My children were very upset with me last night when they saw I was making gummy bears. Why? I told them they could not eat any as I needed them for a morning photo shoot…for you all. The boys will be happy this afternoon when they get home from school and find this healthy candy ready to eat. These gluten-free gummy bears are the perfect thing to pack as a treat in school lunches, make a wonderful after-school snack, and are a great homemade Halloween candy for your little ghosts and goblins.
My boys (both teenagers now) are literally obsessed with these fruit juice-sweetened gummy bears and worked with me as I made them numerous times to perfect both the texture and flavor.
Gummy Bears
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic grape juice, pineapple, or pomegranate juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon stevia
- 3 tablespoons gelatin
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan bring juice to a boil
- Allow to cool for 3 minutes, then stir in lemon juice and stevia
- Very gradually, Whisk in gelatin
- If you do not whisk gradually and thoroughly your bears will be lumpy
- Allow mixture to cool almost to room temperature, then pour into gummy bear molds
- Refrigerate for 2 hours
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
Each healthy gummy bear candy has close to 2 grams of protein –not bad for a snack food. My older son likes to eat these with breakfast.
I haven’t played with gelatin for quite some time, however, Kelly kept telling me about her gummy recipe using pure gelatin (as in unflavored, without all of the sugar and dyes found in the more commercial product) and now I’m totally on the gelatin bandwagon.
Gelatin is fantastic for gut health and high in protein, which makes it an optimal food for my family. I make sure to purchase the grass fed gelatin and have found it to be very high quality. Here’s to the oxymoron of healthy candy, and gummy, or gummi, bears!
Vivian says
I made these and wish I could say I liked them, but they didn’t turn out as I’d hoped. They were more like firm Jell-o and not really gummy in texture. I also found I could really taste the gelatin, which tastes a bit glue-like. I did make a half batch – did I do something wrong or am I just picky?
Tina says
When I whisked the gelatin the mixture became frothy. They hardened with a frothy layer. Does anyone know where I went wrong? I really want this to work before Halloween. Thanks for any suggestions.
MamaFlip says
You could always sort of over fill them and then slice away the frothy bits.
Maryann says
Need to find molds and time to make these
jennifer says
Love this recipe. Because I didn’t want to use stevia or honey, i used thawed, frozen concentrate to increase the sweetness from the juice. I put 1/2 cup of thawed concentrate in a shallow glass baking dish and sprinkled the gelatin over it to soften it. Then I poured 1/2 cup boiling water over it, whisking to blend. Could also use half cup of boiling juice to increase sweetness even more. This eliminated lumps which I got when I did it with the original recipe. Guess I am too impatient for Elana’s technique. Thanks Elana, so fun to have candy!
Ruth says
Lime Gummy Bears
1/3 cup lime juice cold with the gelatine
AND
1/3 cup water + 1/3 cup lime juice to boil
about 1.5 Tablespoons of honey added with the boiling juice/water;
and 2 “drops” of powder stevia (I have one of those measuring spoons labeled “drop”; I”m pretty sure the “drop” spoon is 1/64 teaspoon) that I added to the cold lime juice and gelatine
I pour the boiling combo over the cold combo, stir without generating froth, then pour into gummy molds.
The kids and I both felt that they tasted like lime jello gummies.
Jennifer says
I made these as written, with pomegranate juice. I had a layer of foam on each one – it stayed white even after they hardened. Anyone know why this happened? One of my kids loved them … the other two stuck their nose up after one bite … but maybe that was the foam issue?
Oh, and I bought the molds on Amazon, and they are more ice cube sized.
Ruth says
To get rid of the foam, I used 1/3 cup of juice to put the gelatin in (I used 4 packets of Knox) then I heated the 2/3 cup of juice to boiling. Poured the boiling over the gelatin/juice ball, and I didn’t have to whisk so much that there was foam. My boys also hated the foam. I find that you can cut off foam and/or crust that forms over time with kitchen sheers and/or knife.
Jennifer says
Love these!!! I made my “non cooking” boyfriend make these while I was cooking dinner. Such a fun dessert! Now every time I turn around he is making another batch. Lol! Double batch of Mango lemonade and pineapple in the fridge right now! We use candy molds and a squeeze bottle for accuracy. Great treat!!!
Margaret says
My kids LOVE these!! Thanks for the recipe!
Manya says
Elana, big fan over here. My kids have had many a EVERYTHING because of you. Now I see this and cannot wait to get started. Only question is where does one aquire such an ice cube tray???
I have GOT to get one asap!
Thank you
Debra E says
I would love if someone could share how to get these gummies out of the mold. They kept tearing at the feet.
Ann says
Did you use silicone molds? They turn inside out and make removing these much easier. I get mine from Amazon or Michaels.