Healthy Homemade Strawberry Gummies (With Real Fruit)
Forget about preservatives and questionable ingredients by making this kid-favorite snack yourself! Kids love eating AND making these tasty and healthy strawberry gummies! And since they only include 4 simple ingredients, you’ll love giving them to your kids.
When you buy these classic kids snacks, they’re often filled with way more ingredients and preservatives than I prefer to give my kiddos.
As it turns out, making homemade strawberry gummy bears (also called homemade fruit snacks) is SUPER easy – and they’re even yummier than what you get from the store!
If you make these for your kids, the only words you’re going to hear from them are, “May I have more, please?”
They contain only 4 natural ingredients (including REAL fruit and honey as a natural sweetener) that pack a punch in the flavor department.
That’s what they DO have, and here’s what they DON’T have:
- processed sugar
- preservatives
- artificial dyes
They taste amazing and sweet even though they’re only lightly sweetened with raw honey.
Give these versatile strawberry gummies as after-school snacks, take them to the ballfields or sports practices, or hand them out as dessert!
(just make sure to have your kids brush their teeth well to keep their dentist happy!)
How To Make Strawberry Gummies
Ok! Let’s dive in and get started making this yummy snack or healthy strawberry gummy candy dessert!
Ingredients Needed
- Strawberries, diced – or use any fruit you love
- Unflavored gelatin – you only need 0.5 oz, so either use half the pack or double the recipe
- Raw honey
- Lemon juice
- Mesh strainer
- Gummy bear molds – 👈👈 that’s the one I have and used!
NOTE: For exact measurements and gummy recipe details, please check out the handy printable recipe card at the bottom of this post!
Strawberry Gummy Bears Instructions
Never made strawberry gummies before? Well, here’s everything you need to know about making homemade gummies!
Step 1
Place diced strawberries in a blender with lemon juice, and honey. Blend to fully break down the strawberries.
Step 2
Place juice in a saucepan over medium heat and add the gelatin. Whisk the juice continuously while bringing it to a slow boil.
Once boiling, remove the strawberry gummy bear juice from the heat and place saucepan to the side for a minute to cool slightly.
Step 3
Fill the gummy bear molds with juice. Slowly fill each mold.
NOTE: The silicone molds come with an eye dropper, which you can use, but I like to use a food squeeze bottle.
Step 4
Place the filled molds in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to allow your strawberry gummies to solidify.
Pro Tip: While molds are cooling, keep the remaining gummy mixture warm. If using a squeeze bottle, drop the bottle in hot water. If you’re using the dropper, place the sauce pan on low heat to keep it warm.
Step 5
They’re ready! To remove your strawberry gummies from the molds, just pop them right out of the mold and enjoy.
Recipe Tips, Notes, And Variations To Try
SAFETY NOTE: It is not safe for children under 1 year old to consume any food made with honey.
If you want to try other flavors, use your favorite fruit of choice. My favorite recommendations are lemons, oranges, cherries, and peaches.
If the fruit is full of seeds, use a mesh strainer to catch the seeds because it’s much easier to fill the molds when there are no seeds.
Homemade Strawberry Gummies Troubleshooting
I have had a couple of readers mention that their gummies didn’t set and solidify when cooled. There could be a couple of things going on.
Fruit – I’m assuming that you’re following this recipe, but just in case you are using it as a guide and getting creative with fruit that could be the issue. Gelatin can fail to set properly due to the protease enzyme, so avoid using fresh fruits such as kiwi, pineapple, mango and papaya.
Working with gelatin – Plain gelatin doesn’t behave the exact same way that a flavored box of gelatin mix does. If you’re following this recipe (meaning that you’re using strawberries and fruit isn’t the issue), try to avoid doing these things:
- Allowing the gelatin to get too hot/cook too long. Once you add it to the fruit mixture in the pan, take if off the heat as soon as it starts to boil around the edges of the pot. Allowing your juice to come to a full boil can cause the gelatin to not solidify.
- Not allowing enough chill time. Be sure to give it at least 20 minutes of chill time. Taking your gummies out before 20 minutes will practically guarantee that they haven’t solidified. Also, make sure they are in a very cool part of the fridge – right in front where the cooled air escapes as the door opens isn’t the best place.
- Not working quickly once it’s off the heat. Gelatin starts solidifying as soon as it’s taken off the heat. Work quickly to fill your molds so your juice doesn’t cool too much. If you mess with it too much after it has begun cooling, your juice may not solidify.
Homemade Strawberry Gummies FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions I see from readers about making homemade strawberry gummy bears. If you have a question but don’t see it answered below, please leave it in the comments for me!
The gummy candy that you buy in the store might be low in fat (which is a fact those companies focus on in their advertising) but they are LOADED with multiple types of sugar and other undesirable ingredients.
That’s why these homemade strawberry gummies are made with fruit juice! They contain REAL FRUIT and just a little bit of natural raw honey. Your kids will get that sweet fix, and you’ll feel good about this healthier alternative to their favorite snack!
Short answer: no.
Longer answer: because they consist of real fruit, they stay fresh longer when you store them in the refrigerator. For this reason, I don’t recommend storing them at room temperature.
Instead, I auggest putting them in a closed container, like a mason jar, food storage container, or a resealable plastic bag.
If you see them sticking together, give them a very light dusting of cornstarch before putting them in the storage container.
Here’s the thing. These gummies are basically jello bears. So if you heat them up (or leave them in the heat, like in a hot car), yes, they will get very soft and could melt.
Since they’re made with honey (which is sticky), refrigerating them helps to keep them from being sticky. However, if you still notice they’re sticky, dust them in cornstarch.
YES! If you want to create your own “candy store” right at home, you can make either gummy bears, gummy worms, or BOTH. Grab this mold set which has both bear and worm shapes, and you’ll be all set!
More Kid-Friendly Food Ideas
If you love these healthy homemade strawberry gummies, check out these other recipes that kids LOVE too!
- Easy Pizza Pinwheels Kids Love
- Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
- Easy Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas (Pizzadillas)
- Mini BLT Bagel Lunch Idea
- Peanut Butter, Nutella, & Banana Sushi Rolls
Pin For Later!
Homemade Strawberry Gummies
Forget about preservatives and questionable ingredients by making this kid-favorite snack yourself! Making strawberry gummies is much easier than you probably realize!
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberries, diced
- (2) 0.25oz boxes Unflavored gelatin
- 2 Tbsp Raw honey
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
- Gummy bear molds
Instructions
- Place diced strawberries in a blender with lemon juice, and honey. Blend to fully break down the strawberries. If the fruit is full of seeds, run the juice through a mesh strainer to catch the seeds.
- Place juice in a saucepan over medium heat and add the gelatin. Continue to whisk the juice while bringing the juice to a slow boil. Once boiling, remove from heat.
- Fill gummy bear molds with juice. The molds come with an eyedropper (or I like to use a food squeeze bottle). Slowly fill each mold.
- Place molds in the fridge for 20 minutes to solidify your strawberry gummies. While molds are cooling, keep the gummy mixture warm. If using a squeeze bottle, drop the bottle in hot water, if using the dropper, place the saucepan on warm.
- To remove the gummies, pop them right out of the mold and enjoy.
Definitely didn’t solidify in the fridge for 20 minutes. Any advice?
Sorry for the delay on this response! I’m just seeing your comment for some reason. Can you tell me more about what happened? I recently added a troubleshooting section – I hope that helps!