Cuz I'm a (super natural) gummy bear!

 

Who remembers this television theme song chorus:

"Gummi Bears,
Bouncing here and there and everywhere.
High adventure that’s beyond compare,
They are the Gummi Bears."

It could be that these gummi bears were bouncing here and there and everywhere because they were just a dental disaster filled with sugar and food dyes. Yuck, not for my kids! They are wild enough as it is!

We decided before sending Boo to school last year that we would cleanse his system from these devils that could get in the way of learning. 

READ THE RESEARCH BEHIND MY DECISION HERE

But lets be real, bright sugary foods are fun! And, enjoyed in moderation, there is room for them in my kids' diets.

Natural candies are expensive and a treat we really don't budget for. That is why I was super pleased to have the opportunity to review this gummy bear mold.

My kids were pleased too! While waiting as I scoured the Internet for recipes, Boo practiced filling the bear shaped cavities in typical Montessori fashion.

Then, noticing the giant bowl of oranges we keep refilling this time of year, sought out an orange juice based one. The kids took turns squeezing oranges and measuring out the juice.

We added honey as a sweetener and powdered gelatin (not Jello! just regular gelatin. You CAN find recipes using Jello but these contain food dyes and many other chemicals)

After heating the concoction on the stove to dissolve the gelatin, The Ogre, Boo and I took turns using the provided syringe to fill the cavities. The was the best part of all! The liquid was super hot, so we didn't involve Moo, but there was something extremely satisfying about this part of the process.

We ran out of space and The Ogre decided to use the silicone ice cube tray, something I would not recommend as the size of the gummy bears seems to be PERFECT, and even the barely filled squares were obnoxiously over sized. Plus, and I am unsure why on this one, the bears popped easily out of their mold living no residue behind, while the squares crumbled and left a good quarter of the snack within. I would recommend either halving the recipe or buying two trays. Luckily the seller does give a 25% discount if you buy two trays. Given that the trays are already on sale for half off, this is an EXCELLENT deal!

The gummies will cool and harden if left out at room temperature, but the process can be sped up by putting the tray in the freezer (energy waste!). Guess this is one of the benefits of the cold weather, because we set the mold out on the back steps and they were firm WITH ICE CRYSTALS EVEN in our subzero weather.

 

In the end I have to say the experience was enjoyable and we will definitely be making more, but as for our first attempt? The orange recipe was blah. My sister in law thought perhaps it was too much pulp but I am even wondering if one of the oranges was off in flavor, or perhaps the ratios were off and there was too much gelatin and not enough OJ.  

Still they popped out easy and kept their form.

 

 

Have you ever made your own gummy snacks? With a mold? What flavor/recipe did you use? Looking for recommendations on what to try next. 

I received this product in exchange for my unbiased review