Any time I get a chance to experiment in the kitchen with homemade pantry staples, I take it. Honestly, there’s nothing that excites me more than taking a store-bought item and turning it into a made-from-scratch masterpiece. A domestic instinct, perhaps?
Lately, my new obsession has been with this DIY Pantry Cookbook by Kresha of Nourishing Joy, and although I’m not a real foodie, I do strive to be healthy {most of the time, anyway} and love when I can keep all those nasty preservatives out of our food. Kresha has a ton of fabulous recipes that don’t use a lot of sugar, and are super good for you. Plus, they meet my overwhelming need to make my own everything. Win-win!
Since Joseph is completely enamored with fruits snacks {seriously, you would think he was 5}, I was elated to find a recipe in there to make our own. The result? Not bad! My husband can’t stay out of them, and it makes me feel better that he isn’t eating waxy fruit-shaped candies anymore.
You will definitely want to try making these yourself as they are the perfect snack for little hands, and you totally feel good about feeding them to your kids!
How to Make Your Own Fruit Snacks
Step 1: Choose any fruit you’d like {I chose strawberries}, place in a blender, and puree until smooth. Make sure the puree equals 1 cup. You may have to take some of the puree out and set aside.
Step 2: Add a strong complementary fruit juice and light colored honey to the blender and puree again until smooth. Then, pour mixture into a large bowl and set aside.
Step 3: Fill a saucepan with 1 cup cold water and stir in the gelatin until combined. Place over medium-low heat and heat the mixture until the gelatin is dissolved, stirring occasionally (about 3 to 4 minutes).
Step 4: Pour the dissolved gelatin into the fruit mixture and whisk well to combine, then quickly pour the mixture into an ungreased 9″ x 9″ cake pan or into candy molds and allow to cool in the refrigerator uncovered for 2 to 3 hours. If you decide to use candy molds, work really fast as the mixture will set fairly quickly!
Step 5: Once the mixture is completely set, remove it carefully from the molds or cake pan. If you used a pan, cut them into squares with a knife or spatula. You should be able to get 12-13 horizontal strips and then cut each strip into 12 pieces.
Step 6: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks. I like to package mine into snack bags so I can quickly throw them into lunches!
Make fruit snacks that are actually good for you {and your kids!} with this easy homemade recipe. Uses all-natural ingredients, is bursting with flavor, and makes the perfect afternoon snack without the guilt!
Ingredients
Scale
1 cup pureed fruit
1 cup strongly flavored fruit juice
1/4 cup honey (the lighter the color the better. Dark honey is stronger and less sweet)
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup unflavored gelatin (about 8 packets)
Instructions
Place fruit in a blender and puree until smooth. Make sure the puree is 1 cup.
Add the fruit juice and honey to the blender and puree again until smooth.
Pour mixture into a large bowl and set aside.
Fill a saucepan with 1 cup cold water and stir in the gelatin until combined. The mixture will be very thick and will want to congeal.
Place over medium-low heat and heat the mixture until the gelatin is dissolved, stirring occasionally (about 3 to 4 minutes).
Pour the dissolved gelatin into the fruit mixture and whisk well to combine. Quickly pour the mixture into an ungreased 9″ x 9″ cake pan or into candy molds and allow to cool in the refrigerator uncovered for 2 to 3 hours. If using candy molds, you must work extremely fast or the mixture will set before you can pour it all.
Once the mixture is completely set remove it carefully from the molds or cake pan. If you used the cake pan, cut them into squares by cutting 12 horizontal strips and then each strip into 12 pieces.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.
Total Cost:$5.38/batch or $.74/serving {20 fruit snacks}
Because there is so much gelatin in this recipe, homemade fruit snacks are actually just a little bit more expensive to make over brand name. However, I can knock down the cost down a lot just by purchasing unflavored gelatin in bulk rather than the store, which makes the comparison pretty much a wash.
Even though I wouldn’t go exclusively homemade in the fruit snack department, this was still a fun recipe to try and fairly easy to put together. I am definitely looking forward to experimenting with different flavors in the future!
What homemade snacks do you love to make?
The DIY Pantry features over 100 homemade recipes and is the perfect complement to your cookbook collection. Learn how to make pantry staples from scratch and get rid of processed foods for good!
From graham crackers to homemade pasta, you can stock your pantry with ingredients you feel good about. And the best part? Each recipe can be completed in 30 minutes or less!
Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.Read my full disclosure policy here.
I received this book free fromAdams Media. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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Wow! Perfect timing on your fruit snack post. My grandson is visiting and he loves fruit snacks. I’m going to make these today! They look so good…I may have to make an extra batch for my big kids too 🙂
Kayln Thanks for a great recipe. Just a thought though. I noticed your comment that these cost a bit more than the packaged ones. In my opinion that is a non-factor in this world of highly processed foods. Homemade is almost ALWAYS better because you control the ingredients. (assuming that you don’t use processed foods to make something homemade) Another option for the juice could be coconut water. Light refreshing and delicious.
I learned this the hard way. A recipe I tried from another site had me use just fruit juice (no fresh fruit) and didn’t mention the “strongly flavored” kind. I ended up using a juice that I guess wasn’t flavorful enough because the fruit snacks had barely any taste! I ended up tossing the entire batch. Mama not happy! 🙁 Going to try yours now, these sound like they will turn out much better. Thanks for posting it!
I have just made these with my daughter. They taste yum! Just a question about the consistency of them: are they meant to be like thick jelly, or thicker, like an actual lolly? Mine are very wobbly and can break apart quite easily. Regardless, they are a great treat, and will help replace lolly/candy/sweets in my family!
So glad you liked them, Melissa! the consistency is supposed to be a very thick jelly….I wonder if the gelatin didn’t gel properly? That’s the only thing I can think of that would make them break apart.
I’m so sorry to hear that, Lisa! I’m not sure what went wrong either — I’ve never tried this recipe with the apples or apple juice. Here is another recipe I found that puts orange juice in with the apple juice and doesn’t use pureed fruit. I wonder if that might turn out better? http://kulamama.com/homemade-fruit-snacks/
Loved this idea so much that I planned a blog on Fairy Tale Theme Dinners with it! Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to actually try it (So far, I’ve only written about doing it. Ha!)
Wow! Perfect timing on your fruit snack post. My grandson is visiting and he loves fruit snacks. I’m going to make these today! They look so good…I may have to make an extra batch for my big kids too 🙂
Hope you and your grandson enjoy them!
Great recipe! I have been contemplating on purchasing fruit snacks for my toddler. This is much healthier recipe. I will give this a try soon. Thanks!
You will have to let me know which flavors you try and how they turned out!
These look delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Kayln Thanks for a great recipe. Just a thought though. I noticed your comment that these cost a bit more than the packaged ones. In my opinion that is a non-factor in this world of highly processed foods. Homemade is almost ALWAYS better because you control the ingredients. (assuming that you don’t use processed foods to make something homemade) Another option for the juice could be coconut water. Light refreshing and delicious.
What strongly flavored fruit juice do you use?
I would think a strong grape or cranberry would be best. Cranberry would probably go with a lot more fruits than grape though.
I learned this the hard way. A recipe I tried from another site had me use just fruit juice (no fresh fruit) and didn’t mention the “strongly flavored” kind. I ended up using a juice that I guess wasn’t flavorful enough because the fruit snacks had barely any taste! I ended up tossing the entire batch. Mama not happy! 🙁 Going to try yours now, these sound like they will turn out much better. Thanks for posting it!
Let me know if you like them! They do have flavor!
These are a great idea for our weekend soccer tournaments and games. A sweet healthy pick me up! Gonna try these for Saturday. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy them, Sara! 🙂
I have just made these with my daughter. They taste yum! Just a question about the consistency of them: are they meant to be like thick jelly, or thicker, like an actual lolly? Mine are very wobbly and can break apart quite easily. Regardless, they are a great treat, and will help replace lolly/candy/sweets in my family!
So glad you liked them, Melissa! the consistency is supposed to be a very thick jelly….I wonder if the gelatin didn’t gel properly? That’s the only thing I can think of that would make them break apart.
Wow Kalyn, this seems really interesting, quick and simple. Wondering how it never really occurred to me to make this. Gonna try it this weekend.
Looking forward to trying this. I want to use candy molds. May I use the clear plastic chocolate molds or do I need to use silicone molds? Thanks.
I don’t see why that wouldn’t work! I would definitely give it a shot. Shaped gummies would be so cute!
Unfortunately, this did not work for me AT ALL. I was very disappointed 🙁
I used apples and apple juice, no idea where it or I went wrong…
I’m so sorry to hear that, Lisa! I’m not sure what went wrong either — I’ve never tried this recipe with the apples or apple juice. Here is another recipe I found that puts orange juice in with the apple juice and doesn’t use pureed fruit. I wonder if that might turn out better? http://kulamama.com/homemade-fruit-snacks/
So excited to try this recipe!
Question- would strawberries and orange juice be a good combination?
Thanks!!
I think it would! I haven’t tried that combination so if you do – please report back! 🙂
Can you make this snack with replacing gelatin with surgel?? What do you use if you cannot find unflavored gelatin?
I don’t know why not! But you’ll have to experiment to find out how much to use. If you try it come back and let us know how it works out!
You can also buy Gelatin on Amazon.
Loved this idea so much that I planned a blog on Fairy Tale Theme Dinners with it! Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to actually try it (So far, I’ve only written about doing it. Ha!)