As the days get hotter, I find myself drawn to lighter, cooler foods. The nights of craving warm, filling comfort foods like pasta and soup are waning and a want for sandwiches and smaller portions is taking place.

I’m finding this applies to my sweet tooth as well. As summer starts to roll in, I’m finding myself drawn to the natural sweetness and coolness of fruit rather than the warm sweetness of a chocolate chip cookie. So as the, mostly, nicer weather comes in and more porch time is in the cards, I figured why not create a sweet summer staple – the popsicle.

When I first had this idea, I wasn’t entirely sure it would work out. Surely a popsicle was harder to make than mixing fruit and juice together? Nope. My original idea worked out properly the first time – no extra experimentation needed.

I chose to give center stage in these popsicles to the ultimate summer fruit in my opinion, watermelon, with some apple juice to hold everything together. This recipe is a little messy, mainly because watermelon isn’t the most squishable fruit in the world and pouring a squishy mixture into tiny cups will always invite a mess.

Using fresh watermelon gives the popsicles a fun texture and look, but as you’re mushing the fruit be on the lookout for any black seeds and pick them out. I used a fork to pulverize the watermelon, but if some of the fruit pieces are proving difficult don’t be afraid to reach in with your hands and squeeze and smush. You can always wash them off after.

Once you’ve smushed the watermelon into a somewhat smooth mixture, just add some apple juice, mix and pour into small party cups. Then add a popsicle stick, or something similar, to each one, and let them sit in the freezer overnight.

Once the pops are ready, remove them from cups either by ripping the cup off, if you use paper, or carefully slicing or cutting it off if you used plastic. I used five ounce plastic party cups and got six popsicles out of one pound of watermelon.

The popsicles have a light sweetness to them that’s perfect for sitting outside on a warm Alabama day and since they just use apple juice and watermelon, they’re pretty healthy too. The forecast for next week is highs in the 80s, so I’m going to put a few aside to enjoy on the back porch before I get tired of the Alabama heat.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1 pound of watermelon

1 ½ cups of apple juice

Small paper or plastic cups

Popsicle sticks

HOW TO MAKE IT

Cut up the watermelon into small cubes.

In a medium bowl, smash the watermelon into as smooth a texture as possible.

Add in the apple juice and stir to mix.

Pour the mixture into small cups and add popsicle sticks.

Put the cups into the freezer and let them sit overnight or at least a few hours.

Remove the popsicle from the cup and enjoy!