Overwhelmed by zucchini or summer squash? Make some summer squash gummy candy! I saw a recipe online that made them with drink mix and sugar, and coated them with more drink mix – more sugar and artificial color and flavor than I prefer. So I decided to experiment with a simpler version using grape juice concentrate. It worked out great!
Summer Squash Gummy Candy Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 cups summer squash or zucchini, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 can fruit juice concentrate (11.5 ounce) (I used grape w/ no added sugar, but I think most types would work.)
- 1 can water
Directions
Prepare zucchini, place in a large, nonreactive stockpot.
Pour in grape juice concentrate and water.
Cook gently until translucent and tender, about 30 minutes.
Drain in a colander, spread out on dehydrator sheets so the pieces are not touching.
Dehydrate at 125 degrees F for 14 hours or until tacky but no longer moist. (I dried mine for close to 20 hours because it was very humid.)
The original recipe I saw called for rolling these in powdered lemonade mix to do a sweet/sour gummy, but the grape juice provides plenty of sweetness for me. I’d suggest storing these in the fridge and eating them within a month, or freezing for longer storage. With the sugar content and water content, it’s tough to get them dry enough to ensure long shelf life without cooler temps.
And there you have it – summer squash gummy candy made with no artificial flavors or colors and unsweetened fruit juice.
Three fair sized crooknecks made eight cups raw squash, which dehydrated down to around 3 cups. Zucchini would probably be a little easier to use since they have a more uniform seed cavity. The texture and taste is amazingly similar to a commercial gummy candy. I used the leftover grape juice concentrate to flavor kombucha.
My boys were a little leery, but my friend Tammy and her son, Nathan, loved them. Even my husband said they really tasted like a “normal” gummy candy.
Please take a moment to “Like” or share the post if you’ve enjoyed it, and leave a comment below with your favorite ways to use up a bounty of summer squash. (Feel free to link to a post on your blog if you have one.)
Featured on Fat Tuesday and Summer Squash Seasonal Recipe Round Up.
14 Responses to “Summer Squash Gummy Candy”
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That is so awesome! Grape sounds perfect. I wonder if cherry concentrate (from a brew supply) would be good, too.
(Now if only our zucchinis will accept this morning’s rain as a sign to put out some fruit. )
I think any sort of strong flavored concentrate would work great. Something more bland like pear might still taste more like squash.
I’m curious if you’re using Paraflexx sheets in your dehydrator for this. I was trying to figure out from the picture. I’m drying tomato leather at this moment on parchment paper, which I’ve never done before, and I’m curious what you use for this situation. Also, I guess if you have any other thoughts on which method is best.
Thanks for the cool idea!
Sarah
I’m using the sheets that were listed on Amazon with the dehydrator, they’re not the Paraflexx. I’ve seen the material referred to as reusable parchment paper before, but it’s fiberglass coated with Teflon. Not great, I know, but I don’t cut on it and I don’t use it at high temps. The American harvest units have plastic inserts for small foods. You could probably dry it on the mesh safely, but some of my pieces were pretty small.
I wonder if you could roll them in some citric acid, which is the main component of sour gummies.
My autistic son is a very oral child, and I am always trying things to fill his need to chew and not give him crap like licorice all the time. Raisins are his fave, but we will definitely try these.
You probably could, but if you’re dealing with autism, large amounts of citric acid may not be a good idea, as it can act as an excitotoxin.
Thankfully K is not into sour things, but for another child who it it may work. Or I might try it for myself as I have the occasional craving for sour patch kids.
I wonder if a flavored vitamin C drink mix would work, too? I just bought some in bulk from Frontier. I may have to try it.
these are great! i made both grape and apple and i did dust them with a store brand lemon drink mix which made them even better! i’m so excited that i now have a way to get my son to eat zucchini!
thanks for sharing
Elaine – glad that you enjoyed them!
Elaine – I believe that with the sugar soaking from the fruit juice, further reduction of sugar from cooking and the extended cooking time, the zucchini is serving as a carrier and no longer has real food value as a vegetable and should be treated as a candy treat, not dinner side.
Yes – this is true. Even though it’s not using artificial anything, it’s still concentrated sugars.
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