For the past few months, I have been reading up on gelatin and all the wonderful things it does for your body. As a student in holistic nutrition (and someone who lives with a chronic disease), I have a passion on preventing disease with food. These gelatin snack bites are the perfect way to get started with this “superfood”.
The gelatin I use is Bovine gelatin, which means that it comes from cows. I chose bovine over porcine because the idea of eating gelatin derived from pig skin bugged me. It’s silly, I know, but I felt better with going with bovine. That’s the only reason I did it. If you’re alright going with porcine gelatin, that’s great and guess what, it’s actually cheaper (bonus)!
What is gelatin?
Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals. – Wikipedia
You know when you make turkey or chicken stock from bones and after it’s refrigerated it gels? That’s gelatin! It’s the collagen from the bones that thicken the soup and guess what? It’s super good for you.
What are the benefits of gelatin?
There are a number of benefits for gelatin for gut health, and your overall health. After reading the nutritional label on the gelatin I bought, I realized that 1 tablespoon only had 35 calories and 9 grams of protein. Right now it’s my personal health goal to both heal my gut and get more protein in my diet (I’m building muscle) so this will help with those two goals.
Some of the benefits are:
- Good source of protein
- Adrenal support
- Hormone support
- Benefits teeth, nails and hair (tightens skin and some say it helps with cellulite)
- Helps with digestion
- Helps heal leaky gut
- Arthritis support and joint health
- Helps build strong bones
- Great source of micronutrients (minerals)
You can add gelatin to your soups, smoothies or make homemade jello like these 3 Berry Gelatin Snack Bites.
I came up with this idea after purchasing the Wilton Shot Glass Mold and creating both my recipes for Valentine’s Day Chocolate Shot Glasses and the Chocolate Shot Glass with Gingerbread Cheesecake Filling (both from my blog over at The Bewitchin Kitchen). I’m still working on a recipe for pure fruit juice with this molds (the pure juice versions usually fall apart) but the blended berries worked for me. I would rather the berries as it does supply more fibre (especially the blackberries and raspberries) but please note that the berries have to be blended. As you can see in one of my images, the front and top of the gelatin bites have holes in them because I had whole berries there. The gelatin bite mixture wasn’t strong enough to hold the whole berry when I took them out of the mold and it fell out, creating that hole.
Another note: I didn’t add any sugar or sweetener to this recipe. It’s not sweet, but I did find it satisfying for my sweet tooth when I served it with whipped cream. Feel free to add a sweetener of your choice to make it to your liking.
Read on for my 3 Berry Gelatin Snack Bites Recipe.
3 Berry Gelatin Bites Recipe
Ingredients:
-2 cups frozen 3 berry blend (or any berry blend)
-2 tbsps gelatin (This is the one I use)
-1/4 cup boiling hot water
-Wilton Shot Glass Mold (Find it here)
Optional: sweetener to taste: maple syrup, brown rice syrup
Directions:
- Add the berries to a blender and puree. If the mixture is too thick and won’t blend, add water until it does. You don’t want this berries to be whole as they will create holes in the gelatin bites.
- In a bowl, add your boiling hot water and gelatin. Whisk and don’t let the gelatin settle or chunk up.
- Add the berry blend and whisk again.
- Pour into your molds, shot glasses or little bowls.
- Refrigerate until set (I checked on it a few hours later and it was ready).
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen 3 berry blend or any berry blend
- 2 tbsps gelatin
- 1/4 cup boiling hot water
- Optional: sweetener to taste: maple syrup brown rice syrup
Instructions
- Add the berries to a blender and puree. If the mixture is too thick and won't blend, add water until it does. You don't want this berries to be whole as they will create holes in the gelatin bites.
- In a bowl, add your boiling hot water and gelatin. Whisk and don't let the gelatin settle or chunk up.
- Add the berry blend and whisk again.
- Pour into your molds, shot glasses or little bowls.
- Refrigerate until set (I checked on it a few hours later and it was ready).
Notes
This also works with pure fruit juice, but I wanted the added fiber of the berries.
Victoria Ess says
Gelatin is so good for you! I didn’t know about this product but will be on the lookout for it!