Outsmart the sweltering summertime heat with these perfectly lemony elderflower and hibiscus popsicles sweetened with honey! They’re ultra-hydrating, incredibly thirst-quenching, and best enjoyed under the hot summer sun. With only 4-ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, you’ll end up with delicious popsicles that have all the added health benefits of elderflower and hibiscus.
HERE YOU’LL FIND:
Popsicle with Purpose!
The Health Benefits of Hibiscus
The Health Benefits of Elderflower
How to Make Homemade Hibiscus Popsicles
Hibiscus Popsicle FAQs
Recipe for Lemony Elderflower Hibiscus Popsicles
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Popsicles with Purpose!
Here’s the thing about popsicles: they’re gosh darn refreshing and satisfyingly sweet little frozen pops of summertime nostalgia. But unless you make them yourself, they’re often filled with tons of sugar (sometimes high fructose corn syrup), unnecessary artificial flavors, lab-created colors, and basically all kinds of things that aren’t even food.
Yes, even the “100% fruit” popsicles often contain unnecessary added sugar and colorings.
Unfortunately, it’s a food system-wide problem. Luckily, making your own popsicles is so incredibly easy! Plus, you can dream up all the botanical flavor combinations with added herbal health benefits that you would never find in a grocery.
They say change happens in small little acts. And to that, I say let’s start small and take back popsicles! Let’s add all the goodness back in with fresh fruits, beneficial herbs, and edible flowers.
In fact, let’s make popsicles with purpose!
These lemon elderflower and hibiscus popsicles are the floral-touched pink lemonade of your dreams with so many added health benefits.
The Health Benefits of Hibiscus
Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a beautiful edible plant grown all over the world in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The ruby-red tea of hibiscus is deeply ingrained in many traditional cultures from Jamaica to Africa. In fact, hibiscus tea is the quintessential summertime thirst-quencher!
The health benefits of hibiscus include:
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antioxidant
- Antimicrobial
- Heart Tonic
- Cholesterol-lowering
- Diuretic
- Hypotensive
- Astringent
- Demulcent (helps to soothe irritated and inflamed internal tissues such as mucous membranes)
The Health Benefits of Elderflower
These delicious popsicles also contain elderflower, the delicate floral precursor to the herbal superstar elderberry. Elderflowers, like elderberries, are quite medicinal. In medicine, elderflowers are often used in the following ways:
- Diuretic
- Anti-inflammatory
- Nervine (nourishing and soothing to the central nervous system)
- Vulnerary (promotes wound healing and works to ease inflammation)
- Demulcent
- Expectorant (helps the body to remove excess mucus (often used in sinus infections))
Try These Other Botanical Sweet Treats!
Elderflower & Peach Upside-Down Cake
No-Bake Earl Grey & Lavender Cake Balls
Strawberry Lavender Tart
Elderberry & Thyme Corn Muffins
How to Make Homemade Elderflower & Hibiscus Popsicles
These hibiscus popsicles take less than 15 minutes to throw together and have only 4 ingredients. Okay, technically they have 5 ingredients, but “boiling water” is basically like a non-ingredient… right?
Here’s the run-through of what you’ll need and the basic method, which isn’t much more than making sweet tea. You’ll find the detailed recipe at the bottom of this post. If you’re ready to dive in, skip ahead to the recipe.
>>> A lil’ word of hibiscus caution: While deliciously beautiful and ruby-red, hibiscus may stain clothes, wooden utensils, or kitchen towels. Just be aware and carry on accordingly. 😁
Equipment Needed:
- Popsicle Mold – I find the silicone popsicle molds to be the easiest to work with and clean. I have and love this popsicle mold from Amazon. Stainless steel popsicle molds are nice too and have typically come in their own stand to keep them upright in the freezer. Whichever you choose, make sure your molds are BPA-free.)
- Small Cookie Sheet or Cutting Board – If using a silicone mold, setting in on something rigid and flat will make it much easier to move and set it in the freezer without having to worry about it getting knocked over.
- Sauce Pan or Tea Kettle – This is my most absolute favorite electric tea kettle for brewing herbal teas.
- Measuring Cups
- Fine Mesh Strainer – These are an herbalist’s must-have! Cuisinart makes a convenient set of 3 nested strainers.
- Whisk or Large Wooden Spoon
Ingredients:
- Dried Hibiscus Flowers
- Boiling Water
- Fresh-Squeezed Lemon Juice
- Raw, Local Honey
- Elderflower Liqueur or Cordial – You can make your own using fresh or dried elderflowers or use store-bought. I like to use St. Germain for a subtly boozy addition or this brand for an alcohol-free version. You can even find elderflower liqueur at IKEA.
Method:
- Make a super-strong hibiscus tea. We’re going for big, bold, and beautiful flavors here in our popsicle mix. Once you freeze them, the flavor always seems to mellow a bit, so you’ll start with a super-strong hibiscus tea.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients. After you strain the hibiscus tea, you’ll stir in the lemon juice, honey, and elderflower liqueur (or cordial) until thoroughly combined.
- Pour into popsicle molds and freeze. Carefully pour your popsicle mixture into the molds. Insert popsicle sticks as needed, depending on the type of mold you’re using. Then freeze until solid, usually 4-6 hours.
HERBALIST’S TIP!
Try a cold hibiscus infusion instead! Combine the dried hibiscus flowers, a tiny squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and room-temperature water in a glass jar. Set in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Then proceed with making your popsicles.
Making hibiscus tea this way will preserve much more of the vitamin C content found in hibiscus, as vitamin C is incredibly heat-sensitive! Consequently, you’ll end up with a much more flavorful and nutritive tea.
Popsicle FAQs
Where can I find dried hibiscus flowers?
Dried hibiscus flowers are generally very easy to find. In fact, you can often find dried hibiscus calyces in most regular groceries with an ethnic food section, in the same place where you might find packages of dried chilis or corn husks for making tamales.
However, for the highest quality hibiscus, purchase from local growers (or grow them yourself) or buy online from reputable herb companies. I purchase all my dried herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. Their herbs and spices are consistently high quality, organically grown and/or ethically harvested, and fair-trade when applicable.
Mountain Rose Herbs offers dried hibiscus flower two ways:
- Whole Hibiscus Flowers
- Cut & Sifted Hibiscus Flowers (I use these most often. They’re chopped smaller and easier to make herbal tea blends or even powder in a spice grinder if needed.)
What’s the best way to store homemade popsicles?
In the freezer, of course! 😉 Store your homemade popsicles either in the molds and remove one at a time as needed. Otherwise, once frozen, hold the mold under hot running water for ~10 seconds to easily remove all popsicles.
Individually wrap each popsicle in plastic wrap or store them all together in a freezer-safe storage container (or gallon-sized Ziplock) using small pieces of wax or parchment paper to separate them from each other. The less air exposure they have, the less chance of freezer burn and excessive ice build-up.
How long do homemade popsicles keep?
I recommend enjoying your homemade popsicles within 3 months. However, because they are frozen, they will obviously keep much longer. If stored properly (wrapped or stored as air-tight as possible), they’ll have less of a chance of developing freezer burn or getting real frosty, and could possibly last up to 6 months.
No one likes a popsicle with a freezer aftertaste. 🤢
For more plant magic & herbal wellness in your life, be sure to follow along on ➡️ Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter, & snag my herbal 📚 eBooks Nourishing Herbal Gifts & Holiday Pies from the (Un)Bakery. 🌿 And please don’t forget to tag me in your snaps 📸 @_botanyculture_. I love to see all the plant magic you make happen!
Lemony Elderflower & Hibiscus Popsicles
(sweetened with honey)
Course: Dessert, SnacksDifficulty: Easy10
popsicles15
minutes6
hoursOutsmart the sweltering summertime heat with these perfectly lemony elderflower and hibiscus popsicles sweetened with honey! And with only 4-ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, you’ll end up with delicious popsicles that have all the added health benefits of elderflower and hibiscus. (Depending on the size of your molds, you may end up with extra liquid. Just dilute to your taste with water, pour over ice, and enjoy as an iced tea!)
Ingredients
4 cups boiling water
1/3 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/3 cup honey, raw & local
1/4 cup elderflower liqueur or cordial* (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
Directions
- Make a super-strong hibiscus tea. Once the water has stopped boiling, combine the dried hibiscus flowers and water in a small saucepan or a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Cover and steep for 10-15 minutes. Then use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the hibiscus flowers from the tea.
The longer you let it steep, the stronger your hibiscus tea will be!
***Alternatively, make a cold infusion. While this takes longer, you’ll keep more of the immune-boosting vitamin C content that’s typically destroyed by heat! Combine room-temperature water and dried hibiscus in a glass jar and let sit in the fridge for 1-2 days before straining and proceeding with the popsicle recipe. - Stir in the remaining ingredients. After you strain the hibiscus tea, you’ll stir in the lemon juice, honey, and elderflower liqueur (or cordial) until thoroughly combined. Taste to see if it’s sweetened to your liking.
We’re going for big, bold, and beautiful flavors here in our popsicle mix. Once you freeze them, the flavor always seems to mellow a bit, so you’ll start with a super-strong hibiscus tea. Add more honey, elderflower liqueur, or lemon juice if needed. - Pour into popsicle molds and freeze. Carefully pour your popsicle mixture into the molds. Insert popsicle sticks as needed, depending on the type of mold you’re using. (Some molds have built-in “sticks.”) Then freeze until solid, usually 4-6 hours.
- Remove from popsicle mold and enjoy! Once frozen solid, you can run the popsicle mold under hot running water for ~10 seconds to gently release the popsicles from the mold.
To store leftover popsicles, you can keep them in the molds and remove one popsicle at a time as needed. Otherwise, you can individually wrap each popsicle in plastic wrap or store them all together in a freezer-safe storage container (or gallon-sized Ziplock) using small pieces of wax or parchment paper to separate them from each other. The less air exposure they have, the less chance of freezer burn and excessive ice build-up. Enjoy within 3 months.
Notes
- ELDERFLOWER LIQUEUR/CORDIAL: You can make your own using fresh or dried elderflowers or use store-bought. I like to use St. Germain for a subtly boozy addition or this brand for an alcohol-free version. You can even find elderflower liqueur at IKEA! >> To make your own, follow this recipe for lavender simple syrup, and substitute dried elderflowers for the lavender.
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DISCLAIMER: The information given in this article is intended for educational purposes only. Always consult with your healthcare practitioner before consuming certain herbs & medicinal foods, especially if pregnant, nursing, or taking any prescription medications.
