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What are Paleo Skittles anyway? Well, I made these slightly-chewy rainbowy snack “drops” for my kiddos using nothing but fruits, veggies, coconut butter, my trusty vitamix 750 (have I mentioned it yet? No? I LOVE it.), and my fantabulous Excalibur dehydrator.
Got veggies? Got a blender? Got a dehydrator (or possibly an oven on low temp, but I haven’t tried that)? You too can have Paleo Skittles and taste the (real food) rainbow.
Right now, Tropical Traditions is having a sale on their coconut cream concentrate (which is the coconut butter I typically use), buy one get one free! 2 quarts for the price of 1. That’s a fantastic deal and it’s a great time to stock up so you can make your Paleo Skittles!
Where did this idea come from? Target sells happycreamies veggie and fruit snacks, which are melt-in-your-mouth (like the yogurt melt thingies) freeze-dried “drops.” While home freeze-drying isn’t really easily accessible yet (it’s only 2013 – hopefully soon!), using a dehydrator can make similarly delicious, although differently-textured, snacks.
My friend Heather texted me one day to tell me she had “done it.” She blended up sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and some fruits and veggies. Then she dehydrated it in little blobs, and her daughter happily gobbled them all.
Inspired by Heather, I whipped up a batch a few days later. Of course they weren’t just like happycreamies, but that doesn’t matter.
While the melty texture of the happycreamies is novel and fun, what our kiddos really crave is good foods that will make their bodies healthy and strong. And poppable drops makes them easy to store, transport, and snack on.
Because these paleo Skittles are dried, they can be stored at room temperature for quite some time before going bad. I have a baggie of them in my purse, one in the car, and so forth. They’re as convenient as raisins, without all of the sugar (natural sugar is still sugar).
The first paleo “skittles” I made were the orange ones. I called them “Sweet Potato Sunshines” and the kids ate them as quickly as I could make them. After a couple of batches, I decided to try a green one. I really wanted to incorporate spinach into the mix, a veggie my kids like the flavor of but don’t eat in any notable quantity on a regular basis yet.
And once I had orange and green, I thought to myself, “Self, there are SO many good veggies and fruits out there… a whole rainbow of paleo skittles! Wouldn’t it be fun to make snacks in every color?”
Besides the fun factor, if my kids were eating a rainbow confetti of these snacks, I would know they were getting a good variety of fruits and veggies with every snack, which is more useful to our bodies in general than eating only carrots for a week, then only beets for a week, and so forth. I also made them a bit more sustaining (and gave them a chewier texture) by adding fat to each one. Most flavors have coconut cream concentrate in them, while the green ones have avocado for added fat.
So my dehydrator was pretty much running constantly for aaages. Each color batch made about 4-5 trays worth of paleo skittles, so in my 9-tray Excalibur Dehydrator, I could do two colors at a time.
I had a couple of failed batches (ugly snacks when I tried to get fancy with the shapes, or just not quite right flavor), and some days I didn’t have time to get a batch in the dehydrator in the morning, so it took me a couple of weeks to get all of the colors finished.
But it was worth it all to be able to give these snacks to my kiddos AND to share them with you! The lemon-honey yellow ones are my favorites, and the kids love the beet-cherry flavor the best (those are gone first when I give them a container full). But they’re all happily gobbled on a regular basis around here.
Soooo… are you ready for the Paleo Skittles recipes?
Every recipe has the same procedures.
- Combine all ingredients in your blender and puree until smooth.
- Then make little blobs on fruit leather sheets on your dehydrator trays (parchment paper works great if you don’t have the commercial ones). I used a quart size ziplock freezer bag (do NOT use the regular sandwich ones… they will pop) with a Wilton piping tip in it.
- Place the trays back into the dehydrator and dry at 130 degrees or so for about 4 hours.
- Flip the paleo skittles over and dry for an additional couple of hours until they reach the consistency you want. (Less drying = chewier. More drying = crunchier.)
- Let cool 10 minutes before storing.
Tip: If you bake a bunch of white and orange sweet potatoes in the oven at once, you can put them in the fridge until you’re ready to make the snacks.
1 – Maroon Paleo dehydrator snacks
- 2 cups white sweet potato, cooked
- 1.5 cups blackberries
- 1 cup raspberries
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
2 – Pink Paleo dehydrator snacks
- 2 cups white sweet potato, cooked
- 1 cup raspberries
- 2 cups strawberries
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
3 – Orange Paleo dehydrator snacks
- 2 cups orange sweet potato, cooked
- 1 cup carrots, chopped (raw)
- 2 oranges, peeled and seeds removed
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
4 – Yellow paleo dehydrator snacks
- 1 cup white sweet potato, cooked
- 2 cups parsnips, chopped (raw)
- zest from one lemon
- 1 lemon, peeled and seeds removed
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
- 1 Tbsp honey (optional)
5 – Green Paleo dehydrator snacks
- 2 cups white sweet potato, cooked
- 1 cup raw spinach, packed
- 2 pears, cored
- 2 kiwis, peeled
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas (NOT canned)
- 1 avocado, peeled and seed removed
6 – Indigo Paleo dehydrator snacks
- 2 cups white sweet potatoes, cooked
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
7 – Burgundy (almost Black!) Paleo dehydrator snacks
- 1 cup orange sweet potato, cooked
- 2 medium beets, peeled and chopped (raw)
- 1 cup cherries, pitted
- 1/4 cup coconut butter
You don’t have to make all 7 colors/flavors right away. Pick a few of your favorite-sounding combinations and give them a try! You can always add more later, and make up your own combinations too.
What flavor do you think your kids will enjoy the most? Would this be a snack you think you would eat too?
Right now, Tropical Traditions is having a sale on their coconut cream concentrate (which is the coconut butter I typically use), buy one get one free! 2 quarts for the price of 1. That’s a fantastic deal and it’s a great time to stock up so you can make your Paleo Skittles!
182 Comments
Hi !
My baby is allergic to coconut. What can I use to replace it in your recipe ? ??
The wet mixture of the green skittles tastes amazing, then we dehydrated them and it’s unbearably bitter, what did I do wrong?x
Wow, I’m not sure what happened Bek! So sorry to hear that. Sometimes pineapple juice can help cut the bitterness from greens – try adding some next time?
Hello,
I really want to like these beautiful skittles, but no matter which ones I try, the sweet potato taste is always overpowering all the fruit. Do you have an idea for a substitute that will give it the same substance minus the taste? I would really like them to taste like the gorgeous fruit I put in. 🙂
Thanks in advance!
Super delicious! I have made them with black currant and they were sooo good!
But… I had trouble getting them into nice shapes. Which Wilton piping did you use?
I am planni g meals months in advance to prep me for a lifestyle change. Do you think these could be vacuum packed or frozen to last longer? how long is long for keeping them. also never heard of white sweet potato maybe parsnip as an alternative?
i wonder how far in advance you can make these? do they freeze? I will be starting a mealplan and am planning some months in advance.as a sub for white sweet potatoe would parsnip work do you think ?
I just had a strawberry gummy fail. They didnt have enough gelatin in them so they were too set to add more gelatin and too loose to actually pack them in lunches. Freezing didnt help so then I came up with the idea to use your recipe and still use all the “gummies.” I didnt have coconut butter but did have an avocado and used purple sweet potatoes. Success! So good and the avocado didnt hurt the color at all! The color is in between your maroon and pink “skittles” Im so glad you posted this and look forward to eating these for a tasty snack.
Has anyone tried ghee or tallow in place of coconut butter? I have coconut ghee–would that work? Thanks! 🙂
Hi! I have a ton leftover and not sure I will have time to dehydrate the rest. Any chance this stuff freezes or other uses you have found? Ps, thank you soooo much! My guy is dairy free and loves those coconut creamies. Hope that we can replace them with these homemade treats!
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Wondering if you or anyone has tried in oven as I don’t own dehydrator yet…
Hi! I have been so excited to try these and last night I made the green flavor and while the mixture tasted amazing coming out of the vitamix once it was done in the dehydrator for a few hours they tasted awful. They tasted like avocado that had gone bad. Any idea on what I may have done wrong? The texture seemed weird in the finished product as well. I love the concept of these and I’d love to make them work for my family.
Thank you for sharing your creativity!
What could you substitutte instead of white sweet potatoes. I want to make them all but I can only find orange sweet potatoes in my neck of the woods. I have never seen a white one. Where do you buy
But the white sweet potatoes at an Asian market
[…] 11 –Â I want to buy a dehydrator to make these colorful dehydrated rainbow snacks […]
Can these be made with orange juice instead of the lemon juice
Has anyone tried adding canned chickpeas to these? That would be a great way to add protein and fiber!
I haven’t but that’s an awesome idea.
I hope you’re still taking answers to questions on these snacks! I’ve always been skeptical of the paleo diet but I am into eating healthy, and finding ways to get my uber-picky son to eat more fruits and veggies. He’s a super-taster and also has SPD so any food has to meet his approval first. But he does love fruit snacks and I have a dehydrator so I figure these are worth a try. White sweet potatoes don’t exist in South Dakota so I’m hoping more of the orange ones will be okay. My one question–how do you get a silky, chewy texture when you don’t cook the veggies first? Beets and carrots especially are almost impossible to puree in a traditional blender! (And I can’t afford a vitamix…)
You might want to steam them first then… I only really have experience with my vitamix which handles them raw, beautifully. Isn’t it crazy that white sweet potatoes aren’t everywhere?? They’re AWESOME and I miss them a lot when we live on the east coast!
Maybe you could use the chickpeas instead of the white sweet potato… just might want to add a little honey or something to compensate for the lack of sweetness… these aren’t SWEET snacks, but they do have a little of that, which is nice.
Just got a dehydrator this week so I’ve been looking for recipes. These sound fascinating! I am not crazy about adding more fat to my diet though, so I’m wondering about yogurt instead. I realize you and your family eat a high fat diet, but I’m trying to lose about 60 lbs so I’ve got a slightly different goal. But some sort of variation on these would make for great snacks that will incorporate even more veggies into my day! I will have to try it as soon as my tray liners arrive and see how they turn out!
You may want to do some research on fat before you rule it out. It’s not like I’m trying to gain weight or anything… my husband, kids, and I all remain slim while eating TONS of fat, because it’s something our bodies need and use… but do let me know if you try it with yogurt instead!
Oh, I am far from trying to eliminate fat. I already eat my share of it. I just do not want to add MORE. I’d rather save my fat for where I’ll enjoy it, and where it can’t be substituted out. Spaghetti Carbonara can’t be made without bacon, low fat cheese is rather disgusting, and I’d rather have full fat salad dressings rather than low fat ones full of sugar. What I’m looking for is something to snack on that’s healthier than cookies and candy which are my downfall. Replacing them with a protien rich snack such as one made with greek yogurt (which I make myself out of full fat milk mind you) would go a long way towards keeping me fuller so I don’t snack mindlessly on junk. I don’t expect them to have the same texture as yours, but even as something entirely different I imagine they would still be interesting. Hopefully I’ll get to them this weekend – I caught an amazing sale on tomatoes right after getting my dehydrator ($1 for 3 lbs, I bought 50!!) and have been putting away tomatoes non stop for a week. I’ll be glad of it come November when I cna still add tomatoes to my salads and pasta dishes.
Ohh well that’s awesome! And good to hear. 🙂 Let me know how it goes with the yogurt if you do try it.
And lucky break on those tomatoes! How fantastic!
I just tried it, good stuff. I had to change some things up and go with what I had on hand but it worked just fine. I made the coconut butter as well so it’s not ridiculously expensive. Looking forward to trying some other flavors!
Silly question, I know you say to cook the potatoes, but do you take the skin off also or does it go in whole?
I know this is an older post but I’m hoping you’ll see this & respond! I’m so excited to try these but don’t want to make such a simple mistake & ruin them!
Thanks 🙂
i cooked with the skin on, then scooped the middles out (didn’t use the skin) for the skittles.
I plan on trying to make these tonight! I am really excited to try this out. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this post… I really appreciate it!
I cannot wait to try these! They look so yummy! Only question is, can I just use regular orange sweet potatoes? Will it just change the color? There’s only one place around me that sells white sweet potatoes (I live on the east coast where people are saying they’re a bit of a rarity, try checking an international market. That’s the only place that I’ve seen carry them year round.) are selling them for a whole dollar cheaper! I don’t want to spend an extra dollar if it’s just for the color. Thanks and great blog btw!
If I do this with a regular fruit/veggie smoothie base including the sweet potato for thickness and the avocado to replace the coconut butter, should I still put in the lemon juice or is that not needed
I love this do much! Thanks for putting in so much time to figure all of this out. 🙂 I’m making the orange ones today. 🙂 I have SUCH a hard time finding on the go snacks that are healthy and realistic. I think this will be a huge help!
[…] Healthy “skittles”? Sure! Joyful Abode shares how she used fruits and veggies to make these rainbow paleo snacks. […]
I made the maroon ones tonight, they are dehydrating right now, but oh em gee the seeds!! I used a mesh strainer and gor as many out as I could, but wondered if yours were really seedy?
So I’m actually a teenager who has gastritus and have had to go through that horrible transition of getting rid of bad food. I ate on the healthy side mainly but after this I’ve had to go completely healthy/organic/raw food. One of my favorite junk foods: skittles. I know these won’t taste like skittles but I’m hoping they can at least help me through the transition. My mom bought me a dehydrator so I could make my own vegetable chips and I’ve even got my friends at school hooked on them (and I don’t even add salt it’s all raw vegetables). But anyway I was hoping you could help me out with a tweak in the recipe. I absolutely loathe anything to do squash. And white sweet potatoes are not in the midwest (from what I can find. I’ve checked the few organic stores we have: Whole Foods and Hyvee organic section). Is there anything different that could be used instead of white sweet potatoes or squash?
Hmmm… maybe use regular white potatoes, and add a touch of honey if you want the sweetness? I hate that white sweet potatoes are so hard to find in so much of the country! I didn’t know they existed until I lived in California!
I can’t find white sweet potatoes local to me. Do you know of a reasonable substitute?
I can’t wait to make these, I’m obsessed with snacking and love new inventions. I was just wondering If I could use coconut oil instead, we really dislike the taste of coconut so we have the flavorless oil. would that still work the same?
Yeah, that’ll work okay… but use a reduced amount (coconut cream concentrate is about 80% oil, 20% fiber I think), and add more of the potato base for starchiness/fiber.
Great idea! Amazed at these delicious healthy looking bites. More of a reason to buy a dehydrator. Thanks for sharing!
you’re welcome!
Can these be made with just a regular smoothie base, or a green smoothie, I’m not to keen on the potato being in there in general
the potato is there for structure…otherwise it would just be pretty runny… so you could do like smoothie-ish fruit leather, but probably not little “drops” with thickness like these.
These are Brilliant!!! We’re on GAPS, so I tried squash instead of the sweet potato. (We also used pastured butter rather than coconut, but I doubt that makes a differenc? And added Great Lakes Collagen.) They turned out Delicious… but flat. In one batch (raspberry/strawberry) I used our yogurt for my fat, so I only dried them at 115 (to keep the probiotics.) Above you mentioned using more potato for stouter shapes, do you think that would be a solution for my batches’ flatness or do you think the temp difference (or butter?!) could be to blame? Thanks to your help and such an awwwwesome concept!!!
Yes, I think it’s a mixture of those… maybe cook the squash a bit more to release steam and get rid of some of the moisture so it won’t be as thin. Also, keep in mind that coconut butter is I think about 70% fat and 30% fiber, so if you use butter, you’ll want to use less of it and add more fibers veggies to the mix. Or throw in some dried coconut along with the butter, unless you’re avoiding coconut.
Hope those suggestions help! Anyway, I’m really glad you’re enjoying experimenting with them.
Thanks for this! Dumb question: how long can these be kept before going bad? Or do they not go bad because they’ve been dehydrated?
I kept some of them a week or two at room temp before my kids ate them all. If you plan to make them much more ahead of time than that, I’d stick them in the fridge or freezer until you need them.
I just put the orange/carrot/sweet potato ones in the dehydrator..i added a little vanilla, sea salt and dates..it tasted so yummy..i also used my food processor and did a double batch and it filled my eleven cup processor to the brim!!
Wow..those are amazing..i can’t wait to make the next batch. looks like my excalibur will be running nonstop now for awhile as i am making them for my 2 year old twin grandsons..thankyou so much for this recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad your grandsons approve! 🙂 What an awesome grandma you are, seriously! Have fun making them.
Ok this is probably a dumb question but where do you find a white sweet potato? I’ve never seen one I don’t think. If I have, then I guess I didn’t know lol are they just called white sweet potato? And do you find them at any grocery? Thanks!
It’s NOT a dumb question! Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they’re super hard to find on the east coast. They’re in every grocery store on the west coast, and I’m not sure about the rest of the United States.
So weird, right?
I just found some (I’m in Maryland right now) at our Amish market, and was SO EXCITED. I’m not sure why they aren’t in most groceries out here. Where are you located, Lindsay?
same problem as lindsey. I am in Massachusetts. Any idea for substitutes
This is such a great idea! I know I always struggle trying to find paleo snacks that are easy and convenient to take along with me. People will say bring fruit or veggies, but you kind of get sick of carrying a bunch of fruit that goes to waste once you forget it in your purse. For a week. Plus this will give me a good excuse to use the Vitamix. 🙂
I hope you enjoy these!
I’m in southern kentucky, on the TN line. So about 30 min from Nashville. Surely they’ll have them at the Whole Foods there?!
Hi Emily! I am new to your site, not one but TWO of my formed passed this recipe along to me…they knew I would love it and they wanted me to do all the work for their enjoyment!
I made my first batch today with my friend, the orange/sweetpotato/carrot one and we are swooning! We zested the oranges for extra oomph, and added some stevia to assure kid approval, but we had a blast making them. Not hard at all, and so much fun! I love how these idea showcase the amazing natural colors in our foods, so beautiful! Thanks so much, we are excited to play around with more variations.
You’ve got some great friends! Hehe.
But seriously, I’m so glad you actually gave it a try. Adding the zest and a bit of stevia sounds like a great plan, and I’m so glad you’re all enjoying it. 🙂 Let me know if you come across any other awesome combos!
(Glad you found my blog, too. Welcome!)
We are currently on the gaps diet so sweet potatoes are a no no. Do you think butternut squash would work? These look amazing and I need some more portable snacks for my little guy! Thanks!
It might! It will have a different color than the white sweet potatoes end up with, of course, but the parsnips in the yellow one worked really well…maybe make it a bit parsnip-heavy and if you need to keep the white “base” color.
Otherwise, start with the orange flavor. I bet that would be perfect with butternut instead of the sweet potatoes. Please let me know how it goes!
It might! It will have a different color than the white sweet potatoes end up with, of course, but the parsnips in the yellow one worked really well…maybe make it a bit parsnip-heavy and if you need to keep the white “base” color.
Otherwise, start with the orange flavor. I bet that would be perfect with butternut instead of the sweet potatoes. Please let me know how it goes!
Hi! These look amazing! What number Wilton tip did you use? Also do you know if the tips will fit any piping bag?
Thanks for sharing!
It’s the biggest star-shaped one, whatever that was… sorry I don’t know all of the fancy names. It really doesn’t matter what tip, as long as it’s a big enough hole. And I THINK all tips fit any bag, but the screw-on dealie is specific to each company. I could be wrong though… I just use a freezer bag as my piping bag.
Hi!!
I just love this idea and I going to be attempting to make these for my daughters first birthday!!! I was wondering if you have any ideas about making a peach flavored one? Thank you!!!
I haven’t tried a peach one, but you could play with the other recipes and substitute peaches for something else. I bet they’d be awesome!
How do you make these without frying your blender motor? I tried the green ones first and it is SO thick!! My motor was smoking and I had to stop. Thanks!
Add a bit of water until the blender can handle it. 🙂 And I have a Vitamix which is pretty powerful as far as blenders go too… but yeah, a little water (not enough to make it runny though) will help.
Ok, seriously… mind BLOWN. It’s funny, I don’t really like skittles (or any non chocolate candy), but I LOVE any way to get more fruits and veggies into my diet. It’s pretty much a chewy green smoothie! I’m especially looking for a way to get beets into my diet (I HATE them with a passion). Does the orange flavor really come through on the orange ones? Is there a healthy way to make them sour? I will steal a few sour skittles from friends if they’re eating them lol. What about other flavors? Lemon?
You can taste the citrus a bit in the orange ones but it’s not super strong. I bet if you put orange ZEST into them, you’d get more of that flavor though. 🙂
Those look so cool! For some reason this seems more fun than fruit leather (and our Excalibur hasn’t gotten enough use yet because I haven’t had the time/energy/inclination to experiment with it). My kids would enjoy these.
Another option to cook the sweet potato, for those who wondered, is a pressure cooker.
They are SUPER fun. But we love fruit leather too. hehe.
Good call on the pressure cooker. That’s one toy I haven’t played with ever, but I hear the most amazing things about them!
I have a coconut intolerance and the kiddos have a nut intolerance. What could I use instead of the coconut butter? Thank you awesome idea by the way
You’re welcome for the idea. 🙂 I bet you could use ghee (in about half the amount of the coconut butter, is what I’d try), but the flavor would be a bit different.
Do the green ones need coconut butter?
The green ones get their fat from Avocado, so I didn’t use coconut butter in them. You could add it if you wanted to though.
Love this post! I can’t wait to try them! My family has multiple allergies, and it is very hard to make treats that accommodates all of their restrictions. These recipes will give us quite a variety to enjoy. Thanks for your experimentation and pretty pictures!
I’m so glad to hear that you’ll try them and that they work with everyone’s allergies and restrictions. 🙂 I hope you love them.
so how do they get their shape? the recipe says to make a fruitleather but once it’s dry you can’t make shapes? please help cause i love the idea
you can drop them with a spoon or use a piping bag with a tip like i did… I’m not sure where I said to make fruit leather in the post. Sorry it’s not clear!
I LOVE this. I’m on an uber special diet and need some on the go snacks. I’m going to try some variations w /the foods I can have – thanks and pinning!
Wonderful! I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Sadly, I adore real skittles but I am trying to be better about NOT buying and having candy in our house so I am totally into trying these, thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. 🙂 These are definitely not candy, but they’re colorful, flavorful, chewy, and fun. I hope you like them!
[…] 50. Paleo “Skittles” Recipe […]
What is coconut cream concentrate? How does it differ from coconut oil?
Thank you
It’s like peanut butter, but made out of coconut instead of peanuts. It has all the flesh and oil all blended up into a creamy thingy… coconut oil has none of the coconut “meat” in it. It’s also called coconut butter sometimes.
Can plain white or peeled red potatoes be used? Regular sweet potatoes I’m guessing will affect color but will there be textural differences between white sweet potatoes and a regular potato?
non-sweet potatoes will give it a different texture for sure. sorry 🙁
This may be a silly question, so I’ll post it as an assumption. I assume once you cook the sweet potatoes, you are removing the skin before blending. Is this correct?
yes, that’s right.
Do you need to? That would be such a waste of nutrients!
You wouldn’t have to if you don’t want to, but the color of the drops would be changed due to the brown of the skin. It’s up to you if you want to leave the skins in.
Any thoughts on how I can add a little bit of protein to these without compromising the texture? I’m thinking the gelatin might be just enough to round them out well. I’d love to give some of these to my sister in law and my friend for their little ones, especially when they aren’t well (like now) and not eating a good variety of foods – I love that they have the carbs and the fat. A touch of protein would make these perfect snacks for toddlers who are go go going even when they aren’t feeling great.
Adding gelatin or collagen powder (pre-dissolve it before you blend it in) could be really neat! If you try it let me know please.
Gotta try these out! Genius.
This only makes me want to get a dehydrator now and start making some! These paleo skittles are beautiful and really healthy. Thanks for sharing this!
You’re welcome! I hope you do try them soon.
I am sooo inspired about this. I just made two batches! I worked with what I had at home though so I made a blueberry/lemon/honey one with a bit of lucuma powder and a pineapple/orange/yellow carrot/yellow beet flavor! I can’t wait to try them and make more! I’m inspired to try a chocolate with green superfood powder and a vanilla/white chocolate flavor too! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
oh my goodness the vanilla/white chocolate one sounds so good to me! I wish I could taste all of your variations!
Backpacking treats!!
This is an awesome idea! Do they taste like coconut at all? Can’t stand the flavor. Thanks!
They don’t to me. So many other things in them. 🙂 Hope you try it!
Do you have any suggestions when it comes to using your oven as your dehydrator? I love this idea but simply do not have the room for yet another appliance in my already overly loaded kitchen 🙂 I have to cook for gluten intolerance and these sound heavenly with my upcoming diet too!
use the lowest temperature your oven will allow, and some people will prop open the oven door just a tiny bit. If your oven has convection settings, that would be good for air flow, but otherwise you have to keep in mind that a dehydrator has a fan, while ovens don’t circulate the air AS MUCH, you know? But you can definitely use an oven … it might just take a different amount of time though.
[…] Pop Tarts 25. Paleo Herb Crackers 26. Paleo Plantain Chips 27. Homemade Marshmallows 28. Paleo Skittles Thanks for reading and happy cookin’! -Ali […]
Do you run the berries through a food meal?
nope
Just put sweet potato, apple, pumpkin, orange, and cinnamon into the oven. Hope they turn out. The mix tastes delicious 🙂
How’d you like them?
Some of the people say they made them too small. How big should the drops be before they are dehydrated? Thanks!
Maybe a bit over an inch in diameter? Inch and 1/4 or so?
Can I use frozen fruit or would that be too watery?
No reason not to try it! If it ends up more watery, it’ll just take longer to dehydrate and they’ll probably be flatter, but taste fine.
I just made these mine turned out really flat. Any suggestion ? They tasted awesome just flat nothing like your pictures . Any help would be appreciated
Maybe add a bit more potato to yours next time, so the mixture will be thicker. They’ll be flatter if your batter is more runny … mine was pretty stiff for most of the flavors.
Wanting to try but how do you cook the sweet potato?
You can bake it in the oven or steam it in the microwave… if I’m doing a bunch I’ll do them in the oven. 🙂
If you have a toaster oven, you can use that for one or two… but we got rid of ours, so I just do them in the microwave if I’m only making a couple.
I am going to try making these with Coconut Oil because I was shocked to see how many Calories the Butter has in comparison. Over 300 in just a tsp vs half as much for a TBSP of the oil. One batch will be over 3,000 calories just from the butter alone. Did anyone else try the oil route yet?
I’m not sure what nutrition information you’re looking at… coconut butter is roughly 70-80% fat, so it’s around 90 calories per Tablespoon… not 300 per teaspoon.
Hey! i’m a terrible cook. but i am obsessed with skittles. is there anyway i could buy a “pack” from you? i live in philly
Sorry! I’m not running a commercial kitchen or anything… could you get an awesome cook friend to make them for you in exchange for something else (babysitting, cleaning, whatever)?
This is genius, thanks for all the good info. Wish I had the Vitamix!
I tried to subscribe by e-mail and it says I’m missing the fields for First Name, Last Name but there is only a space to enter my e-mail address. Hope you can get that fixed, I’d love to learn more tips from you. Have a good day.
Oh no! That’s no good. I’ll let my web guru know. 🙂 Hopefully she can fix it. Did you try in the sidebar or at the end of the post?
Are you sure the carrots/turnips/beets are meant to be raw? I have a ninja blender and I don’t know if its just a blender thing, but it doesn’t seem like the raw veggies will be blended small enough….
I did them raw, but I have a vitamix and it kind of pulverizes the hell out of whatever I put in there. 🙂
What is the purpose of the coconut concentrate? I can’t stand coconut even a little. If it’s texture based, what would you suggest using instead?
The main purpose is to add some fat, because otherwise the drops will get rock hard and not so pleasant… and also because we try to get a lot of good fats into our diets (in my family).
Out of curiosity, is there an alternate ingredient to use in place of the coconut butter for people who are allergic to coconuts?
Or who just don’t wish to put a crap load of fat and calories into their candy.
These aren’t really meant to be candy… they’re meant to be food. Fun colorful tasty snacks that still provide a lot of nutrients – and yes, fat. My family eats a VERY high-fat diet and we don’t worry about calories, and somehow we aren’t all a billion pounds so that really isn’t a concern I have.
But Denise, I would try a nut butter if you’re not allergic to that – maybe cashew butter would work well (and since it’s very light colored like coconut butter is, it wouldn’t affect the appearance so much) or even ghee might work.
Has anyone tried them without the lemon juice? We have a citrus allergy in this house. Has anyone adjusted the recipies to because of food allergies? Can you us something other than coconut butter here it is $12+ a jar.
I hope it’s OK to share this. I make my own. wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/make-your-own-coconut-butter/
LOVE this post.
Thanks Adrienne.
I can’t wait to try these. I am thinking these would be a great snack for my husband , whom is a truck driver and likes to snack while driving and of course me and my 12 yr old will enjoy them also. Thank you for sharing .
[…] couch cushions after 3 months of storage was humbling. So much dust and dirt. So many raisins. Some paleo skittles. Dried peas. Good lord… we don’t vacuum in there nearly often enough. […]
Really excited to try these out!! I am having a hard time finding coconut butter, do you think almond butter would work as well? Thanks
I think almond butter would taste great, but it would make them all more brown… cashew butter might help preserve the color a bit since it’s so light in color.
What could I use instead of coconut butter? Applesauce? We deal with quite a few food allergies and this would be cheaper than buying puffs all the time. Feel free to email me 🙂
Lauren, I’d try something else with fat … that’s the main purpose of the coconut butter in this recipe. Without the fat, these tend to dry rock hard and be not so pleasant to eat. So I’d try another nut butter if you can, like cashew butter (light in color so it wouldn’t affect the appearance much) or ghee.
We can’t do either of those options unfortunately.. Our options would have to be bacon grease or something like that.
Bacon grease would definitely have a different flavor. haha. I’m not opposed to you trying 😉 Let me know if you do!
But what about palm shortening? Do you ever use that?
These are amazing! Have you found any new flavors?
Someone tweeted to me that they made a pumpkin pie version with pureed pumpkin, sweet potato, coconut butter, and pumpkin pie spices! That sounds AWESOME.
This post needs to be updated with more flavors. These are the ones I’ve thought of: grape, plum, banana, lime, mango, apple, pear, rhubarb, pineapple, coconut, mango, watermelon, grapefruit.
Sara, I hope you try some of those! Let me know if you do, okay? They sound awesome. 🙂 I’ve made similar treats with banana before and the kids went crazy for them.
Wondering if there is a difference between coconut butter and coconut oil? Would coconut oil work in the recipe?
You’d need to use less coconut oil, but yes… the main purpose of the coconut butter in this recipe is for the fat content. Coconut butter is all of the coconut “meat” ground up into a creamy texture (as the oil releases) just like peanut butter or almond butter, but coconut instead. Coconut oil is ONLY the fat from the coconut, so none of the fiber. It’s up to you… if you decide to try it, I’d use half or so of the amount.
Love this idea, thanks a bunch. Do you think for the out of season fruit/berries that frozen can be used after being thawed?
I don’t see why not!
These look absolutely fabulous! One question though. Is there a fat you can recommend to substitute for the coconut? My little one can’t have anything in the tree nut/coconut/peanut categories. I’m thinking I could use avocado in the darker varieties or if I didn’t really care about getting all the colors right…any ideas to keep the colors true though?
I’m not sure… could you do ghee? Try a small batch and see how it turns out?
These look absolutely fantastic and so fun for little ones to eat! Can anyone recommend a fat that might work other than coconut? My little one can’t have any foods in the coconut or tree nut/peanut category. Maybe butter???
A lot of people are asking this without much reply. Any way to actually cut down on the fat instead of just using a different fat. I did some number crunching and a batch of the maroon ones have about 900 calories and 40 grams of fat. Too much for me!
As I mentioned in another comment, my family doesn’t worry about fat content (except to prioritize it as a source of energy, as long as it’s from good sources) or calorie count at ALL. If that’s a concern of yours, you’re probably right that these aren’t just for you. (But you also would NOT eat an entire batch in one sitting.)
I would try ghee if you can’t have any sort of nut or coconut.
[…] of baking.  I’ll post about that whole process later.  Let’s just say for now, these Paleo Skittles are very good but WOW, what a process to […]
I love this. I am a huge “snacker” and this will be perfect on my paleo quest. I just bought the coconut butter and can’t wait to make these.
I am so hooked on these!!! My first batch turned out tiny, because I didn’t account for shrinkage in the dehydrating process, but my second and third batches turned out beautifully. These are so delicious and we have been gobbling them up as fast as I can make them!
One little piece of advice to anyone trying these: don’t do what I did the first time and make the puree the night before, planning to make them in the morning. The coconut butter gets really, really hard overnight in the fridge and softening it again changes the texture for some reason. Better to make the puree and then make them immediately!
Wow thanks for your comment I was just going to do that. Guess I’ll wait.
Hi!, how did you get those fancy shapes? All same size?
Any mold would help?
Can I make coconut concentrated cream myself ?, how is It made? Any recipies? Thanks!!
I used a frosting piping tip to get the cute shapes. 🙂
You can make coconut cream concentrate / coconut butter if you have a high speed blender and dehydrated (not sweetened) coconut. Just blend it up until the oil releases and suddenly it’s smooth.
[…] about renting pool house for bday party) no one at the front office today! so instead: MAKE MORE PALEO SKITTLES!!! 14. Handwash hats 15. Put in maintenance request – kitchen cabinet 16. Write 20 Chore […]
Do you think these would work with butternut squash instead of the sweet potato? I have a friend who follows SCD for colitis and can’t eat sweet potato, but can have squash. I think these would be a fun gift.
YES probably! I’d give it a try. That’s an awesome idea.
These look amazing!!! I would definitely gobble up the maroon ones – blackberries and raspberries yum! And the colours are so vibrant
Oh my goodness, these look amazing!! Gorgeous pictures, too :-)… I’m planning on trying to make some in the oven… I’ll let you know how it goes! Thank you for sharing the recipes!
Update: made these in the oven the other day! worked perfectly fine 🙂 I set it to 170 (that’s as low as our oven goes) and let them “bake” for about 5 hours. For part of the time I let the oven door open a bit so that the moisture could escape. Oh, and I should also add that my skittles were TINY… They shrink quite a bit while drying, which I didn’t take into account… but they are still delicious! Next time, I will definitely make them a little bigger – which probably means another hour or two added to the drying time… We shall see!
Oops…just saw your follow up…sorry! Thanks for the update though. I can’t wait to try!
Did you ever try these using the oven? I don’t have a dehydrator but want to try in the oven and wondered if anyone did it and had success/failure.
I don’t have kids, but those look amazing. I think I’m going to make some for myself (I’m a snacker). I also love the pictures that you took. Fabulous woprk, girl!
I meant work. And I meant to spell my name correctly, not in a weird opposite yell / caps effect. My bad!
Just bought the coconut butter- looking forward to trying a few this weekend! And I don’t even have kids at home!
These look awesome! I haven’t been able to find white fleshed sweet potatoes where I live; could I substitute the orange fleshed for some of the other colors?
The colors all combined on one plate remind me of Halloween! What a great, amazingly healthy treat they would make in place of the typical sugar overload that is typically offered.
Genius!! I need to buy a dehydrator ASAP! Thank you so much!!!!
This is brilliant!! Can’t wait to try it out!
Try adding.Great Lakes gelatin, gives it a chewier texture! Awesome work!
How much did you add?
I’m wondering the same thing. I’d put too much and ruin them lol.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I’ve been waiting for this post!!! I love the name you chose too. Your pictures come out beautiful as well. There look amazing and I can NOT wait to try them.
Wow…you put some serious time into this! I’ve been thinking about this for a long time (along with homemade “puffs”) and I never had any time to put it into action in the kitchen, plus I don’t have a Vitamix (Although I’d give my left arm for one.) Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into such a fabulous post. I might try to do something similar with what I have. I KNOW they’d be a big hit!