Healthy Homemade Gummy Bears
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Healthy Gummy Bears are a delicious treat made with only 3 ingredients & done in 15 minutes. Gluten free, refined sugar free and paleo – you’ll love them!
This post was originally shared in March of 2018 but has been updated.
These healthy homemade gummy bears are:
- simple to make
- taste amazing
- are low in sugar
- have a good amount of protein in them (compared to other candy!)
I thought it would be nearly impossibly to make a gummy bear recipe healthy… but it was surprisingly simple.
My candy of choice has always been gummy bears (after chocolate, obviously). On top of being super delicious, they’re so cute! Who doesn’t like a gummy bear?
Even though they’re super cute (and tasty)… their ingredients list is less than impressive. Most gummy bears have Corn Syrup, Sugar, Dextrose, Artificial Flavors, and Artificial Colors. Which I’m really not a fan of.
Of course, we believe in everything in moderation, and we definitely enjoy these things every once in a while.. but if you’re like me and you really love gummy bears – you’re going to need a better solution.
What makes this gummy bear recipe healthy?
If you’re wondering – can gummy bears be healthy, the answer is yes!
- Better ingredients – There are no weird additives, flavors, or dyes in these gummies!
- Gelatin rich – gelatin is amazing for gut health + high in protein!
- No refined sugar– these gummy bears are only sweetened with honey + fruit juice!
On top of having waaaay better ingredients, these gummy bears taste so good. It’s hard to believe that they’re actually good for you.
I made these gummy bears with unflavored gelatin. Before you let your mind run.. I know beef gelatin in candy sounds strange, but it doesn’t taste like beef!
Homemade Gummy Bears Ingredients
To make these healthy gummy bears you’ll only need:
- fruit juice – I like orange juice or pomegranate juice.
- gelatin powder
- honey
- You’ll also want to grab a gummy bear mold. We got our silicone gummy bear molds on amazon.
How to make Gummy Bears:
To make these homemade gummy bears, you’ll need about 10 minutes.
- Bring your fruit juice + honey to a boil.
- Add the gelatin in the mix once heated, and whisk rapidly until gelatin is dissolved.
- Pour your gummy bears into the mold.
- Place in refrigerator and allow them to solidify for 20 minutes. That’s it!
Substitutions
Fruit Juice: You can use orange, pineapple, cranberry, grape or other fruit juices. I would not use lime juice or lemon juice because it would be too tart. I haven’t tried making these with elderberry syrup but I think it would be great.
Sweeteners: I haven’t tried substituting in other sweeteners in this recipe so I can’t be sure how it will work. I think that maple syrup would work but without trying it I can’t be sure!
Gelatin: You can’t substitute gelatin in this recipe. It’s essential for making gummy candy!
Sour Gummies: I have been trying to replicate a sour gummy recipe, but I haven’t gotten in right just yet. I pulsed citric acid and organic cane sugar to make a sour powder, but it was too fine. I have also tried adding citric acid into the gummies, but haven’t gotten the desired ‘sourness’ that I want!
In case you’re still on the fence about making these and using gelatin – here are a few more reasons why we love it!
Are gummy bears a good source of gelatin? Most gummy bears are not a good source of gelatin. However these gummy candies are a good source of gelatin!
Best Molds for Healthy Homemade Gummy Bears
These are my favorite silicone molds for gummy bears.
There are tons of cute silicone gummy bear molds on amazon – this one has a bunch of different animal shapes!
Tips for How to Make Healthy Gummy Bears:
- Experiment with different flavors – We love trying different juices and adjusting the amount of honey to test the sweetness. Our favorite juices to use are orange and pomegranate.
- Get good molds – These silicone gummy bear molds are the best and so easy to use/clean!
- Have patience! These take much more time than running into the store and grabbing a bag of candy, but I promise they are the best healthy gummy bears and SO worth it!
Gummy bears that have 3 ingredients, help your hair/skin/nails, improve your gut health AND have protein in them?! Doesn’t get much better than that!
Storage for This Healthy Gummy Recipe
Because these gummy bears have no preservatives, they need to stay in the fridge. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. If you leave them out at room temperature, they will get moldy!
Freezing: You can’t freeze this recipe. They will become very hard!
Other Flavors for Health Gummies Like These:
Our favorite way to make these gummies are from pomegranate and orange juice. You can also make them with:
- strawberry
- cranberry
- pineapple
- apple juice
Any juice will work!
What are the healthiest gummies?
The healthiest gummies are made with organic ingredients and don’t have added dyes or loads of sugar. This best gummy bears are homemade gummy bears, but if you don’t want to make them check out these store bought gummy bears:
- These are my favorite healthy gummy bears! You can find them in most health food stores or on amazon.
- These are another good healthy gummy bear option. I’ve spotted them at costco.
- I don’t love these healthy gummy bears but many people do. I find that they have an artificial taste to them.
Check out these healthy desserts:
Looking for other easy desserts? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dessert Recipes.
Healthy Gummy Bears
Ingredients
- 1 cup fruit juice (orange or pomegranate are our favorites)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons unflavored beef gelatin
Instructions
- Tip: For easy transport to the fridge, set your molds on a baking sheet.
- In a pan, bring the juice and honey to a low simmer.
- Once the honey is melted, add the gelatin and mix in rapidly with a whisk until it is fully dissolved. You don't need to cook the gelatin, just let it mix in.
- Pour into molds immediately. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes to set
- Once the bears have set, take out of the molds and enjoy! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for freshness
Video
Notes
- Experiment with different flavors – We love trying different juices and adjusting the amount of honey to test the sweetness. Our favorite juices to use are orange and pomegranate
- Get good molds – These silicone gummy bear molds are the best and so easy to use/clean!
- Have patience! These take much more time than running into the store and grabbing a bag of candy, but I promise they are the best healthy gummy bears and SO worth it!
My molds were much bigger than ones for this recipe but I doubled the recipe and they turned out amazing! My little one loved her healthy homemade gummy bears!
We love these! The first batch we tried was lemon, because my son loves all things sour.
How long do you think the gummies are good for?
Glad you liked them! There is a a storage section in all of our blog posts š pasting the info here:
Because these gummy bears have no preservatives, they need to stay in the fridge. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. If you leave them out at room temperature, they will get moldy!
Hello we make our own juice by juicing at home. Could we use that? Would that work? Thank you!
I’ve never tried it with fresh squeezed juice so im not sure. I’m sorry!
They would be good if they didnāt have the texture of just eating jello but they really just taste like jello bites
Sorry you felt that way
This is true but they’re much healthier than store bought gummy bears.
Wonderful recipe. My 1 and 2 year old canāt get enough! We like apple and grape juice ones. I opted for the bigger bear mold, the tiny bears took too long to pop out. Thanks for sharing!
Not sure what went wrong. My batch had a very strong āgelatinā smell/taste. I used fresh watermelon juice, honey and Knox unflavored gelatin. Maybe the watermelon juice was not strong enough to overpower/balance the gelatin. May try again with a store bought juice.
I don’t recommend using fresh squeezed juice in this recipe – I’ve only tried it with store bought juice. I also don’t think watermelon juice has a distinct taste. I wouldn’t recommend using that. Cranberry, berry, apple or even orange juice would be a better option if you want to try it next time!
Would’ve been nice to get a link to the exact gelatin powder you used :/
It’s linked multiple times throughout the recipe and in the recipe. Here’s the link again: https://amzlink.to/az0Y3W0T7lOB1
This is going to be my first time making gummies and I apologize for the silly question – are we talking 10 servings of 15 meaning 150 gummies, or 10 servings IS 15 gummies? I am trying to figure out if I need to buy more molds š
Hi! This is 10 servings of 15 gummies (150 total) but depending on the size molds you use you might get more or less!
I found peach nectar i thought I would try what do you think?
I’m sorry but I don’t know how that would be, I’ve never cooked with that. Sounds yummy though!
I just tried these with guava nectar, and I have peach and mango in line. The guava turned out good but I found it had a strong honey flavour. Not complaining about it though š
Extremely easy to make. Fast! I kind of wish I didnāt use any honey at all and just my mango and fruit juice. I made one with apple juice and added rose petals. It was sooo incredibly pretty!!! I added honey because I think itās good for your skin/health. But it was too much. I think next time I might make vegetable gummies and add honey to those and keep my fruit gummies just plain.
Yum!!Glad you enjoyed it! Different fruit juices are sweeter so I agree – sometimes you can skip the honey!