Making juice based Gummy Bears
I love gummy bears, and pretty much gummy anything...so I wanted to learn how to make them, you know, in case SHTF. I would like to have some ability to make creature comforts as well as just survive.
I followed the recipe that came with the molds for the first run.
1/2 C Honey
1 C Orange Juice
Blend until a little frothy
Then add 1/4 C Gelatin to 1 C boiling water...stir in to melt, then add to the honey/juice mixture and blend it up once more
I had the molds laid out on a cutting board, because after we fill them, we need to put them in the fridge for 30 minutes
Then fill the molds with the candy dropper
After the 30 minutes in the fridge, carefully pop the little bears out of the molds...
Their recipe was very tasty, but a bit too sweet, and it made far too many for us
So...I changed it up a bit.
First, I put all the orange bears in a baggie with 1/2 t Corn Starch and shook it up really well so they would not stick together...and that worked well.
Then, for the next batch I used Lingonberry juice, and no honey. MUCH better :) And I cut the recipe in half.
Now that I have tweaked the recipe to fit our taste buds, I can make them with TS when he comes over his christmas school break.
Using organic beef gelatin, and only juice and water, these become a perfect protein/sugar pick me up...and not a bad snack for kids :)
EDIT - On the prepper side of things, real gelatin will prevent rickets when kids don't get enough vitamin D. It is very good to have on hand. Here is an excellent write-up on gelatin... http://www.progressivehealth.com/add-gelatin-to-your-diet.htm
If you do that with elderberry "tea/juice" then they are immune boost gummies!!! We have done that the last 3 years!!
Awesome idea, thanks! I will do that when we get into full cold/flu season :)
Those look delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Now I need to find some cute molds, I think my kids would love to make and eat these!
;)
You are very welcome. They make so many cute silicone molds now...
Those do look good, I was sent by someone to look. I have just a couple of questions, First, what did you use to fill those tiny mold holes, an eye dropper? I don't see any juice on the outside of those molds. That I could not do. Second, after trying it with the OJ and the Lingonberry, (OJ is thicker that Lingonberry)? Do you think Pomegranate Juice which to me seems thicker than OJ would work also? And I do understand about the to sweet thing, but like a little semi-sweet snack every now and then. They do look mighty tasty.
Yeah they are, my new favorites for sure :) The molds came with 3 droppers, you can see one in the photo of the unfilled molds (which I found on Amazon). I think they created them so kids could use them.
I do think Pomegranate juice would work, any liquid juice would work very well even if it is thicker. I mean, if you found the mix gelling up before you could get it into the molds, then add a slight bit of water to the juice the next time around and it will thin it some. My guess is that it will be fine. The lingonberry I used was a concentrate, so I left it on the thicker side.
I see the eye dropper now. We are going to have to try making some.
Have fun :) I want to try so many different flavors now. It is hard to find truly healthy sweets, but this is one for sure...
Those look yummy and easy to make, I like the
glow of the Lingonberry bears :-)
They are super yummy! and we can eat a handful without getting a sugar high ;) Me too, I think I will be making mainly clear juices when I can. I can use some of the grape juice I canned before too, and blueberry, and I can make them with tea too!! Oh, now I want to make hibiscus and mint gummies :O
Oh wow Tea Bears! Red Raspberry Juice Bears sound good also
Don't ask me why I just thought of hot choc bears lol
Hey Shasta, I got the remaining 3 medicine bottles listed on Etsy here https://www.etsy.com/shop/Elewmompittseh?ref=seller-platform-mcnav§ion_id=22504445
So if you would like one, you can order it there, and just scroll down on the payment page and choose 'other'...still for 30 oz of beeswax :) This way I can print out the shipping label there.
Ok sounds good!!
Actually I was also relooking over the Wampum fish and feather
I know I seen the feather, but not the fish wow, would these two be
around the same amount of wax? It is really hard to pick with so
many awesome goodies!!
The fish is a beautiful piece of shell, the lines of purple are so deep. Yeah, those two could be the same amount of wax...that would be enough to make a good amount of candles, and save some aside for herbals and beading.
I somehow missed some replies in my feed thing!
I will stop by the honey place next trip if she's open
and get some wax she is hit and miss sometimes with
having the open sign out lol
Now Deep purple sounds even more intriguing!! :-)
We would be dangerous as room mates :O Now I have to try hot chocolate bears :P I will make a post when I do...Raspberry sounds really good too :)
It totally would be dangerous lol
Have you had Haskap berries? we got some jam and syrup here, had
never heard of it till recently going in the berry shop, it might make
good bears also. Then a thought came through of a 6 course gummy
bear meal on the go, some split pea soup bears? hehe
Hahaha, that is too funny! (she says while wondering how broth bears would taste)...Our families would kill us :O spinach, carrot, broth, cranberry and gravy bears for dinner...
No, I never heard of them, but I will look.
Ahh, Haskap berries are up in Canada. My paternal family is from Ontario area, but I have only been in Canada a few times when I was young. I don't recall much, except I had peanut butter toast the first time there.
Oo I need to get gummy molds now! My kids love gummies and I've been thinking about making some for them. Guess I have a recipe I can use now!!
Yep, a healthy one...I bet they love them :)
They look amazing! I will be trying this one out! I have done automation work on gummy moguls. Starch is what the pros use to keep them from sticking (they actually use it as the mold too). I love gummy candies but they are always too sweet, DIY to the rescue. Thank you for sharing this!!
Enjoy! they are really perfect sugar wise. Yeah, the corn starch worked well, but I am thinking a quick roll in a flour sack cloth to take off the excess would help...next time. It's a recipe in progress I guess :)
This is awesome! I love that you reduced the sugar to make them better. I see so many recipes out there with like...3 cups of sugar for one batch, and my teeth and body cringe just at the thought. We use very little sugar on our homestead (I'm constantly editing recipes that I look up), so it's super refreshing to actually see a recipe that I don't have to edit. And your pictures make them look strangely beautiful, haha.
The glowey bears ;) We don't really use much sugar either...I think aside from coffee, the most we use it is in jam...then if we have a real sweet tooth we eat that on a sandwich or muffin or something. Me too, I always cut the sugar in half or less when I find other peoples recipes.