These homemade vegan fruit snacks are a fun healthy gummy treat for kids or adults that you can make in any fruity flavor or shape with just 3 ingredients!
I did a lot of brainstorming trying to come up with a New Years recipe idea for today. I spent quite some time scrolling through Pinterest past cocktails in every color, sparkly dessert shooters, and champagne-flavored everything looking for inspiration. Something celebratory and party-perfect.
But in case you haven’t noticed, fancy party food is not exactly my style. And I don’t know how to make champagne flavored frosting. And black eyed pea cupcakes sounded a little too out there of a bean-y baked good for me.
And then finally on slide 10 out of 17 of this list I finally found my spark of an idea: fruit snacks!
Are they especially New Years-y? Not really, no.
Are they fun and cute and full of fruit? Absolutely!
Plus someone asked for a vegan gummy recipe a long time ago and I had yet to fulfill that request. So my apologies for the wait, but here they are in all their fruity chewy translucent snack-deliciousness!
Gummy or fruit snack–which do you say? I naturally say gummy, but then feel like a 3 year old and correct myself to fruit snack. Although there is really no way to discuss gummies/fruit snacks and feel very adult while doing it.
Random fact: I ate what were technically toddler gummies fruit snacks until I was…well…at least 5 times the age that qualifies as a toddler. They had a good flavor selection and they were fruit juice sweetened, okay. See even back then I was into the fruit-sweetened snacks. It was mostly for the flavors though.
More random fact: When I typed the word “gummy” autocorrect first changed it to tummy, the next time to mummy, the next time to dummy, and then finally just gave up and left it as gummy. I think it may have been trying to tell me something…?
Anywho…gelatin-free vegan gummies fruit snacks are surprisingly easy to make as long as you have one kinda-funky but very necessary ingredient: agar agar powder.
Why is it “agar agar” and not just one “agar”? I don’t know. But since there are 2 agars in the name I thought we’d make 2 flavors of gummies fruit snacks.
One is sweetened with maple syrup (or any liquid sweetener), and the other is sweetened with jam. I used a fruit juice sweetened jam in my fave flavor–blueberry. I am partial to the jammy version as it has better texture and extra fruit flavor, but I wanted to give you options. Plus some flavors (ahem…orange) aren’t easy to find in a jam. Both of the recipes can serve as templates for making any flavor you like. Just switch up the type of juice or jam and you can have snacks of just about any fruity sort.
The gummy fruit snack making process is simple–just 3 ingredients and less than 10 minutes of active time. Whisk the sweetener and agar agar into the juice. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Simmer and whisk for 2 minutes. Pour into a container/molds. Chill. For the jam version, you will just blend the juice + jam + agar (to avoid jammy chunks) and then boil/whisk/chill it the same way.
They take at least a couple of hours to set up completely before slicing them into squares. Or you can use fun-shaped molds or mini cookie cutters! The coating of sugar is another extra fun-factor option, but be sure to do it right before eating because it will dissolve after a few minutes and turn the gummies fruit snacks oddly juicy.
One important note is be sure you use agar agar powder not flakes. I have tried it with the flakes before and it did not set up the same way. I have also tried making powder from the flakes in a coffee grinder–another fail. This is the agar agar powder I used because it was organic and relatively reasonably priced. Also the packaging was pretty, and I would be lying if I said that didn’t factor in.
These gummies fruit snacks keep best in the fridge. In an airtight container in the fridge they will last for 1-2 weeks. They can stay out for a few hours at a time if you want to bring them along or pack them as an on the go snack though.
So now that we are all hopefully feeling a little more like 5 year olds, let’s make these gummy snacks (nope, not even going to correct it this time!)
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Homemade Vegan Fruit Snacks
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 240 minutes
- Total Time: 250 minutes
- Yield: 50 fruit snacks 1x
Description
These homemade vegan fruit snacks are a fun healthy gummy treat for kids or adults that you can make in any fruity flavor or shape with just 3 ingredients!
Ingredients
Orange Fruit Snacks
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1–2 tbsp liquid sweetener (maple syrup, agave, etc.)
- 1 1/2 tsp agar agar powder
Berry Fruit Snacks
- 1 cup beet/berry/cherry juice
- 1/4 cup berry jam
- 1 1/2 tsp agar agar powder
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the orange juice, sweetener, and agar agar powder.
- Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow container or fun-shaped molds.
- In a blender, combine the berry/beet juice, jam, and agar agar powder. Blend until there are no chunks left.
- Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow container or fun-shaped molds.
- Place in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours to set.
- Remove from the molds and cut into squares. Optionally coat with raw sugar just before eating.
- Keep the remaining fruit snacks in the fridge.
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