With a perfect balance of sweet and tart, these homemade fruit snacks are delightful. Plus, they are only a five-minute project! I love the beautiful jeweled tone they have – sometimes nature’s natural color tones really are best. And it goes without saying that they are a perfect snack for kids. It’s a lot cheaper to make your own too!
You only need a few ingredients for this recipe: Tart cherry juice, honey, and gelatin (or you could use agar agar).
I’m going to be making some more to send with my oldest when she goes to summer soccer camp next week!
A Note on Gelatin
Some of the same benefits of homemade broth are true for gelatin! I buy it from my affiliate Amazon (I used this brand in this recipe). If you prefer not to use gelatin or need a vegan option, you can try agar agar. I haven’t personally tried it out yet, so I can’t give advice on proportions, but I’ve heard it’s just as easy to use (and it’s a lovely way to enjoy the benefits of seaweed too!). Amazon also carries agar agar here .
You can also use adorable silicone molds to form fruit snacks, which is really fun. Take a look at these heart shaped molds or these cute gummy bear molds! Molds make the project even more fun.
You can find the tart cherry juice at many stores, including Trader Jo’s!
Other Gelatin Based Snacks and Desserts
- Fruit Juice Gelatin (Homemade Jello!)
- Kombucha Jello
- Tangy Orange Lemonade Gelatin
- Homemade Lemon or Lime Gelatin
Homemade Tart Cherry Fruit Snacks
4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of tart cherry juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons gelatin
Directions:
1. In a medium, heat-safe bowl, place ½ cup of the tart cherry juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and stir it in.
2. Heat the other half of the juice and the honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until just starting to simmer.
3. Pour over the gelatin and juice mixture and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
4. Pour into molds, or a small pan (I used a bread pan). Set in the refrigerator and chill until the gelatin is set. If not using molds, slide a knife around the edge of the pan and remove gelatin from pan.
5. Chop into small pieces. Enjoy!
- 1 cup of tart cherry juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons gelatin
- In a medium, heat safe bowl, place ½ cup of the tart cherry juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and stir it in.
- Heat the other half of the juice and the honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, until just starting to simmer.
- Pour over the gelatin and juice mixture and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Pour into molds, or a small pan (I used a bread pan). Set in the refrigerator and chill until the gelatin is set. If not using molds, slide a knife around the edge of the pan and remove gelatin from pan.
- Chop into small pieces. Enjoy!
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I have to try these! I love your recipes. Just one question: By tart cherry juice do you mean tart cherry juice concentrate, or a regular juice? I would have to order it as it is not common in my country, and the most common I find online is the concentrate. Thanks!
Hey Ana,
Good question! Just regular juice. However, if may be cheaper for you to order the concentrate and then add water to it for this recipe. 🙂
Hi Kimi,
How long will these last without refrigeration. I’ve tried making these type of snacks before but they spoiled within the week. Is there a natural preservative one can add? Thanks.
They won’t last long in high heat at all because gelatin can melt when too hot. So the recommendation is to keep them refrigerated. If you use agar agar, they won’t melt, but they may still need to be refrigerated. High sugar candies made with agar agar are stable at room temperature, but I’m not sure a low sugar juice based one would be.
We use this exact recipe! We always have tart cherry juice around, we have found it helps our 3 year old sleep more soundly (and longer!!). I just got some cute molds to make gummy snacks with them.
That’s so great. I guess I shouldn’t assume I was the first one to think up this recipe. 😉 I just saw an article about tart cherry juice helping with sleep, so interesting!
Tart cherry juice is recommended to lower it. Of course, I m always happy to try natural methods of getting all the boys to sleep at night.
I used 5 cups of natural fruit juice and 6 tbsp of gelatin and they turned out great. Not as firm as they probably should be but was still able to cut into squares and they maintained their shape
Do you think you could roll these in sugar to make more of a gumdrop?