Lime in the Coconut Popsicles

You put the lime in the coconut and shake it all up…

You’re welcome/I’m sorry for getting that song in your head.

What else could one possibly name a coconut lime popsicle? I practically had no choice. Still friends? Lovely.

An interesting part of working on trying new foods with two tiny people with NOT-tiny opinions is seeing what goes over well and what doesn’t. Milo, for instance, hates most carb-y things. Sophie, on the other hand, LOVES carbs and hates (HATES!) most protein or fat-containing foods. It makes meals and snacks pretty tricky.

We stick to a basic formula (try to have at least one thing each child likes on the table so no one goes completely hungry), and then gently encourage them to try new foods. It’s rare that something is just flat out successful with both children on the first try at dinnertime, but I’ve found that snack time can be a great opportunity to set them up for success.

Smoothies, banana ice creams, and popsicles are great for this at our house. If I notice that the kids aren’t eating their fat/protein foods and are mostly just sticking to carbs at mealtime, I find they are starving 45 minutes later. Not my favorite. So I’ll make something with a little more fat, protein, or both for snack.

These coconut lime popsicles are creamy, dreamy, and delicious. We use full-fat coconut milk (loaded with healthy fats), lime juice, and honey to make these awesome popsicles. The flavor develops as they freeze, so if you taste the smoothie mixture and it seems a bit flat, just wait. The lime will diffuse throughout the coconut milk and the end result is delicious. Not overly sweet, but really delicious and creamy just the same.

A few notes on the recipe:

1. Any popsicle mold will work for this recipe, but this popsicle mold is the one I used for the photos. It has a lid that holds the popsicle sticks in place, and that’s been really handy for us. If you don’t have a popsicle mold, you can pour the mixture into paper cups, freeze for 30-45 minutes, then poke the popsicle sticks into each cup and continue freezing till solid.
2. You can control the amount of lime that goes into the recipe. I tend to like things pretty lime-y, but if you want the coconut to come through, you’ll want to stick with one lime.
3. Also, note that sometimes the lime zest will settle at the bottom of the popsicle mold, which means the first bite of popsicle might be a bit lime zest-heavy. This hasn’t bothered me or my kids, but I’ve found that really blend-blend-blending the mixture before pouring it into the popsicle molds does the trick in preventing this problem.