Zucchini Fruit Snacks

I came across this recipe a few years ago. http://commonsensehome.com/summer-squash-gummy-candy/ I love how I can use up zucchini from the garden and have a fun shelf stable snack on the go.

INGREDIENTS: 

Two large zucchinis

1 can of organic orange juice concentrate

PROCEDURE

First step is to peel the zucchini.  Be careful because the zucchini exudes a sticky sap like substance and it becomes very slippery.

Next core your zucchini.  Get all the seeds and pulp out. The seeds and pulp don't do well in the dehydrating process and tend to get very stringy. 

Next chop your cored zucchini into half inch pieces. I find that the job goes a lot quicker if I slice the halved zucchini lengthwise then slice all the little pieces together.

The more uniform your pieces are the easier it will be to get all the fruit snacks done at the same time.  

Add your chopped zucchini pieces to the orange juice concentrate.  It makes the cooking process go faster if you liquefy the concentrate before adding the zucchini.  I just let mine sit out while I cut up the zucchini then slide the concentrate out of the tube and warm it over the burner in the pot I'm going to cook the zucchini in.  It looks like there isn't enough liquid.  There is!  As you can see from the pictures, the zucchini pieces let out moisture as they cook.  Keep stirring and moving the zucchini around at a low boil. After it has simmered for about 20 min I usually turn it off and let it sit covered for up to an hour.  This allows all the juice to permeate the zucchini.   The next to last step is to drain out the excess liquid.

I pour my soaked zucchini over a strainer and a bowl so I can catch the orange juice.

I use the orange juice in fruit smoothies later.  It does have a zucchini after taste, but isn't so bad.

Last step is to dehydrate!  In the summer I can make a batch in about 10 hours on medium temperature.  As you can see the zucchini really shrinks up a lot.  All the orange flavor is concentrated in each bite. 

I have also tried a sour grape flavor.  First I used only the grape concentrate and it tasted too bland.  Adding the lemon concentrate made the grape so much more interesting.  It isn't even that sour, just super good.  To make this flavor simply follow the above procedure and substitute one can of grape and lemon concentrate for the orange concentrate. 

We have had a lot of fun making and eating these little gems.  These make a great alternative to Halloween candy!  When packaged the right way anything looks appetizing and exciting!

 

You can use this for your labels or make your own.

Simply print this double label sheet on a full page of regular printing paper.  Cut the page in half and fold each label over the Ziploc bag then staple on each end.