Healthy Homemade Gummy Fruit Snacks

I was looking for an allergy-friendly gummy candy for my girls. I wanted treats for potty training, but a lot of the usual allergy-friendly treats are too messy or just not portable. I wanted something candy-like, which made me immediately think of fruit snacks. Unfortunately, as far as I’m aware there aren’t any store-bought GAPS friendly fruit snacks available. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong because I make nearly everything from scratch, so I’m always open to store-bought options that meet our dietary needs!) There are organic options, like Annie’s, which would be a good alternative for many. However, if you are avoiding all forms of sugar (except raw honey) and any starch these wouldn’t work. I also sent emails and made phone calls to find out about the “natural flavor” in a few other brands. However, they wouldn’t give out the information, as it is proprietary. “Natural flavor” is usually code for something that my girls can’t eat, so unless a company will tell me exactly what it is, we avoid it.

I tried a few different recipes for homemade gummy candy, and this one has been the best one by far. I’ve also tried pouring the mixture into a baking dish and cutting them into squares. For that option though, you have to grease the pan first with coconut oil, and that leaves little bits of solid coconut oil and is just unsightly. It’s also impossible for me to get the squares cut into uniform sizes. When I saw these molds I knew they would be perfect! I bought this two-pack of gummy bear molds. I also use this gelatin, which is great for gut health. I love that I know exactly what’s in these treats.

The recipe comes from their website, but I doubled it so that I could fill both molds, making 100 gummy bear candies with a little of the mixture to spare. I’ll share my version below. The girls love them!! I used a mix of strawberry puree and apple juice (instead of water), and they turned out great!

Healthy Homemade Gummy Fruit Snacks

 

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Ingredients

• ½ cup pureed strawberries
• ½ cup organic apple juice
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp raw honey
• 4 Tbsp unflavored gelatin

Instructions

1. Heat pureed strawberries, lemon juice, and honey in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk.
2. Add gelatin to the cold apple juice and stir to a paste.
3. Add the paste to the mixture in the saucepan, stirring constantly with a whisk to avoid clumps until it dissolves.
4. Note: You can add the gelatin directly to the hot mixture, but I find it works better to allow it to "bloom" in a cold liquid before adding it.
5. Stir until all the ingredients are melted and combined. Do not boil.
6. Place molds on tray and pour the mixture into the molds. I like to wipe up excess with a paper towel, but it's not difficult to peel away the excess once they have set.
7. Place in the freezer or the refrigerator until set. The candy should pop out of the silicone molds fairly easily.

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