Homemade Gummies
Truthfully never thought I’d get to a point as a parent where I was making homemade gummies AKA fruit snacks. While I am all for making things from scratch, fruit snacks aren’t typically something I would give my kiddos because all the ones on the market are basically glorified candy so not something that was even on my radar to try and make for them but here we are. My 2-year-old has been asking for gummies after being in a preschool classroom where his classmates have fruit snacks so I set out to make a better alternative. The goal was to make something that was simple to make, with no added sugar and no artificial colors or flavors. Over the last few months I’ve tried a handful of different combinations for these that all worked great. Fun thing about this recipe is the possibilities are really endless as far as flavors and colors go so lets get gummy!
All you need to make these is some sort of liquid, sweetener of your choice, powdered gelatin and a cute mold.
Ingredients:
1 cup 100% fruit juice or pureed fruit
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
3 tablespoons gelatin ( I used Grass-fed beef gelatin from Thrive)
Method of Preparation:
Heat juice/fruit and sweetener over low/medium heat until sweetener is full incorporated and liquid is warm.
Slowly gradually whisk in geletain until fully incorporated and dissolved.
Remove from heat and add to mold of your choice.
Place molds in fridge for 1 hour to set. Pop out and enjoy.
*Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
Some combinations I’ve tried that worked well:
-Apple juice & honey. This is a great base gummy. It doesn’t taste like much and isn’t very sweet. To this you can also add in beet root powder if you wanted pink/red gummies
-Grape juice & honey. This combo is a little sweeter than the apple and gives you a great dark purple color
-Oj, coconut milk, dash of tumeric (for color) and you’ve got what tastes like a pina colada.
-Fresh pureed strawberries and splash of lime juice (this was my favorite combo personally as it had that slightly sweet sour combo)
Some notes:
Do not use pineapple juice as it is too high in enzymes and it does not solidify.
If using pureed fruit, I recommend straining it through a piece of cheese cloth or you end up with a gummy that isn’t totally smooth in texture.
While these hold up great in a lunch box for the day with an ice pack they aren’t ‘shelf stable’ like a regular fruit snack since they are made with gelatin and will melt if left out.
And because picking out the molds is the best part, below you will find some links to my favorites. Any kind of flexible silicon molds work so you can use candy molds too for extra fun shapes. You can also add the gelatin to a sheet try and then cut with a knife or cookie cutters.