Matthew Woolen is a master pastry chef and has worked in a variety of Seattle restaurants, including gastropub Old Sage, Zhu Dang, and a gluten-free restaurant called Capitol Cider.

Matthew Woolen

The intensely sweet, creamy, and dense flesh of mangoes makes them particularly well-suited for blending into a smoothie, lassi, sorbet base, or in this case, a paleta-style popsicle. These pops combine fresh mango with pineapple juice and freeze-dried fruit for a burst of bright tropical acidity that will keep you refreshed all summer long.Mangoes are rich in fiber, which helps give the popsicles a pleasantly chewy texture. This fiber, along with sugar, helps to minimize the formation of large ice crystals during freezing, which in turn lends the popsicles a silky-smooth texture that’s much softer and creamier than juice-based treats like our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/fresh-rhubarb-pops">rhubarb</a> and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pomegranate-juice-pops">pomegranate pops</a>.When shopping for mangoes for this recipe, ripeness is key. Mangoes are a climacteric fruit, which means they continue to ripen after being picked. So if you pick up fruit that needs a few more days to ripen at home, don’t rush things. You’ll be rewarded with sweeter and juicier mangoes. It’s also worth seeking out Ataulfo mangoes (often sold as Champagne mangoes), which are smaller, sweeter, and silkier in texture compared to the more commonly available variety in the States, the red Tommy Atkins mango. If you can’t find fresh mangoes, you can use frozen, just know that the flavor of your popsicles won’t be as bright and intense.

Mango-Pineapple Popsicles