Watermelon Rind Gummy Candy

Oh, watermelon.  What am I going to do with you?

No, really, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU?

For the third week in a row we got watermelon in our CSA.  Watermelon appears to be Foodgoat's least favorite fruit so he hasn't even touched any of it.  Princess Goat and the Goatling will eat it so that takes care of, oh, half a cup.  

As if I didn't already have enough to do trying to figure out what do with all this red watermelon inside part, I also had to think about what to do with the rind.  Not the green outer rind, but the white to slightly green part.  Because that's edible too. And that report about how Americans waste 40% of their food came just in time to make me feel guilty about just throwing that rind away like I always do. 

Fortunately, I actually found something I like to do with the watermelon rinds ... watermelon rind gummy candy!

The candy recipe came from a great Gilt Taste post on what to do with watermelon rinds (the other suggestions sound interesting too, so I'll be trying those out soon).  It's remarkabley simple, easy, and quick, and these sweet soft chewy candies that have a light watermelon taste.  I really liked them.  Here's what I did:

Cut off the green parts of the rind and threw them away.  Cut the rind into bite-size pieces, leaving some red on because, well, it's pretty.  I used about 2 cups of pieces (that's less than a full watermelon of course, but I imagine you could scale up if you want). 

Stir together 1½ cups of sugar, 1 cup of water, and a strip of lemon zest in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the rind and simmer until the strips are translucent, about 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Lift the pieces individually out of the syrup with a fork, letting the syrup drip away. (I did try just draining them with strainer, and it didn't work out).  Toss the pieces in granulated sugar until coated. Lay them out in a single layer on a tray lined with parchment paper.

Dry for a few hours until they are no longer tacky.

They come out softer than typical gummy candy, and the sugar coating can be a bit crunchy, but look at that!  I made candy out of something I would usually throw away!