Make Your Own Popsicles at Home with These Molds

Who doesn’t love an ice-cold popsicle on a hot, sticky day? These frozen treats are beloved and wildly popular with adults, teens, and children of all ages. They’re tasty, refreshing, inexpensive, available in multiple flavors, and can be taken just about anywhere. While it’s a simple enough task to grab a box of popsicles on a trip to the grocery store or buy one from your local ice cream man, you may still find it worth your while to invest in your own popsicle mold to create your own at home. This allows you to create popsicles in your preferred flavor or flavor blend, in the off chance the one you’re craving is out of stock or not available at the market. There are lots of fun recipes and flavors you can try out in the comfort of your own home. This also allows you to put ingredients you enjoy into popsicles that might not be found in store-bought ones, such as granola or real fruit slices. If you’re trying to eat healthier or be more aware of what is going into your body, making your own homemade popsicles is a way to achieve these goals while still allowing yourself a treat. If you have children, you may simply want to make popsicles as a fun activity to do at home with them. Here are a few popsicle molds we recommend if you want to create your own frozen snacks at home.

What to Consider in Popsicle Molds

Here are a few things to think about before buying popsicle molds:

• Material: Most popsicle molds will be made of silicone or stiff plastic, with the occasional metal model. Silicone is widely considered the superior option since it’s the most pliable and flexible of the three. It holds the shape of the popsicles well, is easy to clean, reusable, and molds made out of it are generally quite affordable. And thanks to silicone’s flexibility, it’s a breeze to pop or pull out your popsicles from silicone molds once they’ve set and are ready to eat. On the other hand, metal and plastic models may require wiggling, maneuvering, or even hot water to get your popsicles out. Metal models are also pricier, and both metal and plastic are bulkier than silicone. Some softer plastic models are much easier to remove popsicles from, but many of these are single-use.
• Shape and Style: You can buy popsicle molds in plenty of shapes and styles. There are the standard tall, slightly curved rectangular popsicles. Then there are round or cylindrical ones, more square-like ones, and triangular ones. They can be tall and slim or short and squat. If you’re making homemade popsicles with your kid, you can also buy many more unique and fun shapes like dinosaurs, fish, stars, hearts, monsters, their favorite cartoon characters, and many other similar shapes. Also consider if you want a tray mold or individual pop-style ones. Trays are far more common since they allow you to make a higher quantity of popsicles at once and are far less likely to drip or leak. Individual models may be the better choice if you have a small freezer, though you’ll want to freeze them in a freezer-safe cup or tray to prevent them from dripping all over.
• Size: There isn’t really a set standard size or quantity for popsicle molds. On average, each mold will contain somewhere between 2 to 4 ounces of liquid (70 to 118 milliliters). There are a decent number of smaller-quantity models aimed at toddlers and younger children, which create popsicles of around 1 ounce of liquid each. You’ll also want to consider how many molds come with your purchase, whether as a tray or set of individual molds. Having four to eight molds per set (whether as one individual tray or divided among two trays) is fairly average, but there are both smaller and larger options available for purchase.

Best Value: Ouddy Popsicle Molds

You’ll love these silicone popsicle molds, not just for their usefulness but for the value they bring to the table. For one low price, you’ll receive not only the two trays of four popsicle molds (eight cavities total) but 50 wooden popsicle sticks, so you don’t have to go out and buy your own separately. Each popsicle cavity creates a 2.7- by 1.5-inch popsicle. The silicone is premium, food-grade quality, soft and smooth, and nonstick for easy popsicle removal once they’ve set and frozen. And it retains its flexibility and softness in both cold and heat, allowing this mold to double as a cake pop mold in the oven as well as a popsicle mold in the freezer. You can wash it in the dishwasher or hand wash it and boil it in boiling water to use it multiple times. It’s available in five different color combinations.

Best Kit: Miaowoof Homemade Popsicle Maker

If you anticipate making homemade popsicles on any sort of a regular basis or are making frozen treats for a party or large event, invest in not just popsicle molds but a full popsicle-making kit like this one. Get a silicone popsicle mold with 10 cavities, 50 popsicle storage bags, 50 popsicle sticks, a silicone funnel, and an ice pop recipe book to help guide you and give you ideas for creating homemade popsicles. The molds are shaped into a classic curved rectangular shape and hold 3 fluid ounces, creating popsicles that are comparable in size to grocery store ones. The silicone material is free of BPA and phthalate, so you never need to worry about any harmful chemicals or smells leaching into your popsicles as they freeze. And you won’t have to submerge the mold in hot water to get the popsicles out, as the soft, flexible silicone material peels back easily and then snaps back into shape. This mold and kit are great for juices, yogurt, applesauce, ice cream, and other similar foods, not just popsicles. Two other size options are available.

Best Miniature: JBYAMUS Silicone Popsicle Molds for Kids

If you have a baby just starting to eat solid food, a toddler, or a young child at home, a popsicle is a tasty frozen treat they’re certain to enjoy. A regular, full-sized popsicle may be a bit too much for them to bite off or chew or finish, however. Thankfully, there are smaller-sized popsicle molds, like this one, that can create smaller-than-average popsicles perfect for toddlers and young kids. Not only is the size ideal for your little one, but creating homemade popsicles with real produce can be a tasty and colorful way to sneak more fruits and vegetables into the diet of picky eaters. Alternatively, if you’re trying to watch what you eat or lose weight, creating miniature popsicles allows you to create bite-sized treats that won’t wreck your diet. This silicone mold has seven slots to create seven popsicles at once, with plastic lids in seven different colors, so you can differentiate between flavors if needed. A small, matching pouring spoon also comes included. The material is food-grade and BPA-free, completely safe for your children. It’s also able to withstand temperatures of -40 to 446 degrees Fahrenheit, so you can use it in the oven as well as the freezer. Your popsicles won’t stick to the mold, and all you have to do is peel the sides down to release them. The soft silicone will spring right back into shape and retain its form. Wash with water and dishwasher liquid after every use, and you can safely use this mold over and over again as needed. It’s also great for creating foods like ice cream, jelly, smoothies, and more.

Fun Shapes: Tovolo Dino Ice Pop Molds

It’s no secret that children love dinosaurs. Most of us went through a dinosaur phase ourselves as kids. Indulge both your own little ones and your own inner child with these dinosaur-shaped popsicle molds. The flexible orange silicone tray has four cavities, each shaped like a different type of classic dinosaur favorites, a triceratops, a T-rex, a stegosaurus, and a brontosaurus. Each cavity comes with a corresponding lid that becomes the respective dinosaur’s tail and the popsicle’s handle; each type of dinosaur matches up with a slightly different tail, so you’ll always be able to tell them apart even when the popsicles are upside down and sitting in the freezer. And as you and your children eat your popsicles, a hidden dinosaur fossil embedded in the handles is revealed. The handles and the tray are washable and reusable, so you won’t ever run out of wooden popsicle sticks and have to spend extra money buying new ones. The silicone tray is flexible, so you won’t have any trouble removing the popsicles or risk them losing their shape when it’s time to eat them, even with their large, unique shape. The base is designed to fit in most freezer doors, so it won’t take up extra room, has handles for easy carrying and portability, and it’s stackable for more compact storage. All materials are dishwasher safe and BPA-free.

Easiest to Clean: Kootek Dishwasher Safe Popsicle Molds

Properly cleaning your popsicle mold after every use is crucial. Not only does leaving it unwashed risk the growth of harmful, unhealthy bacteria inside, potentially causing you and your family to get sick, but it causes them to get sticky and leaves flavors or smells behind, contaminating any other popsicles you might make. If you make, say, mint-flavored popsicles one week and orange-flavored popsicles the next week, you’re not going to enjoy the taste of those two flavors mingling together. Fortunately, this pair of popsicle molds are incredibly easy and convenient to clean. Not only are they dishwasher safe, but they come included with a special cleaning brush designed to hit all those hard-to-reach places inside. Both trays have four cavities for a total of eight rectangular popsicle molds, each holding 70 milliliters (just under 2.5 ounces) of liquid. The entire set is made of food-grade materials for your safety. In addition to the two trays and cleaning brush, these molds come with eight reusable plastic handles and a small funnel. Not only does the funnel make it easier to pour your ingredients into the molds for freezing, but it helps prevent spillage, keeping your countertops from getting stained and sticky and ensuring you have to spend less time cleaning up once you’ve finished making your popsicles. The trays are designed to be as slender as possible to take up minimal space in the freezer or cabinet and can be bought in two different color sets. For best results removing the popsicles, quickly dip the tray in warm water before pulling them out.