Vegan Jello Jigglers

These Vegan Jello Jigglers are such a fun treat for kids….of all ages!!!

This post was originally published in February 2016. // As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Vegan Jello Jigglers

One would assume that these would be hard to veganize, as the main ingredient in jello is gelatin.  But as I always say, “anything you can eat, I can eat vegan.”  There is a great vegan “jello” called Bakol Jel, made with vegetable gums for thickening, and without any artificial colors!  I use it as regular jello for my kids (it’s the biggest request when they are sick), and also in my mom’s Lemon Jello Salad and it’s perfect.  And it’s really fun in these layered treats!

Easy Layered Treats!

The layers are made by alternating colored, fruit flavored jello and white, coconut jello.  They make for a really striking dessert!  Each layer needs to chill in the fridge for about an hour until it sets, and then overnight before serving (this helps the layers hold together better), but the hands on time is very minimal.  Just plan ahead and make them the day before you plan to serve them.

While these are jello jigglers synonymous with 4th of July for me, they’re also fun for Valentine’s Day and Christmas too!  The Bakol Jel doesn’t use artificial dyes, so the colors are yellow, orange, red, and pink for the most part.  But you could always add your own food coloring if you’d like! 

You can cut these Vegan Jello Jigglers into shapes using cookie cutters or keep it simple and just cut squares.  I should note that if you cut them out into shapes it’s your responsibility to eat all of the scraps.  Sorry, somebody has to do it!

Need more fun treats for kids?  Try some of these recipes:

• Vegan Dirt Cups
• Drool-Worthy Vegan Cinnamon Donuts from A Virtual Vegan
• Vegan Thumbprint Cookies — Cookies for Santa
• Classic Vegan Sugar Cookies
• Campfire Cones — Three Ways!
• Firecracker Popsicles

Let’s Make Vegan Jello Jigglers!

Go ahead and give these a try—if you can’t find the jel at your local Whole Foods you can order it on Amazon.  Be sure to leave me a note in the comments below and let me know how they go.

Print Recipe

Vegan Jello Jigglers

These Vegan Jello Jigglers are such a fun treat for kids....of all ages!!!

Total Time1 hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: jello, kids

Ingredients

• 2 boxes of flavored Bakol Jel**
• 1 box unflavored Bakol Jel**
• 2 cups water divided
• 1 cup coconut milk from a can***
• food coloring (optional)

Instructions

• I used cherry and raspberry flavors, and added a few drops of food coloring to my cherry (bottom) layer to create red, white, and pink layers for Valentines.  If you want to try more than 3 layers it may be hard to use a cookie cutter to cut them out (they'll be too tall).  They will work great cut into squares with more layers.
• Before you begin make sure you have everything ready, as this jello sets much more quickly than regular jello.  Clear a space in your fridge as a "landing spot" for when you need to chill your layers.  Have ready your jello packets and an 8x8" pan.  Do NOT spray the pan with any oil.  The jello comes out easily without any grease.  When I tried greasing it the oil hardened and left little hardened bits of oil all over my jigglers.  Don't do it!
• Bring 1 c of water to boil in a small pot on the stove.  Once it boils remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the contents of the first flavored jel packet.  If you would like to brighten the color add a few drops of food coloring.  Once mixed together pour into your pan.  Work quickly as this begins to set up fast!  Place your pan into the fridge and let it set.  While it sets quickly, I gave it an hour between each layer.  This probably isn't necessary but I had the time and didn't want to risk my layers mixing.
• Once the first layer has set completely start with the middle (white) layer.  Bring 1 cup of coconut milk to a boil in a small pan.  Once it boils remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the entire contents of the unflavored jel packet.  Carefully pour on top of the first layer and place in the fridge right away to set.
• Once the middle layer has set up bring 1 c of water to a boil.  Once it boils remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the contents of the final flavored jel packet.  Carefully pour on top of the middle layer and place in the fridge right away to set.
• Once all three layers have set you can cut the jigglers into squares or shapes.  I used a long and thin icing spatula to help remove the jello from the pan.  You want to be sure to really scrape the bottom with the spatula so that you don't break your layers.  Store the jello in the fridge until serving time.  If the jello "sweats" when you pull it out to serve just dab the tops gently with a paper towel!  Enjoy!

Notes

** While I am sure that other vegan jello will have similar results I have not tested them.  If you do test them keep in mind that your results may be different.

 

***If you can't have coconut you would probably have success with another plant milk but I have not tested it this way.  Let me know if you do!

Blog Memories

This is an excerpt from the original post, published in February 2016.

A few weeks ago I got an email home from David’s preschool teacher saying that the class was interested in trying jello for a snack, and that David had told them that a vegan jello exists.  She wanted to make some with the class and was so sweet to reach out and see how she could do it and include the entire class.  Bonus—the whole class gets to try vegan jello!!!  Scientific studies have proven that kids love them.*  Bonus that these are free of most common allergens and would be perfect as a classroom treat!

*these tests were not scientific at all.  My kids just shoved them into their faces and grunted “more.”