Homemade gummy bears (simple ingredients) - White Blank Space (2024)

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Making homemade gummy bears is so much easier than it looks. With just three basic ingredients—fruit juice, gelatin, and honey—you can whip up these fun treats in no time. While their texture may vary slightly from the storebought gummies, these gummy treats still have that lovely bouncy chewiness reminiscent of traditional gummy bears. In fact, my eldest favors them over the pre-packaged stuff.

I used to keep a box of store-bought gummy bears in the pantry for my kids’ lunch boxes. A few gummy bears add a playful element to lunchboxes without having to worry about a huge sugar rush. I’ve been trying to cook more foods from scratch lately, and making gummy bears from home was an easy switch. It takes about 15 minutes to make them!

What kind of fruit juice to use

You can use any 100% fruit juice, except fresh pineapple, kiwi, mango, and papaya. Commercial pasteurized juice should be ok to use as the high-heat destroys the enzyme that prevents gelatin from setting.

Playing around with flavors is half the fun when making homemade gummy bears! When I first experimented with regular fruit juice, I felt the gummies needed a little zing. That’s when I decided to squeeze in some fresh lemon juice, adding a perfect balance to the sweetness of the honey. If you opt for citrusy orange juice instead, just skip the lemon and go for 2/3 cup of orange juice. As for me, I’m already dreaming up my next batch, thinking of using up the leftover juice from those canned peaches or pears that often sit in my fridge waiting for their moment to shine.

Soak gelatin in cold fruit juice

The first step is to mix gelatin with cold juice. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes for the gelatin to soak up the liquid. Without this step, you might end up with lumps in your gummy bears.

Honey

Storebought gummies get their chewiness from corn syrup. We can achieve that by using honey. If you reduce the amount of honey, gummies will become softer in texture.

Add honey to the gelatin mix, and warm up over low heat while gently stirring. Take care not to boil. Once the mixture is completely dissolved and runny, turn off the heat. You’ll have some foam rising to the top. Scoop the foam up with a spoon.

Now fill a gummy bear mold with the mixture. I prefer pouring the liquid into the mold over using a dropper. A dropper creates a lot of bubbles.

Let the gummy bears set for 15 minutes. At this point, it will be easy to move the mold to the fridge without spilling. Let the gummy bears set for 1~2 hours in the refrigerator.

Pop out the gummy bears from the mold. Place them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 7 days. You can pack the gummies to-go or in lunch boxes at room temperature for a few hours without them becoming too soft.

Check out this message I received on my Instagram! I hope you’ll give these gummy bears a try!

Also, check out Froyo Bears – frozen yogurt bites.

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