Gluten-Free Fruit Snack Recipe: Are Fruit Snacks Gluten Free?
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These easy gluten-free fruit snacks are an easy way to add extra nutrition to your diet. With this recipe, you are able to craft your own sweet treats that pack a nutritional punch.
One of the many food sensitivities in the last few years that has gained more attention is gluten intolerance. Celiac Disease is also more prominent now than it ever has been and also gaining more traction in the food world.
This is a rough issue to have, as gluten is found in many processed foods.
It can be a hassle and stressful to search for these gluten-free products. Going up and down the aisle of the grocery store and reading the nutrition facts is not as fun as it sounds. And it doesn’t sound that fun.
Gluten free foods have been increasing in their end cap size for a couple of years, but it is nothing to live on. Especially with inflation these days!
And, while most fruit snacks are gluten-free, there are not necessarily good ingredients in them. Even though these fruit snack gummies use real fruit juice, high-fructose corn syrup is still the number one ( or two) ingredient.
Sometimes, the best way to go about a gluten-free diet is to make the food yourself. This way, you know exactly what is in that tasty treat you took a bite of. You are also able to have a more balanced diet with what you decide to put in your snacks.
Natural flavors taste better than those artificial flavors, anyway.
These Healthy gluten-free fruit snacks are sure to turn heads and make your day a little give healthier.
How to make Gluten-Free Fruit Snacks
In a small bowl, add your juice or water and sprinkle your gelatin on top. No need to stir! After a few minutes, the Gelatin will begin to absorb the liquid.
Pour your fruit puree into a pot and set it on medium-high heat. I used butternut squash as my base for all the gummies, then added mango and strawberries to different batches!
I am also a fast-cooking girl, so I go wild with the heat! Go ahead and add your sweetener and any other additives you want at this point.
After about 3-5 minutes, your fruit puree mixture should start boiling.
You are going to want to start stirring your pot constantly at this point. We don’t want anything burning!
Add the Gelatin mixture in and keep string and mixing until your mixture is nice and smooth and does not have any lumps in it. If there are lumps of gelatin, your mixture will not set right and will have a weird texture of soft and firm areas. So, just be thorough in mixing!
Once everything is nice and smooth, you can either pour it all into a cookie sheet and have thin fruit gummies, or you can use a squeeze bottle or dropper of some sort to add your mixture into little molds to make cute fruit snacks!
I did some shells and popsicle molds as well as rectangles and poured some on a cookie sheet! It sounds like a lot, but I did at least 4 batches trying to get this recipe right on.
What Gummy Flavors Are There?
These flavors are only as limited as your imagination.
There are a variety of flavors and mixtures that would be wonderful. Bold strawberry and raspberry flavors would be delicious. I did mango and butternut squash with a little nutmeg which was very delicious and also perfect for the holiday season.
If you want sour fruit snacks, add citric acid to your mix or even dust them with a mixture of citric acid and a little bit of powdered sugar or corn starch. This will really get your tongue rolling!
Another great option is a mixture of strawberry, mango, and butternut. You could add a pinch of citric acid for a little kick. I am salivating just thinking about it!
Want more vitamins and minerals in your gummies?
If you want to add more vitamins and minerals to the gummies, there are quite a few different options.
You can add a vitamin and mineral powder mix, powdered greens, and green puree.
If you want more vitamin C in your gummies, you can add vitamin C (ascorbic acid) powder to your mixture before adding your gelatin.
This would be a great mix to help boost the immune system and keep vitamin C levels up every day.
Protein Fruit Snacks?
Yes! You can add protein powder to these gummies. This will help kick up the macros a bit for your growing family, especially for those picky eaters.
This would also make Fruit Snacks a great option for diabetics. Fruit and protein go a long way in avoiding scary lows!
What about Medicinal gummies?
I had a thought while making these that I would be able to make my own vitamin and mineral gummies.
But, this is also the perfect opportunity to throw in some herbal medicinal tinctures to get an extra medicinal punch into your diet.
This could easily be accomplished with alcohol tinctures mixed into the fruit puree mixture as it boils on the stove. Let the mixture boil for a few minutes to minimize the amount of alcohol in the gummies.
Just think, a tasty sweet treat, healthy snack, AND medicinal pill all in one!
Are Fruit Snacks Vegan diet friendly?
No, a lot of fruit snacks are not vegan because they contain gelatin. Gelatin is a protein extracted from animals, which is decidedly not vegan.
Though I did not test this, you could switch out the gelatin for agar-agar to make vegan fruit snacks. You will want to follow the instructions on the agar-agar box because it is actually more potent than gelatin.
If you want to get a really nice set, substitute 1:1. You could probably get away with less agar, but that is a future post!
Health Benefits of Making your own Fruit Snacks with Gelatin.
There are so many different health benefits to adding homemade fruit snacks to your diet.
Not only are your tasty snacks free of artificial dyes and high-fructose corn syrup but they are packed with the nutrition of whole foods.
Gelatin is an awesome food to add to your diet. It helps to build cartilage in your joints (which can help arthritis) and helps to regulate the gastrointestinal tract.
Gluten-Free Fruit Snacks
These easy gluten-free fruit snacks are an easy way to add extra nutrition to your diet. With this recipe, you are able to craft your own sweet treats that pack a nutritional punch.
For Organic Fruit Snacks, substitute certified organic ingredients instead.
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons of Liquid (Water, Fruit Juice)
- 5 Tablespoons of Unflavored Beef Gelatin Powder
- 3 cups of Fruit Puree
- 1/2 cup of Sweetener (Honey, Organic Cane Sugar, Coconut Sugar)
Instructions
1. Add the liquid of choice to a small bowl. Add the gelatin powder and allow it to absorb. Set aside.
2. Add 3 cups of Fruit Puree to a pot on medium heat. Stir continuously.
3. When the mixture is brought to a boil, add all of the bloomed gelatin mixtures and stir vigorously until melted.
4. When gelatin is all melted and well incorporated, pour the mixture into molds or sheet pan.
5. Allow to set for 6-8 hours.
6. Cut or Pop-out Fruit Snacks from the container. They should be squishy and hold their shape.
Notes
If using molds for fruit gummies, use a squeeze bottle or eye dropper for best results.
If the mixture begins to cool and set, warm it up on the stove until melted and reincorporated.
The shelf life for these snacks is going to be about two weeks in the refrigerator.
These fruit snacks truly are amazing. And I am really looking forward to making these again with some vitamins added!
10/10 would recommend to myself!
See ya later, my friend!
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