These Chocolate Covered Cherry Popsicles are made with creamy Greek yogurt and stewed cherries. They're super easy to make and perfect for summer!
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Why This Recipe Works
Creamy - The popsicles are made with greek yogurt and cherries cooked with maple syrup and vanilla. The cherry syrup, that's made by cooking the cherries, is mixed into the yogurt turning it a beautiful shade of pink, and the cherries are swirled into the ice cream. You can also use coconut cream for a vegan-friendly version.
Stewed cherries - Cooking the cherries with maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon softens them and enhances their flavor. You can make the popsicles with fresh cherries too but you won't get the pretty pink yogurt color. Cooking them takes just 10 minutes and you can save leftovers for desserts or breakfast!
Chocolate covered - The popsicles get dipped in chocolate which creates an amazing chocolate shell. You can either cover them whole, dip them half in chocolate, or just do a drizzle.
Simple and easy - You only need 6 very simple ingredients for this recipe and it's really easy to put together. It's also easy to make vegan by substituting yogurt for coconut cream!
Ingredients
- Greek yogurt - You can use any yogurt you have but I highly recommend Greek yogurt. The thicker the yogurt, the creamier the popsicles will be.
- Cherries - I prefer using fresh cherries but you can also use frozen if necessary. Allow them to defrost in the fridge and drain excess water before cooking.
- Chocolate - I like using 70-85% dark chocolate and adding coconut oil to thin out the chocolate. The smaller the percentage, the more sugar the chocolate has and the less coconut oil it will need. If you don't add any, you'll most likely need more chocolate and the chocolate shell will be thicker and harder after freezing.
Variations and Substitutions
Coconut cream - You can make the popsicles vegan by using either vegan yogurt or coconut cream. I like using either the coconut cream from a can of coconut milk or coconut whipping cream. The whipping cream I buy is unsweetened and really creamy and thick which is perfect for these popsicles.
Sour cherries - These tend to be harder to find sometimes but they can be a great substitute for cherries here! I get mine from the farmer's market around the same time as regular cherries.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Cook cherries - Start by cooking the cherries. Simmer them with maple syrup and a splash of water for 10 minutes. Allow them to cool completely. I recommend transferring them to a bowl to cool them quicker. You will need to separate the cherries from the liquid. You can do this before or after cooling, I usually do it right away.
Mix yogurt and cherry syrup - Once the cherries and the cherry syrup cool down, it's time to mix the syrup with Greek yogurt. I don't add the cherries to the yogurt to be able to control how many cherries go into each popsicle. Your popsicle molds might be different from mine so the recipe makes more than you need to make sure there is enough. Store any leftover yogurt mixture in a freezer-safe container for extra ice cream.
Fill popsicles - Once you whisk the cherry syrup with the yogurt, fill your popsicle molds with it about ¾ way up. Add 1-2 tablespoon of cherries into each popsicle and use the back of a spoon to move the cherries around.
Ready to freeze - Once you add enough cherries to each popsicle, top up each one with more of the yogurt mixture to the top and insert a wooden popsicle stick into each popsicle. They should stand up easily because of the cherries and thick yogurt. Freeze the popsicles for at least 8-12 hours before taking them out.
Take popsicles out: I recommend you take the popsicles out first, freeze them again on a baking sheet lined with foil and then dip them in chocolate once they're well frozen again. That way they won't start melting halfway through and the chocolate shell will harden faster.
To take the popsicles out of the molds, run the molds under hot water for a few seconds and the popsicles should be easy to pull out. If they're not, run them under hot water again very briefly and repeat. Try not to do this too many times or for too long as the popsicles might start to melt.
Lay the popsicles on a baking sheet lined with foil and transfer them back to the freezer. Ideally, you want to add the baking sheet to the freezer ahead of time so that it's cold and the popsicles don't further melt on it.
Melt the chocolate - To melt the chocolate, break it up into small pieces (I like doing it right in the package before opening it) and add it to a large heat-proof glass bowl. Add 1-2 inches of water to a saucepan that's big enough to fit the bowl on top and bring the water to a boil. Take off the heat and add the bowl on top making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl. Add coconut oil to the chocolate and allow it to melt. Stir often with a spatula to help the chocolate melt. Turn the heat back on if necessary.
Dip the popsicles in chocolate: Take the popsicles out of the freezer and dip in chocolate. You can pour the chocolate into a tall wide glass to be able to dip the whole popsicle in it easily. The chocolate hardens very fast on the popsicles so it's important to work quickly and only dip the popsicles for a couple of seconds.
FAQs
You can use vegan yogurt or coconut cream/coconut whipped cream to make these vegan.
This will depend on how cold your freezer is and how steady the temperature is. If it goes up and down a lot, the popsicles won't last as long. I usually keep them for 1-3 months.
More Popsicles
Popsicles are my favorite summer treat to make, below are four of my favorite popsicle recipes. The cookie dough one is my all-time favorite! To see all the latest dessert recipes, head to the Desserts category.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Covered Cherry Popsicles
- Prep Time: 30
- Freeze Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 8 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 10 popsicles 1x
- Category: Ice Cream
- Method: Freezer
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Creamy cherry popsicles with stewed cherries with a dark chocolate shell. Perfect for the summer!
Ingredients
Cherries:
- 1 lb (500g or 4 cups) cherries, pitted and halved
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Yogurt ice cream:
- 500g Greek yogurt (the thicker and creamier the better, or sub unsweetened coconut whipping cream)
- 1 cup cherry syrup (from cooking cherries)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Chocolate shell:
- 400g dark chocolate (I like using 65-85% chocolate)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or butter
Instructions
Cherries:
- Add pitted and halved cherries into a medium saucepan with maple syrup, water, and vanilla extract.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Divide the cherries and the liquid (you can use a strainer or a spoon, it’s ok if some of the liquid stays with the cherries). You should have approx. 1 cup of cherry syrup.
- Cool both completely in the fridge before mixing with the yogurt.
Yogurt ice cream:
- In a large bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt, cherry syrup, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
- Fill your popsicle molds about ¾ way up with the yogurt mixture.
- Divide the cherries between the popsicle molds and move them around using the back of a spoon.
- Fill each popsicle mold with more yogurt mixture to the top and insert a popsicle stick into each one. The mixture is quite thick so they should stand up easily.
- Freeze the popsicle for 8-12 hours before taking them out and dipping in chocolate.
- Before taking the popsicles out, add a baking sheet lined with foil into the freezer. To take the popsicles out, run the molds under hot water for a few seconds and pull the popsicles out. If they’re not coming out, repeat the process.
- Lay them out on the prepared baking sheet and freeze again before dipping them in the chocolate.
Chocolate shell:
- Break up the chocolate into small pieces and add to a large heat-proof glass bowl along with the coconut oil.
- Add 1-2 inches of water to a saucepan that’s big enough to fit the bowl on top and bring the water to a boil.
- Take the saucepan off the heat and add the bowl on top making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
- Melt the chocolate stirring often with a spatula to help the chocolate melt evenly. Turn the heat back on if needed.
- Keep the melted chocolate in the bowl or transfer it to a tall wide glass if you want to dip the popsicles whole. Lay the chocolate-covered popsicles back on the baking sheet and transfer them back to the freezer. Once they’re frozen, transfer them to a ziplock bag or a freezer-safe container.
Notes
The popsicles keep for 1-4 months in the freezer if frozen well.
Daniella
These were delicious! Made them with frozen cherries as cherry season is already over where I live.