Homemade Fruit Snacks Recipe
If your kids love fruit snacks like mine do, this is one recipe you’ll definitely want to try! This easy homemade Fruit Snacks recipe offers a healthier alternative to the store-bought version by using 100% real fruit and only ingredients you can pronounce!
I’ve experimented with several different recipes using juice, pureed fruit, and powdered gelatin. The ratio of fruit, liquid, and gelatin below yielded the best results for me resulting in a sweet, fruity, and chewy snack. I used berries but you can use your own desired variety of fruit (note that I’ve read that pineapple does not set as well!).
Homemade Fruit Snacks
yield: 6 SERVINGS
prep time: 10 MINUTES
cook time: 2 HOURS
total time: 2 HOURS 10 MINUTES
Make this easy recipe for homemade fruit snacks! A yummy treat made with real fruit puree.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups pureed fruit (I used 1/2 lb strawberries, 6oz. blueberries, and 6oz. raspberries)
- 5 packets or 1/4 cup of unflavored gelatin powder
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 3 Tablespoons fruit juice (I used orange juice)
Directions
1
Puree fruit in a food processor or blender.
2
Pour it into a medium sized saucepan on medium heat.
3
Whisk in juice and honey. Heat until it starts to bubble and slowly add the gelatin powder whisking continually until combined.
4
Pour into an 8×8 baking dish, or small silicone candy molds if you desire specific shapes like stars, dinosaurs, hearts, Lego men, etc.
5
Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
6
After the mixture sets, cut around the sides of the pan with a knife and slide a spatula underneath and place on a cutting board.
7
Cut snacks into small pieces to serve.
Note: You can store fruit snacks in the fridge for up to a week.
These fruit snacks were popular in my house and make a great addition to school lunches. My kids loved them and I hope yours do too. It’s a great way to use up fruit that may be going bad and will be even less expensive with summer berries!
These look yummy! Is there such thing as an organic gelatin?
Yes , amazon sell grassfed gelatin , buy the orange one .. U have to melt in hot water and then add to the recipe and will jell like reg gelatin
Thanks for asking Marybeth. I saved this recipe weeks ago when it was posted and I really want to learn to make good (but healthy) fruit snacks for my kids but I don’t want to use gelatin at all 🙁 **sigh…I don’t think there are any other options? I deleted it and never made them. Now it’s here again and I feel like it’s calling me LOL
There is vegan and kosher gelatin. While I don’t always exclude foods that have gelatin in them, I do try to avoid it. I am going to my local co-op to get some vegan gelatin to try this though! (I am not a vegan, but gelatin is gross)
An alternative is to use agar agar flakes. It works just like gelatin. I know they sell it at Whole Foods and I’m sure you can get it online too. It’s made from some type of seaweed.
seriously?
Seriously what?
seriously sounds so yummy! will try for sure 🙂
Could we add any extras to this to get added health benefits? Like chia seeds or something similar?
No. You are allowed to add nothing.
Lol!!!
LOL
If anyone was able to print the crayola ultra clean marker coupon and the 64+ crayon coupon yesterday and doesn’t need them, I would be happy to trade a $5 domino gift card for them!
Can you tell me where to go to print these coupons? If I can print them, I’d love to trade with you!
Coupon no longer available. I missed it yesterday too.
Is there a substitute for gelatin? And I’m mean no animal parts involved like hoofs.
Search for vegan gelatin and you should be able to find a substitute.
Pectin and sugar….Google it
Agar is a seaweed-based gelatin.
I made these last time you posted this. They are great! When I bought similar simply balanced fruit snacks at target they were super sticky and gross! These are not sticky at all- fantastic!
I found alternatives for gelatin for vegans in case anyone is interested:
https://www.peta.org/living/food/gelatin-alternatives/
thanks for posting the link to vegan alternatives, I would love to make these also without the gelatin. Does anyone know which one of these alternatives works the best and which one is easiest and cheapest to find in a regular store?
Agar is probably easiest to find. If you go to an Asian store you can often find agar for a dollar a pack. Look for a brand called telephone. Pectin, agar and vegetarian jel substitutes are also sold at health foods shops including whole foods.
Thank you! I will look for the agar 🙂 I wish we had some asian food stores here but when I go to a bigger city this next week I will look and stock up!
thanks!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!
YAY! Finally, a fruit snack I will let my kids eat 😋
I’ll have to try. My little one is heading to Kindergarten this year and this would be a great healthy treat for her lunches and/or snack time.
Tamara, check with others – these are refrigerated and I didn’t feel they “held up” when out of the refrigerator a few hours. Unless your child has her lunch put in a refrigerator, this might not work.
Oh I forgot about this and I just got a new jar of honey! Lots of fresh fruit in season too.Thanks so much Lina!
I tried this recipe last time it was posted and they came out slimy/spongy and with not much flavor. My boys would not eat them. Did I do something wrong? I used strawberries. Anyone else have to try it a few times to get it right? Any suggestions? TIA
I thought it tasted pretty good when it was in the stove top, but after it was ready the gummies were tasteless. I was so bummed!
Sounds exactly like mine, 🙁 ick
I’m glad you said that because mine turned out the same way. They were flavorless and had hard balls in it. So strange.
I haven’t tried this yet so I’m just guessing but maybe it was using just strawberries? I think the raspberries, being a bit tart, would add a lot of flavor. Also how ripe were your strawberries? Sometimes mine are soft and sweet but other times they’re firm, almost crunchy, with a bit of tartness. It seems like the less ripe ones would be a better texture for this recipe especially since you’re adding sweetness with honey.
Great thoughts on the strawberries lol! Thanks for bringing that point up because I probably would have used just strawberries too but now I would definitely be adding raspberries! 😉
is this super chewy? or a bit soft? i’m thinkin finger food for my 1 year old? but if it’s too hard/sticky/chewy, i may have to wait another year or so…
I meg, my daughter is 15 months and I plan on making them for her. With a vegan type of gelatin. I read in the comments above that they need to stay in the fridge or they start to melt-like so I assume they would be good for our babies 🙂
LOOK UP WHAT GELATIN IS MADE OF!!!!!!!! We dont eat it . Otherwise I would be all over this recipe
There are substitutes for gelatin. Google it!
I too would make these with a gelatin substitute. There is nothing healthy about gelatin
I agree with you and Adri, above a nice person posted a link for alternative gelatin 😉 Vegan & seaweed gelatin! I am going on the hunt for those!
Quick tip for anyone trying out agar…
I find it best to put the agar into the cold mix then heat until it boils. Cook for a few minutes then it should be done.
Different gels have different characters and agar is seen as less wobbly (thinking of it like jello).
You can change the texture by playing around with the amount of jel added.
Could u put them in a dehydrator after u refrigerate? I mean would they still be chewy fruit snacks? Or would u need to make the mixture different and not refrigerate but just dehydrate instead? Like fruit strips?
Do you think you could freeze them for future use? If so, how long do you think they would keep frozen? I like to make things in bulk for when I’m working and don’t have time to cook-
I was wondering the same thing! I really like to make things ahead and freeze. I would love for that info to be added to recipes in the future, if possible.
Are these chewed like Gummi especially or more soft like jello bites?
Thanks!
Mary