It's almost Easter and we are busy getting ready for the Easter bunny to com by making our own homemade gumdrops.
Have you seen our Easter basket stuffer post? It has some fantastic ideas for non candy Easter baskets and organic, natural and even gluten free stocking stuffers.
Today we are sharing a recipe for homemade gum drops. These are a great homemade Easter basket stuffer. We used essential oils and natural root beer extract. I worried that these would be ridiculously hard to make but they weren't. If you can make jello and boil water, you can make these.
There is just one drawback to this recipe: the amount of sugar is a lot. A lot. But unlike regular gumdrops you buy from the store, they don't contain high fructose corn syrup as well as sugar so you have some control. You also don't have to worry about artificial colors and flavors. This recipe doesn't have it.
Ingredients
- 3 envelopes grass fed unflavored gelatin (2 ½ tsp per packet)
- 1 ¼ cups water, divided
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¼-1/2 tsp extract or drops of flavored essential oil
- Recommended flavors: raspberry, peppermint, lemon, orange, cinnamon, root beer (look for extracts free of dyes and artificial flavors)
- Natural food dyes
- Sugar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the gelatin and ½ cup water. Allow mixture to sit while you go to the next step.
- While the gelatin is setting up, bring the sugar and remaining ¾ cup of water to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and stir in the gelatin. Continue stirring for an additional five minutes and until gelatin becomes dissolves in the sugar water mixture.
- Remove from heat and stir in the extract or oils and the dyes if desired.
- Pour the sugar mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 inch pan. Cover and refrigerate for three hours to overnight.
- (Note: You can make two different flavors by separating the cooked mixture into two different bowls, stirring in the extracts or oils and dyes then pouring the mixture into two lightly greased bread loaf pans. Refrigerate as directed).
- Remove the candy from the refrigerator and loosen the edges of the pan with a knife. Cut the candy into one inch square pieces. Pour approximately ½ cup of sugar into a bowl. Roll the cut candy in the sugar
- Place the candy on a waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheet and allow to dry uncovered for 3-4 hours. Turn the candy every hour until the sides of the candy are dried.
- To store: Store candies between a layer of waxed paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Recipe adapted from Parents Magazine
Leave a Reply