Tart Cherry Gummies
Posted: 08/11/22
Updated: 08/15/22
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These homemade tart cherry gummies are a fun, tasty sweet treat, and they also happen to be pretty good for you, too! Made with tart cherry juice and sweetened naturally with a touch of honey, they’re loaded with antioxidants and health benefits, making them one “candy” you can feel good about giving to your kids or enjoying yourself.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Candy without a ton of extra sugar? Yes, please! These tart cherry gummies are made using a handful of simple ingredients. And their sweetness? All natural, coming directly from the tart cherry juice and the honey. No cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup or any other ingredients you won’t feel good about.
- Making tart cherry gummies can totally be a fun full-family activity! I love getting my kids involved in the kitchen, and having them help me make fruity, gummy candy in fun shapes just makes it even better.
- Love sour gummies? Right before you sit down to eat your gummies, you can give them a quick sour coating made from granulated sugar mixed with a dash of citric acid. The gummies don’t store well like this, so I don’t recommend you coat them in advance.
What’s So Great About Tart Cherry Juice?
Are you a runner? If so, you may already be familiar with tart cherry juice. Some studies have shown it can help with muscle soreness, so it’s common for runners to drink it or take gummies after races. If you’re making tart cherry gummies for replenishment, you can add a little salt to the liquid to help with the electrolyte balance.
You don’t have to be a runner to benefit from tart cherry juice, though. Multiple studies have shown that the juice is jam-packed with vitamins and nutrients. Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, manganese, calcium, iron, magnesium, omega-3s and omega-6s… It’s also loaded with antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and immune-boosting properties. There’s even evidence that tart cherry juice can help you get a better night’s sleep due to the levels of melatonin in the juice. I’m not saying this stuff is magic, but… I’m also not saying it’s not magic.
Just make sure to use a tart cherry juice that hasn’t been filled with added sugars. Besides being full of sugar, those juices are usually more processed, which reduces their good-for-you content.
Do These Gummies Taste Like Beef?
NO! Seriously, don’t let the gelatin powder discourage you or scare you off. The gummies taste like cherry and lemon and lime and honey. The gelatin powder, though it’s made from beef, is unflavored, and any flavor it might have is covered up really well by the rest of the ingredients. So just sit back and enjoy your fruit-flavored gummies while your body absorbs all the hair-skin-and-nail-boosting proteins and amino acids from the gelatin.
Chef’s Tips
- Tart cherry gummies absolutely must be stored in the fridge. They’re not like store-bought gummy vitamins or candies, with preservatives and other ingredients that make them shelf-stable. If you store them at room temperature, they’ll end up moldy in a day or two. Keep them in the fridge in an airtight container, though, and you’ve got gummies for days! 10 days, to be exact.
- If you don’t think you’ll eat an entire batch of gummies in 10 days, you can halve the recipe OR you can prepare the entire batch as written and freeze what you don’t eat. To freeze them, prepare the recipe as written below. Once the gummies have set up, remove them from the molds and spread them out in an even layer on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for an hour or two to harden the gummies so they don’t stick together, then you can transfer them to a freezer-safe sealable bag or other airtight container.
- You’ll need to move pretty quickly with this recipe. The gelatin needs to be added while the liquid’s hot so it’ll dissolve and incorporate fully. Then, you want to transfer the liquid to the molds pretty quickly so it doesn’t start to cool and set up in the saucepan. Don’t panic, it’s not as intimidating or nerve-wracking as it sounds. Just something to keep in mind!
- Highly, highly recommend you place the silicone gummy molds on a baking sheet before you fill them, then place the molds and baking sheet in the fridge. It’s so much easier to move the filled molds with something sturdy beneath them. It’ll also lessen the odds of tart cherry gummy juice coating your kitchen floor.
Other Sweet Treats To Try
- Chocolate Covered Almonds
- Gluten Free Mug Cake
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Frozen Lemonade
- The Best Avocado Chocolate Mousse
Tart Cherry Gummies
A handful of ingredients is all you need to whip up a fun sweet treat that's equal parts tasty and nutritious.
servings
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups tart cherry juice organic or unsweetened
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice strained
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice strained
- 3 tablespoons honey see Notes
- ¼ cup gelatin powder unflavored
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Whisk
- gummy mold(s) see Notes
- dropper
- airtight container or sealable food-safe bag to store gummies
Instructions
- Add tart cherry juice, strained lemon juice, strained lime juice, and honey to small saucepan. Heat saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk mixture constantly until juices are hot and honey is fully dissolved and incorporated, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat. Add gelatin powder in 1-tablespoon increments, whisking after each addition until gelatin is fully dissolved and incorporated. Repeat until all gelatin has been added and incorporated. Note: if gelatin clumps when added to hot liquid, use back of spoon to break up clumps, then whisk to incorporate.
- Once gelatin is fully incorporated, quickly and carefully use dropper to portion gummy mixture into molds.
- Carefully place filled molds in refrigerator, making sure molds sit level and flat. Chill molds 2 to 3 hours or until gummies have set up completely.
- Transfer solidified gummies to airtight container or sealable food-safe bag. Keep gummies in refrigerator and consume within 10 days.
Notes
- If you don’t have gummy molds, you can pour the gummy mixture into an 11×14 glass baking dish. Let the gummy mixture set up completely, then slice the mixture into desired servings.
- The number of gummies you get out of this recipe depends entirely on the size of the gummy molds you use. I used really small molds, which gave me around 215 mini gummies. Based on my results, I divided this recipe into 10 servings of 21 gummies and used that to calculate the nutritional information shown.
- Sweeteners: If you don’t want to use honey, you can substitute it with agave nectar, date syrup, maple syrup, or a keto-friendly honey- or maple-flavored sweetener. You can also use a powdered sweetener of choice; just make sure to dissolve it completely in the hot fruit juice.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 21mini gummies (see Notes), Calories: 58kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 0.01g, Saturated Fat: 0.001g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.002g, Sodium: 17mg, Potassium: 65mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 2IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 1mg, Iron: 0.2mg, Net Carbs: 10.8g
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
I’ve tried to make healthy “jello jigglers” and gummies, but they always stick to the mold. If I dip into hot water enough to remove, they melt more than I’d like. Any ideas? If not, I guess I can always remelt and pour into a pan.
I’ll give it a try.
Make sure you’re using silicone molds, not plastic ones! It really makes a difference, in my opinion. You can very lightly rub the molds with a little non-stick cooking spray, too. I wouldn’t spray them directly – too great a chance that you’ll end up with too much oil which will give the gummies an odd taste and texture. Instead just spritz a little oil on a paper towel and use that to rub the oil into the mold cavities.
Let us know how these gummies work out for you!
Can you use frozen whole tart cherries for the juice? I have a tart cherry tree in our yard and have some left over from picking.
Hey, Stacey! I love that! You should be able to juice those just fine and use their juice in this recipe. That’s a great option for keeping these gummies as nutritious as possible!