Make festive, lime-flavored Christmas tree gumdrops for the holidays! Only use 4 ingredients (and small cookie cutter) to make these treats.
If you’re looking for a unique and fun treat to make for the holidays, how about checking out this recipe for Christmas tree gumdrops? If you have a small Christmas tree cookie cutter (or any favorite Christmas cookie cutter for that matter) and four simple ingredients, then you’re ready to roll!
The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe are unsweetened applesauce, granulated sugar, lime jello powder, and unflavored gelatin (like Knox). Basically- you will cook the ingredients, pour them into a greased baking pan, let cool completely until firm, then cut into shapes with the cookie cutter. It’s a fairly easy recipe that will yield about 20 Christmas tree gumdrops. You can get more out of the recipe if your cookie cutter is smaller then the 2″ one I use. Here’s how to make them:
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Ready? GREASE That Pan!
The first thing you will need to do is generously coat a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with non-stick baking spray on the bottom and sides of the pan. This is a crucial step to ensure the candy mixture can be easily removed from the pan in one entire slab. Set the pan aside.
Cooking The Gelatin Mixture
Place applesauce, granulated sugar, lime jello powder, and unflavored gelatin in a large saucepan. Turn the heat to Medium, and stir to combine. Bring this mixture to a boil, continuing to stir constantly as it cooks. Once it comes to a boil, let the mixture cook for one full minute (still stirring!).
Remove the pan from the heat, and immediately pour the hot gelatin mixture into the prepared baking pan. Place the pan into the refrigerator, and refrigerate it until the gelatin is completely “set” in the pan. This typically will take about 2 hours or a bit more to set completely.
Getting The Gelatin Slab Out Of The Pan
Generously dust a large cutting board with additional granulated sugar. Now comes the FUN part! Once the gelatin mixture is firm and set up, it’s time to get it out of the pan in one piece.
Gently use a spatula to loosen the jello mixture from the sides of the pan. I also try to gently lift and go under the slab as much as possible, to loosen the gelatin from the pan. Be careful not to tear the gelatin, but loosen as much of it as possible before flipping the pan over.
Flip the pan over and turn out the gelatin in one piece onto the sugared board. If it has been loosened enough, it should easily come out of the pan onto the board. If you have trouble, don’t panic! Just flip it back over, continue loosening it with the spatula, and try again. Once on the cutting board, dust the top of the gelatin with more granulated sugar.
Cut Out The Christmas Trees
Use your cookie cutter (my tree cutter was about 2″ tall) and cut out as many Christmas tree gumdrops as possible from the gelatin. I get about 20 in total, with some small pieces left over (they taste good, too). The amount you get in total will obviously depend on the shape and size of the cookie cutter you are using. The smaller the cookie cutter, the more treats you will end up with!
Roll the edges of the trees with additional sugar so that bottom, top, and sides have a nice, light coating of sugar on them. Cut any leftover small end pieces into bites that can also be enjoyed. Once cut and sugared, let the gumdrops “dry” on the cutting board (or a piece of wax paper) for about an hour. This helps the treats dry out just a bit more before they are ready to be enjoyed.
Let Dry, Then Enjoy These Christmas Tree “Gumdrops”!
After the Christmas tree gumdrops have dried for an hour, they can be served! Place them on a platter, and let the kids dive in! To store, place any leftovers in an airtight container, separating any layers with waxed paper, so they don’t stick together.
The finished Christmas tree gumdrops are lime flavored, sweet, soft and chewy, and will be a memorable treat (especially for kids) during the holidays. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you’ll come back soon for more family-friendly recipes. Have a blessed day.
Looking For More HOLIDAY CANDY Recipes?
You can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. I have a wonderful variety of holiday recipes you’ll love, including:
- Mom’s Old-Fashioned Fudge
- Chocolate Butterscotch Peanut Clusters
- Maple Cream Bon Bons
- Microwave Pecan Brittle
Interested In More Recipes?
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Recipe Adapted From Chrysa, at: https://thriftyjinxy.com/homemade-st-patricks-day-gum-drops-recipe/
↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Make festive, lime-flavored Christmas tree "gumdrops" for the holidays! Only use 4 ingredients (and small cookie cutter) to make these treats.
- 1½ cups unsweetened applesauce
- 2¼ cups granulated sugar
- 6 ounces Lime Jello (powder) (two 3 oz. boxes)
- 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (like Knox)
Generously coat 9" x 13" baking pan with non-stick baking spray on bottom/sides. Set aside.
Place applesauce, sugar, lime jello powder, and unflavored gelatin in a large saucepan. Turn heat to Medium; stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly as it cooks. Let mixture boil for one minute (still stirring!).
Remove pan from heat; immediately pour hot gelatin into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate until gelatin is completely "set" (about 2 hours or so).
Generously dust large cutting board with sugar. Gently use spatula to loosen jello from sides of pan. Gently lift and slide spatula under jello as much as possible, to loosen it. Flip pan over and turn out gelatin in one piece onto sugared board. It should easily come out of the pan onto the board. If you have trouble, don't panic! Just flip it back over, continue loosening with spatula, and try again. Once on cutting board, lightly sprinkle top of jello with more sugar.
Use your cookie cutter to cut out as many trees as possible from gelatin. I get about 20 in total, with some small pieces left over (they taste good, too). Your yield will depend on shape/ size of cookie cutter you use. The smaller the cookie cutter, the more treats you'll end up with!
Roll edges of trees in sugar so that bottom, top, and sides have light sugar coating, Let trees "dry" on cutting board (or wax paper) for 1 hour. This helps them dry out a bit before serving. Place on platter, serve and enjoy!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!