I love fruit snacks. My kids love fruit snacks. Everybody in my house love fruit snacks. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like fruit snacks.
With all the stuff they put in the store bought fruit snacks, it is hard to know if they are healthy or not. As mentioned in previous posts, some of the ingredients you can’t even pronounce, let alone know what they are.
Well, now you can make your own fruit snacks that you know are healthy. You will know what all the ingredients are and how to pronounce them.
These fruit snacks have only four ingredients: fruit, gelatin, lemon juice, and sweetener. All of these ingredients can be beneficial to your health!
(Please note, some of the links in this post are affiliate links and we are given a small commission for sales through those links, at no extra cost to you. We only ever link products we love.)
Gelatin:
Gelatin is actually really good for you in many different ways. Gelatin is a protein made from animal products. Gelatin contains collagen, which is one of the materials that make up cartilage and bone. Gelatin is used for strengthening bones, joints, fingernails, and hair. It is also beneficial to digestive health. You can buy some healthy grass fed gelatin here.
Fruit:
I found a bunch of amazing information on fruit at this website. They have all kinds of information on fruit in general, and you can click on individual fruits for more information on each kind.
Fruits are low in calories and fat and are a source of simple sugars, fiber, and vitamins, which are essential for optimizing our health.
Fruits provide plenty of soluble dietary fiber, which helps to ward off cholesterol and fats from the body and to help in smooth bowel movements as well as offer relief from constipation ailments.
Fruits compose of many antioxidants such as polyphenolic flavonoids, vitamin-C, and anthocyanins. These compounds, firstly help human body protected from oxidant stress, diseases, and cancers, and secondly; assist the body in developing the capacity to fight against these ailments by boosting our immunity level.
Lemon Juice:
Lemon juice is known for its antioxidants and being rich in vitamin C. It is also essential for maintaining a fully functional immune system, aiding digestion, fighting cancer, helping wounds to heal faster and can even help to prevent heart failure.
Sweeteners:
Organic cane sugar:
Organic cane sugar is unrefined sugar minus the cancer-causing and environmentally damaging pesticides present in conventionally grown sugarcane. Compared to white sugar, organic cane sugar has the full-bodied taste of sugarcane and is much less processed, retaining a lot of the nutrients present in cane juice. Unrefined cane sugar contains 17 amino acids, 11 minerals, and 6 vitamins, including antioxidants that may help reverse oxidative damage. It is made up of sucrose, fructose, and glucose. Table sugar is just sucrose and calories, plus traces of chemicals utilized in the refining process such as lime, sulphur dioxide, and phosphoric acid. I found this information here at Smarty Pants.
Honey:
Honey contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants. It also contains flavonoids and phenolic acids, which act as antioxidants. Check out Papa’s post on honey and other goodies that come from bees.
Banana:
Bananas are a good source of energy. They are a very rich source of potassium, and contain soluble dietary fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, contain minerals like magnesium, manganese, and copper.
Fruit Snacks, Success and Failure
I tried a few different recipes for fruit snacks, but they were so disappointing. They either had a bad flavor and, an even worse, smell or they didn’t have any flavor at all. So I decided to do what I do best. Take a little from each recipe and just make my own! I used strawberries when making my fruit snacks, but you could probably use any fruit you’d like. You may have to adjust the amount of sweetener you use though. If you don’t want any sweetener you can try using banana. I found that fresh fruit had a better flavor than frozen fruit. But, if that’s all you have on hand, go ahead and use that frozen fruit.
I have tried making these fruit snacks with each of the sweeteners mentioned. I think the ones made with organic cane sugar were the best. They really brought out the strawberry flavor.
The kids liked the ones I made with banana as a sweetener the most. They had a great banana flavor. So, if you like banana, these are the ones for you!
I liked the ones made with honey the least. They didn’t have a strong of a strawberry flavor, and you could taste the honey. Didn’t like them as much, because I don’t like honey. But those who like honey, thought they were good.
Shaping the Fruit Snacks
I just used a pizza cutter to cut my fruit snacks into little squares, but if you want to get fancy you can use candy molds.
You can actually find all kinds of different shapes if you search for them. Click here for a small list of that search!
I store the fruit snacks in the refrigerator until ready to eat. But they do keep well at room temperature, so you can pack them in lunches, or take on trips, as snacks.
These fruit snacks are a great way to give your family a delicious snack that is also healthy!
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Passive Time | 1 hour |
| Servings |
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- 1 pound Strawberries About 4 cups - fresh or frozen, fresh has a stronger flavor
- 3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup Sweetener Sugar, honey, or other sweetener - add enough to achieve the desired sweetness. It also depends upon the fruit you choose) 1-2 bananas, or 2 to 4 tablespoons of honey
- 1/4 cup Gelatin or 5 packets
Ingredients
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|
- Blend fruit, sweetener, and lemon juice in a blender until well blended.
- Pour the fruit mixture into a pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- When it boils, whisk in gelatin very slowly. You add it to quickly, it will clump.
- Boil for one minute. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly, and pour in desired silicone pan or molds. An 8x8 or 8" round works well.
- Put in refrigerator, and cool for one hour or until firm.
- Remove from molds. Or, if you are using a simple pan, cut into desired shapes.
