Celebrate with these Star-Spangled Gumdrops this Memorial Day weekend! Perfect for 4th of July and Labor Day weekend as well!
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Hard to believe that Memorial Day is this weekend! The boys have 11 more days of school and yes, we count down, starting around 50 days 🙂 I am already getting a tad bit nervous as I think of how I am going to be filling our days.
I just know how hard minimum days can be with both of the boys around and it’s only going to be more challenging during the summer. It gets so dang hot here in Sacramento that most days, playing outside after 10AM is pure torture.
Mommy needs to get creative 🙂
Fortunately, my boys DO love helping me in the kitchen. Especially when the result is something totally fabulous and fun like these homemade gumdrops.
Perfect for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day – they are super festive and make the perfect treat. While my intentions were to make red, white, and blue gumdrops, I realized the sugar coating should totally count for the white 🙂
They look so pretty it’s hard to not to snatch one up each time I walk by.
So easy to make and always a crowd-pleaser, you can make these gumdrops into whatever shape and color you prefer. I used a small star-shaped cookie cutter for mine.
I halved the original recipe and made it up in 8×8 pans and the thickness is really just perfect. You want to use a small cookie cutter for these so you end up with lots of gumdrops. Take the time to get the the cut-outs as close to each other as possible for maximum production.
Do NOT throw out the scraps. Just take a knife and cut them into smaller pieces, dredge in sugar, and then portion off into snack bags for treats for the kiddos. They LOVE this.
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- 1½ cups sugar, divided
- ¾ cup applesauce {I used natural, no sugar added}
- 1 pkg {3 ounces each} JELLO (I used Cherry and Berry Blue)
- .25 oz envelope unflavored gelatin (Knox brand)
- ½ tsp lemon juice {I used bottled}
- Coat a 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray. Place in refrigerator.
- Combine 1 cup sugar, applesauce, JELLO, unflavored gelatin and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Let stand for 1 minute.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.
- Boil for 1 minute and then immediately pour into cold baking dish.
- Refrigerate until firm {about three hours should do it. I left mine in overnight.}
- Generously dust a cutting board with sugar.
- Loosen the sides of the gelatin with a spatula and invert onto cutting board.
- Use small, sharp cookie cutters to cut out gumdrops.
- Sprinkle sugar over a piece of waxed paper and place gumdrops on top of sugar. Let dry for about 8 hours or until slightly sticky.
- Roll in remaining sugar and store in an airtight container.
More red, white, and blue treats:
Red, White, and Blue Sparkler Cookies
Red, White, and Blueberry Breakfast
For all 4th of July recipes, go HERE.
For all dessert recipes, go HERE.
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Have a great day!
Sarah McKenney says
silly question…are these pretty flavorful or just a little bit of flavor? Also, is there a way to make them a little sour? We love sour gummy candies at our house and I thought how fun to make our own. Such a cute blog, new follower here for sure!!
Erin Pidgeon says
You can find crystalized pure lemon juice, like True Lemon brand, with the drink mixes in grocery stores. It would dissolve nicely in the boiling water.
domain says
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I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
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Patti says
These are adorable. I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for little star cutters like those and the recipe looks fun too. Happy Fourth
Penny says
Awesome idea…for any age! Also, I hope this does not sound awful but I actually came across your invention when logging into Pinterest to look for jello shots for adults! This is perfect for 4th of July jello-shots, would you happen to know (being in a cook) if liquor would still let these beauties turn out?
Thank you
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thanks Penny! If you wanted to add in alcohol, you would need more unflavored gelatin to help it all set up nicely. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Glory/ Glorious Treats says
Super cool idea! I know my girls would love these!! Pinned!