Peach Gummies

You should have seen my 3 year old’s face today when I told him we were going to make our own gummy candy.  It was amazing.  It was then that I realized we hadn’t cooked together since my daughter was born.  And then I felt horribly guilty.  Cooking was our thing.  It is our thing.
It’s taken me awhile to get the two-kid balance down but in those few moments where the stars align and I’m able to make both of them happy at the same time, I feel nothing but bliss.  We had a moment today, when the baby was sleeping and the stars were aligned, where I was able to get in some mother and daughter and mother and son bonding.

After hearing of our project, my son ran to the closet where we keep the giant bag of cookie cutters and dumped them all out on the counter to pick the perfect ones.  Our cutter collection consists of cars, (his favorite thing in the whole world), animals, numbers, letters, just about any shape you may want to turn into a cookie.  It took him 30 minutes.

And these are the ones he picked.

A circle, a heart, the number 3, a Y, a K and an F.  Just when you think you know a person…

This recipe is a really fun one to do with a kid.  They’re also great to serve to kids.  Yes, there is some sugar, but most of the sweetness comes from fruit, fruit juice and then I use agave nectar instead of the expected corn syrup to keep it healthier.  These gummies are much, much firmer than a Jell-O ‘jiggler’, but not quite as firm as a commercial gummy bear.  They’re somewhere in between, but very, very fun.  It was a really great project and I will definitely make them again to serve at my next kid event.

*Peach Gummies 

-In a food processor, puree 12 oz frozen, thawed peaches*.
-In a large microwave safe bowl, add 5 packets or 5 TB of unflavored gelatin to 1 cup of apple juice.
-Stir well and let sit for a few minutes at room temperature.  It will look like this:

-Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup light agave nectar.
-Microwave this in 30 second increments for about 1 1/2 minutes total, stirring after each 30 minute, until everything is well melted.
-Add in your fruit puree and the juice of 1/2 a lemon, stir well.  Or have someone else do it for you.

-Pour into 9x9in glass dish.
-Chill until set (can take anywhere from 1-3 hours).
-Run a knife carefully around the edges and dip the bottom of the dish in hot water to loosen it up.
-Invert the dish onto a clean counter top and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

-Store in the refrigerator.
(*Any other type of frozen fruit would work just as well.  Berries are a great option.)

For a fun, adult treat similar to this, check out my Champagne Jigglers recipe!