Root Beer Float Pops

Does anything say "carefree summer," or if you went to BYU, "low-budget refreshments" better than a root beer float? Gotta love 'em. Well these pops are just what they say they are: frozen root beer floats in popsicle molds. Just a slightly more portable, slightly less spillable, version for the kiddos. Plus I had to try out my new swirly molds. Absolutely perfect for your next FHE.

Beware the foam, though! You know the foam. Well the foam is too bubbly to freeze solid. So to cut it down you must carefully lower the ice cream into the root beer and scoop any foam that does form off the top. Not a huge hassle but it really must be done.

Obviously this popsicle has a million variations - replace the root beer with pretty much any soda, like orange, birch beer, cream soda, etc. Or replace it with lemon-lime soda or ginger ale and then replace the ice cream with any sherbet, yum. Now go forth and FLOAT!

Root Beer Float Pops

4 cups root beer (about 3 cans)

6 or 8 maraschino cherries, stemmed

2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

1. Pour cold root beer into a pitcher and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes. This will make it very cold and reduce the ice cream melt factor.

2. Put a cherry in each mold. Pour some root beer into each mold until half full.

3. Gently lower a small scoop of ice cream into each pop mold so it is about 3/4 full.

4. Slowly add more root beer until the molds are full. Scoop off the foam with a spoon. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

5. Remove from the freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the pops from the molds.

Recipe from POPS! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella

Makes six 8-oz pops or eight 6-oz pops