Carrot and Apple Gummy Worms for Full GAPS

Cooked carrot gives these homemade gummy worms their orange color. Applesauce gives them their apple flavor, and honey sweetens the batch. Plain gelatin sets the smooth purée into soft, jelly-like worms. Make them ahead so they have time to set in the refrigerator.

Have the applesauce and fresh juice prepared before you begin. The gummy mixture takes about fifteen minutes to prepare, followed by at least two hours in the refrigerator.

Jump to the Recipe

Have the apple components ready

Measure one cup of finished Peel-On Slow Cooker Applesauce. It is the plain apple version, without added honey or spices. Stir it first, and use it cool or chilled. Its softened skins should already be blended into fine flecks.

Measure one-quarter cup of Fresh-Pressed Apple Juice after extraction. The juice recipe has a variable yield, so measure the liquid you collect. Keep the extracted pulp separate.

If you use applesauce from the freezer, thaw it in the refrigerator and stir before measuring. Making the applesauce and pressing the juice take their own preparation time.

Cook and cool the carrot first

Use one-quarter cup plain cooked carrot, measured after cooking. Steam peeled carrot pieces until they squash easily with a fork, then let them cool before measuring and blending. Keep the carrot plain for this recipe.

Prepared applesauce, juice and carrot all go into the blender cool or at room temperature. If the carrots are still hot, allow extra cooling time before starting the gummy mixture.

Bloom the gelatin, then warm gently

Set food-grade worm molds on a firm tray and make room for them in the refrigerator. Blend the applesauce, juice and plain cooked carrots until completely smooth. Allow about three minutes of blending in total, with pauses as your blender requires. Stop the machine before checking or scraping the mixture.

Pour the purée into a bowl. Sprinkle three tablespoons of plain unflavored gelling beef gelatin across the surface and leave it for five minutes. This is called blooming: the granules absorb liquid before they are heated. The top begins to look wrinkled as the gelatin hydrates.

Transfer the bloomed mixture to a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat while whisking until the gelatin dissolves and the mixture is smooth and fluid. Keep it below a boil. Look for dry granules or lumps as you stir, and break up small clumps with the whisk.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in two tablespoons of raw honey until evenly mixed. Keep the fruit and gelatin amounts as measured. Work through filling while the mixture is still fluid.

Fill the molds and chill until set

Use a food-safe dropper or small pouring jug to fill the cavities. Keep the flexible molds supported on their tray as you move them. Prepare enough mold space for the batch; the number of worms depends on the cavity size.

Refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight. Gently ease one edge from a mold to check the set. A worm should hold its shape as it comes free. If it smears or tears while you release it, give the tray more time in the refrigerator.

Serve a portion with natural, non-hydrogenated coconut oil to taste for the added fat with cooked fruit. Keep the rest covered and chilled.

Where this fits on GAPS

This is a Full GAPS fruit snack after apples, apple skins, cooked carrot, honey and the other ingredients you use have been introduced and tolerated. If you use the juice version, fresh apple juice also needs to have been introduced. The applesauce keeps its finely blended skins, so this is a later preparation than peeled, stewed Intro fruit.

Use plain gelling beef gelatin. Collagen peptides are a different product and will not set the molds. The finished worms contain animal gelatin. The coconut-oil serving contains no dairy, egg or nut ingredient.

Serve a small portion between meals, keeping the added fat with the cooked fruit. This is a fruit treat rather than a complete meal.

Other variations

Without juice: Replace the quarter cup of apple juice with the same amount of filtered water. Keep the applesauce, vegetable, honey and gelatin amounts unchanged. The batch will be a little less sweet.

Gummy strips: Pour the mixture into an eight-inch square dish lined with parchment instead of worm molds. Chill until set, then lift it out and cut into thin worm-like strips. Do the cutting after chilling.

For a separate green version, use the Spinach and Apple Gummy Worms recipe. It has its own measured spinach preparation.

For a different berry flavor, follow the separate Blueberry Lime Gummy Worms recipe.

Storage

Keep the gummies covered in the refrigerator at 40°F or below. Use within three to four days and within the remaining storage window of the applesauce you started with. Making gummies does not give an older sauce a new storage clock.

Make a batch for the snacks you expect to serve from the refrigerator. Freezing can change the gelatin texture. Take out a portion at a time and return the rest to cold storage.

Questions before you start

How many worms will I get?

The recipe makes one batch. Small cavities make more worms than large ones. Have extra mold space or a lined dish ready so you can use the mixture while it is fluid.

Why are the worms soft and opaque?

The recipe keeps the applesauce and vegetable in the mixture. They give it a soft, jelly-like texture and an opaque color, with fine apple-peel flecks.

When do I add the honey?

Stir the measured honey in after the bloomed gelatin has dissolved and the pan is off the heat. Mix it through before filling the molds.

Other Halloween recipes

• Orange Mad Scientist Smoothies With Gummy Worms
• Halloween Chili With Homemade Sausage Toes
• Jack-o-Lantern Stuffed Peppers
• Raw Jack-o-Lantern Pepper Vegetable Holders

The planned GAPS Holiday Cookbook Collection is listed in the WFLI Shop.

Carrot and Apple Gummy Worms for Full GAPS Recipe

Gelatin recipe adapted from Lily Payen’s Homemade Gummy Worms at Feeding Tiny Bellies, with the worm-strip serving idea from Cara’s Gummy Worms at Fork and Beans.