjust the sweetness, adding honey or maple syrup (or whatever you like) as needed. Different fruits may require more or less sweetness.
- Texture – For the creamiest pops, try to limit the times you de-frost and refreeze. Also use full fat products. Using low fat or fat free will make the popsicles have a more icy texture than creamy and thick.
- If changing the fruit (using all mixed berries, all strawberries, etc.) just stick with the same amounts of 2 1/4 cups. It’s best if you let the berries overflow the cup a bit!
- Protein powder – I recommended adding 1/2 serving of protein powder when blending everything together to boost the protein content. Would only recommend this change for adults.
- Cottage cheese – Can be substituted with Icelandic Skyr (including non-dairy), if not doing HYH.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made the popsicle recipe last night with strawberries and it tasted like tangy frozen yogurt to me which was great because I miss yogurt in the elimination phase of the diet. I’m not a fan of cottage cheese generally but I’ve enjoyed the way Alicia incorporates it into recipes where you don’t taste that as a stand out ingredient.
So good for sweet cravings without the sugar rush.
Another great recipe!
Thank you so much, Emily! This made my day! People are really loving this one.
I made these, I cut the recipe and half as I only have six popsicle holders, I used frozen dark cherries and frozen fresh blueberries, full fat cottage cheese from a local dairy and half-and-half since my milk was low-fat. It only made five popsicles because I ate so much of the mixture before I put them in the freezer, it is absolutely delicious, for sweetener I used my local raw honey I’m also going to try this with our fresh South Carolina peaches and Maple syrup, if you don’t have popsicle holders, I would just freeze this and maybe ice cube trays, it’s really delicious