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!
Elana says
Trista, what brand and type of gelatin did you use? We make these with pineapple juice and all types of juices and they set up very well as you can see in the photo above (the yellow one was made with pineapple juice). Happy to help you troubleshoot this :-)
Sandra says
How do you prep the mold so the gummies don’t stick?
Elana says
Hi Sandra, no prep necessary. The gummies pop right out of the molds. It’s so easy! You’re going to love this recipe :-)
The Egg-Free Cookbook says
Pineapple juice will only cause gelatin to fail to set if fresh pineapple is used. Once the juice is heated, the enzyme that keeps the gelatin from setting is deactivated. (Canned juice also works because it is heated in the canning process.) Good question!
Susan says
These look great. I also want to experiment with pectin. So any ideas on quantities if someone has this mastered, that would be great!
I also recommend the molds by The Kitchen Fix on Amazon. They are sooo cut and have great eye and feet detail and pop out really easily. My son loves these bears! If your losing feet, either too long in the fridge or not enough gelatin?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013XRH26G
Ariel Van Ness says
How long do these last? I was considering making them for Christmas gifts, but after reading the comments saying they’re more the texture of a dense jello, it made me wonder about their shelf life. Do they need to be kept in the refrigerator?
Elana says
Hi Ariel, yes, I refrigerate all of my gelatin products after they are made, including these gummies :-)
Nicole says
If you want your gummy bears more dense/chewy, add xantham gum!
Chelsea says
How much can’t xantham gum?
Kinsey Van Druten says
Do you have a recipe so I can see how much xantham gum is needed? Thanks!
Also, Elena, does your recipe here produce more of a “rubbery” gummy as opposed to a chewy fruit snack gummy? I’ve been on the hunt to find the perfect recipe/secret and xanthan gum seems to be new to me. However, I try avoiding this ingredient bc it’s trouble for ppl to digest :(
Elana says
Kinsey, thanks for your comment! If you make these gummies you’ll find they’re perfectly rubbery :-)
Dianw says
They have gummies bear molds on Amazon. Just got ours today. I bought 2 for 14.99.
Have not tried them yet but the molds look decent.
These make the ti y gummies which is great as my other molds were all too large to be gummies Bears.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00W4N1OHY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1443638216&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=gummi+bear+mold&dpPl=1&dpID=41Jz7br17FL&ref=plSrch
Rachael says
Hi – Has anyone tried these with elderberries? I’m thinking I’d like to try a spin on them for some back-to-school Immune boosters. Just looking for tips on doing that from frozen berries. Thank you!
Adrianne says
I would think making elderberry juice or syrup would be a good stand in! I am possibly trying that today since all of my gummies stuck to the silicon mold.
Eva says
I make elderberry gummed for their immune boosting power
Elana says
Eva, what a fantastic idea :-)
Philsy says
Elanas stuff is licensed. Does anyone know if that means she wants payment for using her recipes? or does that only mean we’re not to make lollies using her recipes then selling them for a profit ? Thanks
Elana Amsterdam says
Hi Philsy, Thanks for your question! The recipes here are available for free for your personal use, however, commercial use is not permitted.
Heidi says
I was excited to make these and followed recipe to a tee. I too tasted the immediate flavor of beef when biting into it. I am not imagining it. There was fruit juice flavor, but only as a second note. Unfortunately I did not enjoy this. Not sure if another gelatin would work better??
LuLU1900 says
Try unflavored gelatin, and if that doesn’t do it for you there is a plant based gelatin called agar agar. Hope this helped!
Anna Su says
Agar agar is a seaweed based gelatin. I’m not sure if the texture would be the same though.
Wendy says
I attempted to make these today and was unsuccessful. The mixture glugged up on my whisk and was very cloudy. I put them in the fridge and tried them a few hours later…I think I need more practice. Even my children didn’t like them. Any suggestions please where I may have gone wrong? I did use agar agar instead of gelatin. Has anyone got any photos of making them and what the mixture should look like?
LuLU1900 says
With most gelatin, you have to add it to cold liquids let it soften for about 5 min and very slowly add the hot liquid while whisking very fast. Pouring the gelatin directly onto hot liquids will make it clump HORRIBLY and then it’s ruined and 3 bucks down the drain.
Bryn says
agar needs to be boiled to be able to set properly. in my experience i have had best results using mostly gelatin and a little bit of agar (the agar make for a gritty-ish finish if you use too much of it but it seems to help it firm up quickly) but the good news is that after 2 or 3 days of drying on the counter the texture changes entirely and becomes strechy and chewy like store bought gummy bears. i have tried many recipes and often think it was a failure, but then after drying a bit they are amazing. my last batch i used half red wine and half raspberry juice, I recommend it!
I am excited to try your recipe with the stevia Elana, what a great idea
Elana says
You’re welcome Bryn :-)