Why buy something when you can just make it yourself?!
Sure, there is the convenience factor that comes from buying packaged foods but, that convenience often comes at a nutritional price.
Have you seen what most store bought gummy fruit snacks are made of? Even the “natural” and “organic” fruit snacks have a host of unhealthy ingredients. Things like: corn syrup, sugar, artificial dyes, artificial flavoring, citric acid. Lots of unnatural ingredients that have no nutritional value and, in fact, have been known to cause harm to the body.
These little gummy goodies are unlike anything you’ll find on store shelves. They’re full of real, all-natural ingredients that have verified health benefits, like vitamin-C and antioxidants.
It takes just 4-ingredients to make them: fresh lemon juice, fresh strawberries, raw honey and gelatin. No additives, no fillers, no questionable ingredients.
Gelatin is an incredible body regenerator, right in line with bone broth. Bone broth has been making its way into the news lately over its restorative benefits in both body and beauty. Gelatin is composed of protein, water and mineral salts and is free of color, additives and sugar. It comes from the connective tissue and/or the bones of animals and is highly nutritious. Here’s a rundown:
- Excellent source of protein, amino acids and collagen (collagen combats fine lines and wrinkles)
- Great for bone and joint health with anti-inflammatory properties
- Aids in digestion and helping food pass through the digestive tract
- Strengthens hair and nails
They’re also made of raw honey. Raw honey is a powerful example of how food … is medicine.
- Antibacterial & anti-inflammatory properties
- Built in antioxidants
- Used to treat scrapes and burns
- Infection fighter: treats superbugs resistant to regular antibiotics
A potent food in so many ways, especially for kids who are fighting off germs at school and beyond.
This recipe is perfect for making gummy bears, fruit roll ups, or both.
I used this batch to make both for demonstration purposes (please reference directions and notes), but you can easily do either/or, or do both as well.
Start by simply puréeing your strawberries.
Melt your raw honey on the stove with the strawberry purée and fresh lemon juice.
Once honey melts, stir in your gelatin. When it has a nice glaze on top, take it off the stove and fill gummy bears molds.
To make roll ups, you just grease a large cooking pan with coconut oil and pour cooked gelatin mixture into a large pan.
Let gelatin set up in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Once set, use a knife or pizza cutter to create long strips for your fruit roll ups, or if you’ve made bears, just pop the bears out of the molds.
Roll your strips up and store them in an air tight container along with your gummy bears.
And … that… is… it! You just made your own, healthy fruit snacks!
These are so easy to make and so fresh tasting. You can even see the strawberry seeds inside the snacks. It’s as close to an actual strawberry as you can get and the flavor and sweet strawberry scent definitely reflects that. They don’t stick to your teeth either, like store bought gummies, which is better for kids’ dental health.
A truly “all natural” snack, made with real fruit and real ingredients, I mean … really!?!?
Give it a try!
Strawberry Gummy Bears:
2 & 1/4 c. fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp raw honey
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1/2 c. gelatin
Directions:
- Slice lemons in half, squeeze juice into a 1/2 cup measuring cup.
- Puree strawberries in a blender.
- Place lemon juice, pureed strawberries and raw honey into a medium sauce pan, on medium to low heat, allow honey to melt, stirring the entire time using a whisk. (Do not let boil!)
- Once honey has melted, slowly stir in your gelatin, whisking briskly the entire time. Once mixture has a nice glaze on top, take it off the stove and pour mixture into a glass bowl or large glass measuring cup.
- Fill your gummy bear molds using a turkey baster or medicine dropper, fill each mold to the very top.
- For fruit roll ups, grease a large baking pan with coconut oil, pour entire mixture into pan, lift pan up and roll it around until the mixture is evenly distributed in the pan. (If you want your roll up’s extra thin, use two large pans.)
- Place gummy bear molds and/or baking pan(s) into the freezer for 20 minutes to set up.
- Take trays out of freezer, pop bears out of the molds and store in an air tight container.
- For roll up’s, start with one corner of the pan and peel fruit roll up sheet out of pan, place onto a cutting board, use a knife or pizza cutter to create long strips, roll up strips, place into an air tight container.
*Store in the refrigerator. They will last for a few weeks.
*Yields 163 gummy bears (3 molds)+ 1 pan (9×11) of fruit roll ups.
Notes**
*Make sure you stick your turkey baster, or medicine dropper, all the way down into the bowl you’ve placed your cooked liquid in, BEFORE you start filling up your molds. The vigorous whisking on the stove can incorporate air. Bears can end up looking like this: (they still taste good just a little less dense.)
*If you don’t have fresh strawberries use FROZEN. Simply thaw first and drain off any excess liquid, then purée.
*If you want your fruit roll ups to have a paper covering (like real fruit roll ups), peel the roll up out of the pan (after it has set up in the freezer) and place it onto a large piece of parchment paper, cut through the frozen roll up sheet and parchment paper and then roll up.
*You can easily cut this recipe in half to make just gummy bears, or just fruit roll ups.
*You can find gummy bear molds on Amazon.
*If you like sour gummy bears, check out these healthy Sour Spirulina Gummy Bears.
