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
Equipment
Instructions
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.
Hi! My 3 year old grandson and I made these both ways! Both were super easy! The jello one is a bit more sticky, but both came out great! Wont let me tag you for a chance to be featured though 🙁
Were can you buy the molds for the gummy bears
On Amazon – there’s a link up above in the post. 🙂
Michaels Craft Store has the molds as well!
I added 1 and 3/4 tablespoons of gelatin it was perfectly fine
Do the jello gummies need to be refrigerated after taken from the mold?
Yes
Best ever!!!!!
Yummm!!! I did the jello recipe. One hint dont place them on a plate, they stick bad to it
How was the texture? I’ve made with agar agar and the texture is interesting… did these stretch and give a little gummy chew ? Thanks!
The texture isn’t the same as traditional gummy bears but it’s as close as I have tested with a DIY recipe.
great recipe! i added a tablespoon of citric acid to make them sour and they tasted great, i highly reccomend adding it if you like sour candy.
Will it work with sugar free jello or sugar free juices?
Sugar free juice will work but I haven’t tested it with sugar free jello.
Hi! Our juice gummy bears turned out perfect! Thanks so much for the recipe.
I can’t get the juice ones out of the silicon molds. They have been in the fridge for 7 hours now. Any suggestions?
Sometimes the juice ones seem like they won’t come out but you just need to push them out and they are still 1 piece. Push from the back of the mold.
So I can use flavored jello or non flavored jello and fruit juice to flavor these little guys correct?
Yes exactly! Just make sure to follow the directions for quantity so they set properly.
Do you need to spray the silicone molds first so they will pop out easily?
You can if you’d like! We didn’t have an issue getting ours out without it though.
Trying to make about 80-90 servings of these. How many servings does the original recipe yeild?
The serving suggestion is 6 but it really depends how many gummies you want per serving. You will get about 2.5 trays per recipe. Each tray we used has 53 gummies on them. So 2.5 trays gives you about 22 gummies per serving for 6 servings.
Do I need to substitute something for the honey? The fruit juice I use is sweet enough me. Thanks 🙂
The honey is optional if your juice is sweet enough. 🙂
So so Yummy ideal for making your own sweets for a birthday party weddings etc
Hi, I tried making the jello ones, and they never hardened… what do you think I did wrong?
Check your measurements for your Jello package to make sure it’s the same. If so, add a little more gelatin and let sit a little longer in the fridge. They may seem a little soft to the touch but when you pop them out of the mold they are firm.
Hi
I’m from the UK, how much jello (jelly) do I use as we have different packs in the uk?
It’s a 3 oz or 85 gram package so can you use a package close to that size?
Gummies stick together like crazy. Solution?
If you’re finding them to be too sticky you can dust a little bit of corn starch on them or in the mold.
How can I get different colors within in a same batch? Is it possible?
Thanks.
You’ll need to make another batch for a different colour. Or you can split the measurements in half and do smaller batches.
The recipe using fruit juice works as advertised. The bears popped out of silicon molds with no additional oil or any such nonsense. Perfect. We used pomegranate juice and 1 T honey. Next time I think we will up the honey to 2 T. We are going to mess around with different juices and maybe a drop of two of essential oils here and there. With larger batches keeping the liquid in a hot water bath to keep it mobile should make piping out the bears a cinch. Thanks for getting things started over here!