Jolly Jell-O Roll-Ups

This time of year is a great time for fall crafts. (Obviously!)

Like making these glitter leaves.

Or a leaf wreath.

Or, a fall leaf painting with Q-tips.

Or stained glass votives.

Doing these fall crafts just BEGS to have an accompanying fall treat, doesn’t it? I thought so, too. Something that reflects fall colors — maybe something red, or orange, or yellow.

Great! I have just the thing for you! Jolly Jell-O roll-ups!

Anybody who knows me knows that easy and inexpensive are my bywords. And these roll-ups live up to those expectations. Wahoo!

Here’s what you need to make them:

• 1 small package of red, orange, or yellow Jell-O
• 1/2 cup of boiling water
• 1 cup of mini-marshmallows

Put the dry Jell-O in a bowl. Pour in 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir.

Stir in one cup of mini-marshmallows. Put the bowl into the microwave for 30 seconds to further melt the marshmallows.

Stir until all of the marshmallows have dissolved. Pour into an 8 inch by 8 inch square pan lightly coated with cooking spray.

Chill until firm.

Use a knife to cut Jell-O into strips about half-an-inch wide.

Remove strips one at a time. Start at one end and tightly roll it up.

Put on a platter and serve to your grandkids!

I made a batch of cherry Jell-O roll-ups and a batch of orange. I should have made yellow,too, but didn’t.

Now. Let me give you some inside information about making them. I put the cherry Jell-O in an 8 inch by 8 inch pan. I put the orange in a pan that was a small rectangle one that was about 7 inches by 10 inches.

I thought that the cherry roll-ups were too thick. The rectangle pan was a smidgeon bigger which meant that the Jell-O wasn’t as thick. I liked the thinner roll-ups.

I also cut the cherry ones too wide. That made for wide, fat roll-ups. Which I didn’t particularly like.

Since the rectangle pan was longer than the square one, that would have made for really long roll-ups. So, after cutting sections that were about half-an-inch wide, I cut them in half. I thought that that made the perfect length for the roll-ups.

I found that the roll-ups didn’t stay rolled up very easily. Was it due to the cooking spray? Could be.

Sometimes the layer of marshmallow extended a tad beyond the Jell-O and the marshmallow helped hold the roll-up together. I put a drop of water on my finger and rubbed it on the roll-up to try and make the end stick down. That didn’t work.

Also, this recipe doesn’t make very many roll-ups. I got 14 roll-ups from the orange batch (because I cut them in half lengthwise) and only 8 from the square pan. (I could have gotten one more if I hadn’t but them so wide.) So, if you’re going to serve them to very many of your grandchildren, you might want to make several batches.

Now, I used red and orange because those are fall colors and I wanted a fall-themed treat.

If you make these at Christmas time, you could make red and green ones. For Valentine’s Day, just red ones. For St. Patrick’s day,make green ones. For the 4th of July you could make red and blue ones.

I made these Jell-O roll-ups to serve my grandchildren when they came over. If you want, you could have a grand time in the kitchen with your grandkids and make these together. Your grandkids would have a hoot making them!