If you listen to The Balanced Bites Podcast, you may have heard before that I used to be pretty obsessed with sour gummy candies – ones like this, this, and especially this. Wait, who are we kidding here, I was pretty much The Candy Girl. I rarely met a candy I didn't like. This obsession was to the point where I would read labels and find the candy with the “least-bad” ingredients. I avoided anything that sounded like it might contain gluten, but I'd turn the other way when I'd come across some strange dyes or even (gasp!) some corn syrup. Sigh. You all know I'm totally human over here, right?!

Over the years, I've traded in my sweet and sour gummy (and pretty much all other) candy desires for organic dried mango, indulgent raw macaroons, and even the occasional grass-fed ice cream.

Recently I've discovered that I can not only re-create an old favorite of mine, but I can make something that's actually extremely health promoting.

Are you hearing this? A gummy “candy” that's healthy – and can even help heal your gut and repair connective tissue throughout your body.

I think it may be important to tell you as well that the lemon-lime flavor, at least when I made them, were so tart that I think they may actually help to naturally increase your stomach acid if you are experiencing symptoms like reflux/heartburn, etc.

Stop the presses, I'm going to fall over. But not before I give you this recipe for making these tasty treats!

Note: Use pretty much any fruit in this recipe except fresh pineapple. The enzyme bromelain in the pineapple is known to break down proteins, so it will keep the gelatin from forming!

sweet & sour gummy gelatin snacks

grain-free • gluten-free • dairy-free • nightshade-free

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 5 minutes (CHILL TIME: 60+ minutes)

YIELD: 4 servings

for a lemon-lime version:

ingredients

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup water (optional, depending on how sour you like things – without it these are quite sour!)

zest from lemons and/or limes as desired

1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional, but will be very tart without this)

4-5 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin, (orange/red package will gel, the green will not)

preparation

In a small pot over medium-low heat, whisk the lemon juice, lime juice, water (optional), zest, maple syrup, and gelatin together vigorously until the gelatin is well dissolved and the mixture becomes a nice slurry.

Pour the mixture into a small glass or ceramic dish, preferably 6×9″ or so. The smaller the pan, the thicker your gummies will be. For thinner gummies (to cut into “worms,” for example), use a larger pan.

Chill in the refrigerator until completely set, approximately 30 minutes.

change it up!

To make these more fun for the kiddos, cut them out with small cookie or aspic cutters once they're chilled and fully gelled, or chill them in fun-shaped molds. To remove them from the molds once chilled, set the bottoms of the mold containers in warm water to release them from the pan.

for a sweet-tart blueberry version:

grain-free • gluten-free • dairy-free • nightshade-free

ingredients

1 cup blueberries, defrosted from frozen or fresh

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

zest from lemons and/or limes as desired

1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional – this flavor doesn't need to be sweetened as the lemon-lime does)

6 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin (orange/red package will gel, the green will not)

preparation

In a blender, combine the blueberries and lemon juice until no visible skin or large pieces of berries appear.

In a small pot over medium-low heat, whisk the blueberry lemon mixture with the lemon zest, maple syrup, and gelatin together vigorously until the gelatin is well dissolved and the mixture becomes a nice slurry. (Note: I didn't really whisk my gelatin in enough so my photo shows some white-ish flecks of undissolved gelatin – I was rushing, oops!)

Pour the mixture into a small glass or ceramic dish, preferably 6×9″ or so. The smaller the pan, the thicker your gummies will be. For thinner gummies (to cut into “worms,” for example), use a larger pan.

change it up!

To make these more fun for the kiddos, cut them out with small cookie or aspic cutters cutters once they're chilled and fully gelled, or chill them in fun-shaped molds. To remove them from the molds once chilled, set the bottoms of the mold containers in warm water to release them from the pan.

Looking for more similar recipes?

Check these out!

The Food Lovers Kitchen – Gut Healing Gummy Snacks

MommyPotamous – Homemade Gummy Stars

The Paleo Mama – Fruit Gummy Snacks