Strawberry & Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Pudding Pops :: Guest Post

These are not Mr. Cosby’s pudding pops. Remember those? I used to sell them on the playground at recess in elementary school. I LOVED them! They were only a quarter and if you put your tongue on the side it would freeze to it. That’s probably why they were discontinued, ya think? A playground full of 10 year olds with Jell-o Pudding Pops dangling from their tongues, that has got to be the reason.

I had a craving for them recently and I thought about making my homemade chocolate pudding to freeze into pops but I know a lot of you don’t have time for that kind of shenanigans. So, I bought a ton of different flavored pudding and then stood in my kitchen staring at all of them hoping a fabulous new flavor would jump up and smack me in the face. That didn’t happen, exactly, but I did come up with something pretty awesome….and EASY! And QUICK!

I started with something healthy and kind of threw that all out the window BUT you could health it up if you wanted. Sub out the homemade whipped cream for fat-free Cool Whip and that will work. It’s going to knock down the creaminess several notches and will give it a little bit of an icy texture but they will definitely be lower in fat. If you don’t eat all of them yourself in one day you can leave the recipe as I created it. I promise your skinny jeans will still fit tomorrow.

They’re so tasty and light, I will be serving these as a dessert this summer. Who needs cake?!? Well, cake would be good with these too. But that’s a recipe for another day.

Strawberry and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Pudding Pops

Makes 12 Pudding Pops in a standard freezer pop mold (you can also use paper cups, just wait for the pops to begin to firm up in the freezer and then add the sticks.)

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners
• 1 - 1 ounce package Jell-o Cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix (sugar-free/fat-free)
• 2 cups 2% milk (you could use any milk except skim)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup strawberry preserves

In a medium bowl, whisk the heavy whipping cream and confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the pudding mix, milk and vanilla bean paste stirring constantly until it begins to thicken. Approximately 3 minutes. Fold in the strawberry preserves and 1 1/2 cups of the whipped cream until combined. (you may have leftover whipped cream….use a spoon and eat it. Do not share.)

Pour the mixture into molds, or cups if using, and insert the sticks into the center of the pops. If you’re using cups, wait approximately 20-30 minutes before adding the sticks.

Freeze for 3 hours or overnight. Enjoy!