Decadent White Chocolate Pistachio Ice Pops Recipe

Iced and chilled desserts offer the perfect solution when you're looking for something sweet on a hot day. If you're looking for some frozen inspiration, our suggestion is creamy, dreamy white chocolate pistachio popsicles. This luxurious and impressive treat is far easier to make than homemade ice cream and more satisfying than a light granita. The base is simply mixed in a blender, then frozen and finished with a crunchy white chocolate shell and drizzled with a sweet pistachio paste. 

Recipe developer Taylor Murray walks us through this easy but stunning recipe. "I love using popsicle molds to make frozen desserts without having to bust out my ice cream machine," says Murray. The overall flavoring of these popsicles is kept simple so the main flavor, pistachio, can shine through. The toasty, rich flavor of this pretty green nut pairs beautifully with the simple sweetness of white chocolate. Altogether, it becomes a perfect bite of contrasting, melt-in-your-mouth textures.

Ice cream popsicles are incredibly easy to make and require very few ingredients. For the base popsicles, we'll blend milk, sugar, vanilla, and toasted pistachios. Once the popsicles are frozen, they'll be dipped in melted white chocolate. To finish, a drizzle of creamy pistachio butter mixed with just a touch of melted chocolate provides the dazzling finishing drizzle on this frozen treat.

In a blender, blend pistachios to a fine powder.

Add milk, sugar, and vanilla and blend again.

Pour the mixture into a popsicle mold prepared with wooden sticks and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate chips in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water.

Combine the pistachio paste with 2 tablespoons of melted white chocolate and set aside.

When the popsicles are frozen solid, remove from the mold and dip each in white chocolate, allowing the excess to run off.

Place on a sheet tray and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Remove from the freezer and drizzle the pistachio white chocolate mixture over the popsicles.

Freeze until ready to serve.

White chocolate is a sweet confection that can be an amazing addition to a wide variety of chocolate desserts. White chocolate offers all of the richness of chocolate with none of the bitterness, and can serve as a pliable, versatile ingredient that has a relatively simple flavor so that it can act as a great base for added flavorings. As it does in this recipe, in which the white chocolate acts as a crunchy shell to the creamy pistachio-flavored popsicle and aids the pistachio paste in becoming a perfect drizzle that melts well but freezes to a firm texture. 

While white chocolate can be easier to work with than other kinds of chocolate thanks to its higher fat content, there are still a few tips that can help. "I like to use melted coconut oil to give white chocolate a runnier texture when using it for dipping," says Murray. This recipe will work just fine without the added oil, but if you are having trouble because the chocolate is coating your popsicles too thickly, try adding coconut oil one tablespoon at a time until the chocolate is runny enough for dipping.

We might think of peanut butter first when it comes to nut butters, as it's easily the most common to find in the grocery store. For baking and pastry work, there are so many other options that can add flavor and texture to recipes of all kinds. Pistachio paste is a decadent nut butter made from ground pistachios. If you can't locate this spread or want a cheaper alternative, you can make it at home.

To make it, simply grind toasted and cooled pistachios in a food processor until totally broken down to a fine crumb. Add a neutral oil a few tablespoons at a time until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy. If you want, you can add flavorings at this point like sugar, vanilla extract, or a pinch of salt. Store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two weeks.