Did you know you can make your own gummy bears with only a few ingredients? We are sharing this easy to make gummy bear recipe with you today. And we’re showing you two ways to make them! You can make them with fruit juice or with JELLO (flavored gelatin). Both methods are really easy to make homemade gummy bears. We hope you try them both!
RELATED: Homemade Fruit Popsicles
Gummy Bear Recipe
There are two ways you can make homemade gummy bears. We decided to test out both methods and share the recipes here!
Our kids actually preferred the JELLO version but they also liked the fruit version too. If you have gelatin, JELLO or fruit juice on hand you can easily make these!
The only thing you’ll need to get in advance are the gummy bear molds. Kids will not only love eating these gummy bears but they’ll also love helping to make them! Our 4 year old had fun using the droppers to put the recipe into the molds.
Gummy Bear Recipe – 2 Ways
We’re sharing two ways you can make your own homemade gummy bears. Let us know which one you try and which one is your favorite!
- Gummy Bears made with JELLO
- Gummy Bears made with fruit juice
How to Make Gummy Bears with JELLO
To make homemade gummy bears with JELLO you only need a package of JELLO and some gelatin. The easy thing with this recipe is that you don’t need to worry about how to sweeten it. Our kids loved this version because JELLO is sweet. We also love how bright and colorful the JELLO versions turned out. If you have extra JELLO boxes lying around the house this is a perfect way to use up the box!
Ingredients for JELLO version
- 1 package of JELLO (85g/3 oz size)
- 1 tablespoon of gelatin
- 1/2 cup of water
- gummy bear molds
Note: You can get Vegan Gelatin – this brand is a 1 for 1 replacement. Another option is Agar Agar Powder but we haven’t tested this with our recipes.
Directions to Make Homemade Gummy Bears with JELLO
- Pour 1/2 cup of water into a sauce pan set on low heat
- Add 1 package of Jello (85 size/3 oz size)
- Add 1 tablespoon of gelatin
- Mix until all dissolved and then remove from heat
- Using the dropper add into your mold
Tip: Try to avoid getting bubbles in your dropper when placing in the mold. If you end up with bubbles on the top, that’s ok but the bubbles will solidify that way. We had some bubbly ones and the kids still thought they tasted good.
- Place in fridge for 30 minutes or until solidified.
- Once they are hard from the fridge you can easily pop them out of your mold. If you find them hard to take out of the molds, keep longer in the fridge to make sure they are full solidified.
Gummy Bear Recipe With Fruit Juice
We tested a lot of versions with fruit juice. We tried different sweeteners and out of them all honey was our favorite. We didn’t try with regular sugar as we wanted this version to be sweetened naturally. Note: If you want to avoid all added sugar from using store bought juice you can make your own juice with real fruit instead using a juicer.
If you want to substitute the honey for regular sugar we would recommend you add a little bit of sugar to start and then taste-test before filling your molds.
Note: Reminder that honey should not be given to babies under 1 year old.
Other Sweetener Options
You can also use Stevia but only the liquid drops. We tried with the powder version and the recipe did not turn out. We also tested Agave syrup but we personally did not like the flavor. The final option to sweeten naturally is you can use maple syrup. However, we liked honey the best because it’s sweet but the flavor is not too overpowering.
For juices we recommend any clear juices – the ones we used are called Simply Lemonades. You can also use cranberry juice or apple juice.
Storage
Keep stored in the refrigerator and they should last at least one week (but will usually get eaten up before then!).
Ingredients for fruit version
- 1/2 cup of fruit juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons gelatin
- gummy bear molds
Note: You can get Vegan Gelatin – this brand is a 1 for 1 replacement. Another option is Agar Agar Powder but we haven’t tested this with our recipes
Here are the directions for the fruit version – you can print the recipe off here too!
Gummy Bear Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp gelatin
- 1 gummy bear mold
Instructions
- Pour 1/2 cup juice into a sauce pan set on low heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon honey.
- Add 2 tablespoons of gelatin.
- Mix until all dissolved and then remove from heat.
- Using the dropper, add into your mold.
- Place in fridge for 30 minutes to cool and form or until solidified.
Nutrition Estimate
Notes
More Fun Treats:
- For a healthy snack option for kids, see these fruit popsicles – kids love helping to make these and they are perfect for a hot summer day!
- Ice cream in a bag is also really fun to make with the kids!
- And for another fun snack idea for kids – try these yogurt bites or homemade Jello.
These look very yummy! Thank you!
If I make these the night before a birthday party will they be okay to set out for the party or do they need to be kept in the fridge? (Jello version)
They need to be kept in the fridge. 🙂
Why is it necessary to add more gelatin to the jello recipe, doesn’t the jello already have it in it?
If you just use the jello it will be jello. The extra gelatin is needed to make the gummies more like a gummy texture and not like jello.
where to buy mold for gummy bear
Hi Myrna – we link to the molds on Amazon in the post above! 🙂
Where can get the Gummy bear mold?
Hi Alma – we link to the molds in the post above from Amazon.
For the jello recipe it says half a cup of water. That’s less than normal package instructions. Does that mean we’re not to follow the package? Also is the extra gelatin so it’s more gummy like rather than jello?
Exactly Kelly, don’t follow the directions of your jello package or you’ll make jello. Put in only the 1/2 cup of water and the extra jelatin is what will give it more of a gummy bear-like texture. It’s not exactly the same since the store-bought kind has lots of other ingredients but it’s close! 🙂