Sweet Cherry Gummy Chews
Is your garden giving you TONS of squash? Have you ever heard of making a sweet treat with it? OMGosh y'all - you're gonna love these cherry gummy chews made from squash! #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 cups water
- 2 envelopes unsweetened cherry drink mix
Instructions
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Prepare squash by washing, trimming ends, and peeling. Cut larger squash in quarters longways & scoop out any larger seeds with a spoon. Cut squash into chunks of about ½" - 1".
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Make enough simple syrup in a ratio of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. (For a medium-large saucepan - dissolve 1 cup sugar into 4 cups water) Add 2 packets of unsweetened cherry drink mix. Simmer while stirring to thoroughly combine & completely dissolve sugar.
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Add prepared squash to cherry syrup until squash pieces are just barely covered by syrup. Simmer 20-30 minutes until squash is lightly soft. Remove with slotted spoon into colander. (see note below about additional soak time)
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Place cooked & drained squash onto dehydrator trays, spacing evenly without pieces touching each other. Place trays in dehydrator set to 135 degrees. Rotate trays every couple of hours for even dehydrating. Gummy chews are ready when they are soft and lightly tacky but no longer sticky.
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Store in glass jars in the refrigerator and consume within about 30 days or so.
Recipe Notes
NOTE: You want to only make as much simple syrup as will cover however much squash pieces you have to keep the syrup flavor as concentrated as possible.
TIP: In the past when I didn't feel the squash pieces were strongly enough flavored (used generic drink mix that wasn't as strongly flavored) I cooled the stockpot of squash/syrup in an ice bath and allowed the squash to stay in the cherry syrup for an hour or more to soak up more flavor.