An easy gummy candy recipe made with gelatin and juice!
I love this easy gummy recipe. Made with any kind of juice or drink, gelatin and some corn syrup. These gummies are soft, chewy and work great as accents on a cake or as treats at a party!
Gummy Recipe Using Corn Syrup
One of the things that makes this gummy recipe so stable is the corn syrup. Corn syrup gives the gummy body and that chew without adding a lot of water. This results in a gummy that can be left out at room temperature without fear of any shrinkage.
Corn syrup in your gummy recipe will also make it nice and sweet! In this recipe, I use flavored drink as my base so I don't have to go out and buy special candy flavoring (another complaint of the original recipe). Even though most drinks are already pretty sweet, the addition of the corn syrup and sugar is a must.
For a stunning plant-based option, check out this kohakutou crystal candy recipe that crystallizes into beautiful jewel-like shapes.
What Do You Need To Make A Gummy Recipe
All you need to make some perfectly yummy gummies is some flavored drink (I like things like fruit juice or Gatorade because they have lots of flavors). Gelatin (or agar agar if you don't want to use gelatin). Corn syrup (or golden syrup), granulated sugar and citric acid (can be found in the canning section at the grocery store in most places). A little candy flavoring oil (in the baking section) to intensify flavors.
If you want clear gummies then use a drink that is flavored but already clear and preferably not bubbly or you'll get lots of foam when you mix your ingredients together.
How to make homemade gummies
This gummy recipe is a great basic recipe to have on hand. You can use any flavored liquid you like whether it's juice, fruit puree or even wine. It's super easy to make. No special heating required.
- Just combine your sugar, gelatin and citric acid in a heatproof container. Add in your flavored liquid and stir gently. Try not to incorporate any air. I like to use a fruit juice for my liquid but other things like gatorade will also work. You can also add in 1-2 drops candy flavoring to intensify the flavor. Experiment and have fun!
- Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so that your gelatin has time to absorb the liquid and properly bloom. If you rush this bit your gummies could potentially lose some of their stability and not be firm enough.
- Melt your mixture slowly, I prefer the microwave. I start with 30 seconds, stir, 15 seconds and stir again and so on until the mixture is fully melted.
- Add in your corn syrup and citric acid and stir. The citric acid is also super important, it adds that yummy "bite" that you taste in most gummy candies. If you leave it out your candy will just taste kinda blah.
- You will notice the liquid is cloudy at first. Let it sit for 10 minutes until it's clear and all the foam has risen to the top. You should be able to scoop the foam off the surface. Don't skip this part or you'll have white foam messing up your pretty jewels.
- Once you've skimmed the foam you can pour the mixture into your molds. You can use any type of mold but I found these beautiful gem molds at Target and this other one from Nerdy Nummies at Michaels. I sprayed the molds with a nice coat of coconut oil and wiped out the excess to prevent sticking.
- They cure pretty quickly, about 1 hour is all you need. You can remove the gems from the molds and put them on some plastic wrap to further dry out over the next couple of days. They will get chewier and more gummy like with time, or you can eat them as is.
- Once the candies are where you want them to be, you can store them in a plastic zip lock container to enjoy as you like.
How Do You Keep Homemade Gummies From Sticking Together?
The thing about sugar is it's pretty sticky. It likes to stick to itself and everything else. If you lightly dust your gummies with some corn starch and shake them in a bag it can keep them from sticking.
I don't love this technique because it takes away the pretty shine. I prefer to spray my gummies with a little more coconut oil. It doesn't affect the taste and keeps them nice and shiny.
Gummy Recipe Without Using Gelatin
Not everyone can or wants to eat gelatin since it is animal based. Agar is the perfect substitute to traditional gelatin. It's made from a plant source rather than from an animal one. That makes it suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets, and other diet restrictions.
Just don't expect the same results when replacing gelatin with agar in a recipe. Agar agar is stronger than gelatin so you'll need to use a little less. Start with half and see where that get's you. Agar is a bit more firm than gelatin as well and not quite as chewy but still is a great alternative.
How to use Agar Agar In A Gummy Recipe
Follow the instructions on the container but just remember, you have to dissolve the agar agar in liquid before adding it to your other liquid, just as you would with gelatin. You need to actually boil the liquid mixture to dissolve the agar and then add it to your other mixture to get it to set.
How To Make Clear Gummy Diamonds
To make clear gummy diamonds, I used some propel flavored sports drink that was already clear. I added in my gelatin, sugar, citric acid and corn syrup to make my gummy mixture. This mixture tends to be a little yellow-ish which can be slightly counter-acted by adding a small touch (like a speck) of violet food color.
Strain the mixture through some cheese cloth to remove any leftover impurities. Pour your mixture into some gem molds. I had a leftover silicone diamond mold that I used for isomalt gems that works really well for this.
One little tip for removing the gems is to pull away the top edge and loosen the gem first before popping it out of the mold. Let them dry out a couple of days as usual. You can also use a wine like Rose to make gummy gems.
How To Make Glitter Gummies
If you want to add a little extra sparkle to your gummies you can add 1 teaspoon of edible glitter to your gummy mixture. I love using flash dust from Never Forgotton Designs. Just make sure whatever you use is really edible glitter and not just non-toxic since these gummies are meant for eating and you can't eat around glitter imbedded in the gummy.
Recipe
Ingredients
Homemade Gummy Candy Ingredients
- 1.75 oz granulated sugar
- 3 packages unflavored powdered gelatin 21 grams
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid
- 3 oz corn syrup
- 2.5 oz flavored liquid of choice like juice or water if you want unflavored
- 1-2 drops candy flavoring for a more intense flavor
Instructions
Homemade Gummy Candy Instructions
- Combine granulated sugar, gelatin, and flavored liquid in a heat proof container. Stir gently to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes to give your gelatin time to bloom.
- Microwave for 30 seconds, stir gently. Microwave again for 15 seconds and stir. If mixture is not melted, continue in 5 second increments until melted. When you don't see any grains of gelatin, it's melted properly. Do not incorporate air.
- Add in the corn syrup and citric acid and candy flavoring. Stir gently to combine.
- Let mixture sit for 10 minutes and allow mixture to clear and foam to collect at the top. After 10 minutes the foam should be able to be easily scooped off the surface with a spoon.
- Spray your molds lightly with some coconut oil and wipe out the excess. Pour your mixture into your molds.
- Let your molded mixture chill for at least an hour before removing.
- Your gummies will be slightly soft at first. Let them dry out at room temperature for 1-3 days. Rotate once a day to dehydrate evenly. They get chewier over time.
- Once your gummies are at the desired consistency you can bag them up in a ziplock to enjoy later.
Nutrition
Errin says
It says this recipe makes 24 gummies. I have 1 ML sized gummy bear molds, what size or volume were each individual gummy bear made in this recipe? Thanks.
The Sugar Geek Show says
This was for the gem gummies which were about 1" wide. The number of gummies you would get would depend on the size of your mold
nicole says
would these be stable enough to make small gummy lollipops?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I would use the gummy bear recipe https://sugargeekshow.com/real-gummy-bear-recipe/
Ethan says
Hello,
Once you dry these for a few days, do you know how long they will be "shelf stable"?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I don't know for sure, weeks 🙂 sugar is very good at preserving itself
JJ says
What liquid did you use to get the nice blue gummies? I tried a blue gatorade but because the gelatin has a slight yellow tinge I ended up getting more of a greenish gummy... thanks!
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can add a drop of blue food coloring to get a brighter color 🙂
DEBORAH A says
Also can you substitute anything for the titanium dioxide I couldn't get any in time to do the eggs for the breakfast cake tomorrow?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Just white food coloring is all you need 🙂
DEBORAH A says
Thank you love this tutorial, so glad I joined your school. That cake smells so delicious, everyone should try it. Thank you so much. Will be putting it together today. My son who I am making the cake for was home when it came out of the oven and he kept putting his head over it saying I could just eat that just as it is. It smells delicious. But, he doesn't know how I am decorating it. The modeling chocolate came out perfect also, and it was the first time I made that recipe, the plate is amazing that it looks just like a white plate of the plate I used.
DEBORAH A says
Hi, For the syrup for the pancakes and the eggs for the breakfast tutorial how long does it take for that geletin to set? Since you melt it again with flavorings would it set up good enough in a day? And do you leave out the citrus acid for that application? Thank you for all the great tutorials.
The Sugar Geek Show says
It sets up almost instantly 🙂 Especially if the cake is cold. The citric acid is kind of sour so if you're flavoring with like maple extract I would leave out the citric acid
DEBORAH A says
Thank you so much for your quick response.
Rosangel Palma says
I have a dehumidifier in my cake room to dry out my room I am sure it would work to dry out the gummies
Lorraine Warnakula says
Hi,
Any substitute for corn syrup?
The Sugar Geek Show says
It says in the recipe you can also use honey 🙂 But glucose is also an option
Shannon says
will fiber syrup work in lieu of corn syrup?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I have not heard of fiber syrup so I cannot say for sure but if you give it a try and it works let me know 🙂
Michael Griffin says
Hi Liz!! Want to make these and just got in a box of Loraan flavorings can I use them in this recipe?
Rosemary Evans says
Can you use pysllium husk in stead of gelatin
The Sugar Geek Show says
I have not tried that variation 🙂
Katherine A Ramberg says
Can I use Pectin instead of gelatin??
The Sugar Geek Show says
Not for this recipe
Mark Jewell says
Can I use koolaid for the 1/3 cup flavored liquid?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Totally! and yum! haha
Sandra says
For the flavored liquid is it possible to use soda?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can
zac says
can we substitute the flavored drink for flavoring and more corn syrup? would that help dry out even faster? or mayube even less liquid and still have the recipe maybe?
The Sugar Geek Show says
The liquid is from the flavored drink and to dissolve the gelatin so if there was a way you could use candy oil for flavoring and just a little bit of liquid to dissolve the gelatin, it would probably dry out faster but I haven't tried that 🙂
Andrea smith says
The post has completely different directions from the recipe. Which do you follow?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I updated it for you to be more clear.