Homemade Healthy Fruit Snacks Recipe

Forget the store-bought gummy bears. Make your own Homemade Healthy Fruit Snacks with this easy recipe that your kids will love. They’re so easy and fun to make and are great for a healthy snack or treat.

Have you ever used real gelatin? No, I’m not talking about the boxes of store-bought gelatin like Jello-O that’s full of artificial colors and preservatives. I’m talking about real gelatin from grass-fed cows. You can make it easily with just 4 ingredients and you’ll be serving up lots of protein and nourishing collagen and amino acids in every one of these fruit snacks.

What is Gelatin?

Gelatin is derived from the skin, connective tissue and/or bones of animals. All gelatin is made this way. What makes grass-fed gelatin different is the quality of the gelatin. It’s from grass-fed cows rather than factory farmed animals.

Generations have been eating gelatin for many years – and yes, even Jello-O is derived the same way. Gelatin is used to thicken or congeal foods and make products such as gelatin or gummy snacks, marshmallows, etc.

Grass-fed gelatin is high in protein, essential amino acids (such as glycine, proline and lysine) and collagen. These key ingredients help to build connective tissue, provide support with those with collagen loss or cartilage damage, and aid in hair and skin health (such as help with wrinkles and cellulite).¹

So you’re probably thinking – heck, all adults should be taking this. You’re right. Grass-fed gelatin is an excellent nutritional supplement for adults – especially those who aren’t drinking bone broth on a regular basis. But it’s also great for kids.

It’s high in protein, so it’s fantastic for little bodies and helping to support bone, skin, hair and connective tissue health.

How to Make These Healthy Fruits Snacks – Step by Step

1. In a sauce pan, heat orange juice, frozen fruit, and raw honey or maple syrup on low heat.
2. When liquid is hot, add gelatin one tablespoon at a time and use an immersion blender so that gelatin is well-absorbed (no lumps). The consistency will thicken.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Pour into silicone molds and refrigerate until the snacks harden – about for 3-4 hours.
5. When ready, pop out of the molds. They should come out pretty easily. Pop them in the freezer for a few minutes if they gummy snacks don’t come out easily.
6. Store in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Can I Use a Different Fruit Juice?

Yes, you can use lemonade, grapefruit juice, guava juice, apple juice, or any fruit juice instead of the orange juice in this recipe.

You could even use NingXia Red, a fruit puree made with wolf berries, also known as goji berries. It’s loaded with antioxidants and tastes so good. Just add 1/2 cup of NingXia Red, keep the 1 cup of orange juice, and increase the gelatin to 5 tbsp.

Healthy Fruit Snacks for Kids and Adults

These gummy snacks are perfect for adults and kids, great for packing in lunch boxes. One tablespoon of grass-fed gelatin has about 6 grams of protein.²

I found the original recipe from Great Lakes (I modified the base lemon jelly recipe). I tested this with frozen strawberries but I think any berries, mango or pineapple will work well.

An Easy Homemade Snack

This recipe is easy to follow. Just add your favorite juice (we like orange juice) and frozen fruit (like frozen strawberries to a saucepan. Add some honey and gelatin, and then use an immersion blender to puree. I used orange juice as the liquid in this recipe, but I think other juices will work well too. If using a non-citrus juice, reduce the amount to 1 cup minus 2-3 tbsp, then use 2-3 tbsp of lemon juice. The citrus helps to naturally preserve these gummy snacks.

Pour the mixture into silicone molds to form and then put in the fridge to let it set.

Top Tips for These Healthy Fruit Snacks

• You can freeze these snacks and pack a few frozen gummy snacks in a lunch box so they’re cold by the time the kids get to school.
• Any berries, mango or pineapple will work well.
•  I used a smaller mold – which yielded about 28 gummy snacks – so 7 g
• ummies would be 6 grams of protein (since there are 4 tablespoons of gelatin in this recipe).
• Use an immersion blender so the gelatin is well absorbed.

More Recipes You Might Like

• Cold-Busting Elderberry Gummy Fruit Snacks
• Grain-Free Cheese Crackers Recipe
• Peanut Butter Protein Bites

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Print Recipe

5 from 37 votes

Homemade Healthy Fruit Snacks Recipe

Forget the store-bought gummy bears. Make your own Homemade Healthy Fruit Snacks with this easy recipe that your kids will love. 

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time10 mins

chilling time4 hrs

Total Time15 mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: healthy gummy candy, homemade gummy candy

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 44kcal

Author: Don’t Mess With Mama

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup frozen fruit mango, berries, etc.
• 4 tbsp grass-fed gelatin
• 1-2 tbsp raw organic honey

Instructions

• In a sauce pan, heat orange juice, frozen fruit, and raw honey or maple syrup on low heat.
• When liquid is hot, add gelatin one tablespoon at a time and use an immersion blender so that gelatin is well-absorbed (no lumps). The consistency will thicken.
• Remove from heat.
• Pour into silicone molds and refrigerate until the snacks harden – about for 3-4 hours.
• When ready, pop out of the molds. They should come out pretty easily. (Pop them in the freezer for a few minutes if they gummy snacks don’t come out easily).

Want More Recipes?

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I wrote this book with YOU in mind. Parents who want to provide kids with wholesome meals without artificial colors, preservatives and other additives.

All the recipes are gluten-free – with many options for grain free or Paleo, dairy free, egg free and vegetarian.

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It’s filled with 130+ pages of content and recipes, including:

• Real food nutrition 101
• Detailed information on how to properly soak and sprout nuts, beans, grains and seeds
• A guide on how to spot chemical additives and what to avoid
• Kitchen essentials and cooking tools
• Tips on how to get kids to become better eaters and help in the kitchen
• 70+ gluten-free recipes – such as snacks and appetizers, beverages, condiments and dressings, main meals, desserts and more

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