Homemade Fruit Snacks

Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I'm a newly addicted Pinterest member. I have actually been a member for quite sometime, but only recently started my addiction. As I was browsing the favorites section, I came across a pin for homemade fruit snacks. I repinned it immediately and as soon as I had some free time, Reagan and I got to work making them. You can find the step-by-step directions and ingredient list on the previous link, but here's our version:

Step 1: Select the fruit you'd like. We obviously chose blueberries & raspberries.

Step 2: Place 1 cup of fruit in a small saucepan with 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil and cook until the fruit becomes soft (approx 4 minutes).

Step 3: Place contents of the saucepan in the blender and puree. Make sure you leave that small plug inside the lid out since the fruit is hot. Otherwise, the lid pops off and you've got a big mess!

Step 4: Return fruit puree to saucepan, stir in 1/2 cup of applesauce. Cook until heated through. Remove from stovetop and cover. Set aside.

Step 5: Meanwhile, pour 1/2 cup of fruit juice (we used Motts for Tots Apple Juice). Sprinkle 2 packets of gelatin over the juice. Let stand for 1 minute.

Step 6: Pour fruit & applesauce puree into the juice/gelatin mixture and stir until all the gelatin is dissolved (this can take several minutes).

Step 7: Pour mixture into an 8x8 glass dish (no need to spray) and place it in the refrigerator to set for a minimum of 3 hours.

Step 8: Remove fruit snacks from refrigerator, cut into blocks or use small cookie cutters to make shapes (I made a few small hearts, but found that the blocks were much easier).

Review: these taste nothing like the packaged fruit snacks you buy at the grocery store...but they are delicious! Reagan didn't like the seeds from the raspberries, so next time, I'll strain the puree to get rid of them before adding in the applesauce. There are still some in my refrigerator in an airtight container and I love snacking on them! Much better alternative to the Sour Patch Kids in my cupboard:) Definitely something I'll try again using different fruits!