Superfood Gummy Bears

Makes 200 Gummies

I had somewhat of a sobering epiphany whilst trick or treating with my kids this year.  As they skipped along the street with their pumpkin buckets, I couldn’t help be curious as to why my kids’ buckets were empty and all of their cousins (who knocked on the exact same amount of doors) were almost full.  And then I realized – it’s because my kids were eating each and every single sweet as and when they were given it.  Although, I think the word “eating” seems far too civilized for what they were doing - they were positively gorging! 

I like to pride myself on the fact that my kids eat super healthily whilst also maintaining that they don’t feel like they are missing out on anything – but watching them this Halloween I realized that’s not strictly true.  Yes, I let them eat homemade brownies. Yes, we go for family pizza nights and ice creams in the summer time.  But I normally draw the line at artificially coloured sweets filled with high fructose corn syrup that offer no nutritional value whatsoever.  They know that they can eat practically anything, but sweeties are a no-no.  

And just like all the experts tell you it will, it backfired!  Whilst all of the other kids might have had the odd one here or there, mine couldn’t rip off the packaging fast enough, practically inhaling a whole pack of Haribo before I could even mutter the word Nooooooo! So it got me thinking about so-called taboo foods that we deny ourselves/our kids and then the inevitable over indulging that follows.  So I want to make a concerted effort to relax about them eating sweets from time to time; but I also gave myself the task of making healthier versions of them so we could all have the best of both worlds.  And I am super excited to report that it worked out brilliantly! My daughter gave them a solid 9/10, just sneaking behind her beloved Haribo, which was of course, a 10/10. And to top it off, 10 of these healthy homemade gummies only contain 3g of sugars in total, compared to Haribo which has 11g per 10 gummies!

The very best part was how ridiculously easy they were to make.  This has to be my quickest and most mess free recipe to date!  They took only 5 minutes of hands on prep time and then half an hour to set in the fridge.  They also contain superfood powders for added micronutrients, but those are entirely optional, which brings down the core ingredients list to only three!  The gelatin powder itself was from grass- fed, pasture-raised beef and has a whole host of benefits that you would never associate with a sweetie. Gelatin provides amino acids that can actually strengthen the gut lining and lower inflammation.  Glycine in particular is great at helping improve digestion, as well as being important for both joint and skin health.  Shiny glossy hair and nails, here we come!

INGREDIENTS

Basic recipe

·     375ml Juice of your choice 
·     3 tbsp Maple Syrup
·     6 tbsp Gelatin Powder
·     3 tsp Superfood Powders of your choice 

How I did it:

Red ones

·     125ml Innocent Raspberry Super Juice
·     2 tbsp Gelatin Powder
·     1 tbsp Maple Syrup
·     1 tsp Acai Powder 

Yellow ones

·     125ml Innocent Orange Super Juice
·     2 tbsp Gelatin Powder
·     1 tbsp Maple Syrup
·     1 tsp Unicorn Superfood Tropicana Blend

Green ones

·     125ml Innocent Apple, Pear & Cucumber Super Juice
·     2 tbsp Gelatin Powder
·     1 tbsp Maple Syrup
·     1 tsp Matcha Powder 

METHOD

·     In a small saucepan, heat the juice and maple syrup together until just before it starts to boil.
·     Turn down the heat and add the superfood powder if using.  Mix well.
·     Add the gelatin one tablespoon at a time and combine well.  
·     Make sure that each tablespoon of gelatin is fully dissolved in the liquid before adding the next.
·     Remove from the heat and carefully place the mixture into the moulds.  (Note: my silicone moulds came with a handy pipette, but a small spoon would do too.)  Put in the fridge to set.  
·     My moulds were small so only took 20 minutes until they were ready to pop out. 
·      I made different coloured gummies, so I repeated this method 3 times, for each type of juice.
·     Store in a sealed jar in the fridge. 

NOTE – I used silicone gummy bear moulds, but any silicone chocolate mould would work too.  Or else just pour onto a parchment lined dish and cut into cubes once they’ve set. 

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Macros per 10 gummies

Calories – 26
Protein – 2g
Carbohydrates – 4g
Sugars – 3g
Vitamin C – 5%

Recipe adapted from the amazing Rachel at Bakerita.com