You aren’t reading this wrong. It’s possible to create a healthy homemade Jello Jigglers recipe. One without the undientifiable ingredients, artificial sweetners, artificial colors and who-knows-what-else.
If you have kids (or grandkids, nieces/nephews…etc) you are going to look like a rockstar when you bring these out.
I like recipe re-creations. It can be these jiggler thingys, homemade strawberry milk, homemade icees, or even pancakes that taste like those cinnabon cinnamon rolls… I like dreaming up homemade versions that are healthier and just as much fun! -or more.
Growing up in Spain I wasn’t exposed to the world of jello. It seems that the obsession with colorful gelatin is largely an American thing. So, when I moved to America in my teens I couldn’t get enough of it. I thought it was pretty cool –then.
How to make Jello Jigglers
I don’t know if my kids have heard of jigglers somewhere, seen a tv commercial or what… but my girl has been asking me to make her jigglers for a while now. Confession: I didn’t know what jello jigglers were until I had kids.
Since I’ve become a lot more “ingredient savvy” in the last decade, the brightly colored box doesn’t get mixed and jellied here. But yet, my girl insists that she too, must “get her jiggle on.” Seriously, no idea where that came from but she asked for it.
Homemade Jello
It wasn’t until my friend Jenn sent me a little “gift package” that I considered playing around the world of homemade jellos. She must know I have a thing for kid’s food… and well, Jenn is fantastic at all things culinary –seriously! She did the food styling for the book and it’s really cute.
Inside of Jenn’s ” Chef Olivia” book, we found a recipe for jello jigglers that after a few tweaks, I wouldn’t mind feeding them to my kids! Of course, now that she can fully read, she saw the recipe too… and so it was decided (ok, she decided) that we should takle that one first.
I love kid recipe books because it gives my kids and I the opportunity to get creative in the kitchen and spend time together making something they want. It just turns into great bonding time for us. We had blast making the jello jigglers too!
The great thing about this homemade Jello recipe is that it’s using real ingredients, instead of processed food. I love finding easy swaps like this that allows my kids to enjoy the treats they love in a healthier way!
If you are looking for fun ways to help your family transition into a healthier lifestyle, I’d love to share my Family KickStart Program with you! It’s a 30-day plan that provides the recipes, meal plans, shopping lists and everything else you need to eat whole food as a whole family!
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Jello Jigglers Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups 100% grape juice, or apple
- 2 cups water
- 1 ounce unflavored plain gelatin, (4 ¼-ounce envelopes) or
- 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon grass fed gelatin
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup of the juice into a medium bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the juice and sit for 10 minutes to soften.
- Pour the remaining 3 cups of liquid into a saucepan and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, pour into the gelatin mixture, and stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into a 9-by-13 inch baking pan, let cool, cover, and chill for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.
- To serve, dip the bottom of the pan in hot water for about 10 seconds, then invert onto a cutting board. Using the large and small cookie cutters, cut out as many shapes as possible.
Jennifer
Would using lemonade work with these?
Laura Fuentes
It would work!
Karen
I made this with straight juice (4 cups all natural fruit punch) and it was delicious! Thanks!
Laura Fuentes
straight juice will work too! glad it was great!
Elice
I used the green can Great Lakes grassfed Gelatin. Maybe this vs. the orange can requires more ?
Laura Fuentes
The green great lakes is a dissolving gelatin Elice. It doesn’t solidify. The Orange can is the solidifying gelatin. I drink the green daily.
Elice
I did something wrong. I made this last night and it still isn’t set at 9:30 this morning :(. How can I salvage it? This non gmo juice is expensive. Only thing I can think of is it ended up boiling and not just simmer because I didn’t watch close enough.
Laura Fuentes
I’m not sure where you went wrong. The only way things go wrong with making gelatin is by not using enough of it.
jen
Old threat, but enzymes mean pineapple juice (and possibly some other fruit juices) will not set up with gelatin. It’s possible the juice used here included pineapple juice.
Laura Fuentes
We did not use pineapple juice in this recipe. We usually only use grape or apple and it works perfectly.
Andrea
Have you tried using this recipe in a silicone mold?
Laura Fuentes
I have not. I’m sure it would work though
Wendy
I have made these in all kinds of various silicone molds. They come out great! My kids love them. It does help to spray them with olive oil spray before you pour the gelatin in so they don’t stick, especially if the mold has a lot of contours that make it harder to get out.
Laura Fuentes
thanks for the tip Wendy!
Tasha
Can you use any other juice (pineapple, mango, white grape, mixed fruit, etc.) or does the receipe only work with those two flavors. I really want to make these for my son’s pre-school class, but I want to give them options.
Thanks!
Laura Fuentes
You can make this with any juice. the purple color is what stands out with the grape juice of course!
Christy
So the kids thought they didn’t have much flavor so I remade them with all juice and no water and it made a huge difference. Really yummy. I do have a question though, soda is a treat that is only given when sick and I was asked to make Coca-Cola jigglers. Do you think it would work?
Christy
Just made these for my very sick little girl who doesn’t seem to want to eat or drink anything but she’s loving these. So glad I found this. Thanks a bunch.
Laura Fuentes
I hope she feels better soon!
Kelly Planko
So then, how many Tablespoons?
Kelly Planko
Thx, that’s exactly what I have and love it!!
Laura Fuentes
Me too! It’s what I used to make the homemade marshmallows too.
Kelly Planko
Can you use grass fed gelatin?
Laura Fuentes
Kelly, absolutely. this is what I use.
Meredith
Sorry, Laura, would you mind clarifying the gelatin quantity again? The recipe says 41/4 ounces, but the comments say both 4 – 1/2 ounce packets AND a 1 ounce box. Should it be a total of four 1/2 ounce packets (totaling 2 ounces) or four 1/4 ounce packets (totaling 1 ounce)? I am planning to make these for my kids’ holiday party at school and want to make sure I don’t over/under gelatin them!
Thank you for the clarification (and the recipe)!
Laura Fuentes
A typical box has 4 packets with 1/2 ounce in each packet. therefore, use 4 (1/2) ounce packages. The spacing in the recipe is funny (sorry i can’t fix the code) but you get what i mean right?
Dawn
I can’t wait to try this, but I want to clarify something first. How many ounces of gelatine are you using? It looks to me like the recipe calls for 4 packages of gelatin at 1/2 ounce each. Making the total 2 ounces of gelatin. Is that correct? Or am I reading it wrong? I bought a box of Know gelatin with 4 envelopes in it and am not sure if I should use all 4 envelopes. Box says 1 ounce on it. Thank you!!
Laura Fuentes
Well, you beat me Dawn! I bought a box too and used all 4. I’ve changed the recipe to reflect 4, 1/2 oz envelopes. thank you for catching that!
Carla
I can not wait to make these. My kids are going to be so excited.
Laura Fuentes
Awesome!
Amy
I was just wondering what all the items in the baking kit are? It looks like a super cute gift idea. We’ll be trying out the jigglers soon too! 🙂
Laura Fuentes
Hi Amy! the baking kit has another really cute baking book and mini bread liners (think of them as the size of two cupcakes). I thought the same thing, they would make a great gift!