After seeing homemade fruit gummy recipes all over Pinterest for a while, I really wanted to add them to my gluten-free recipe repertoire – after all, a child’s life is not complete without fruit gummy snacks, right? But I never did make any, because a). We don’t buy fruit juice very often, and b). Even if we did, we don’t really want Garrett guzzling it. Fruit juice being full of fructose, it’s kind of like drinking sugar.
Anyway, I was browsing a blog linky one day and ran across this recipe for using kombucha to make gummy snacks.
We aren’t brewing kombucha right now, but we did recently start making water kefir, so after reading the recipe, and comments from various people who’d tried it, I decided to give it a shot with my own modifications. You could use fruit juice instead of keifr or kombucha, and eliminate the honey, but using a fermented, probiotic drink makes these extra awesome – and cuts down on the volume of sugary juice being consumed.
I used unsweetened cranberry juice in my first batch (you know that’s sour!), but with only three Tablespoons of honey, and the kefir which isn’t sweet, Garrett loved them!
PrintKefir Gummy Treats
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup water kefir
- 1 cup fruit juice or puree
- 2–3 T. raw honey or maple syrup
- 6 T. plain gelatin (I use beef gelatin)
Instructions
- Heat fruit juice/puree in a sauce pan with the gelatin until the gelatin is dissolved.
- Let cool until still warm, but no longer hot. If it’s hot, it kills the good stuff in the kefir, if it’s room temp. it solidifies.
- Stir in the honey and kefir.
- Pour into molds or an 8×8 pan.
- Don’t worry about greasing or lining the pan, they’ll come out when they’re cold.
- Refrigerate for half an hour or so, cut, and dump out of mold. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Update: After making these several times, peach purée (which you can see in the top picture) has become our favorite variety. I highly recommend it!
Get Your Garden Cheat Sheets!
Want to know exactly when, where, and how to plant your vegetables? Sign up to get our FREE companion planting guide, and garden planting cheat sheet printable.
Ash&Landon says
Oh boy that sounds amazing.
Loreli says
Yes! Someone gave me a ton of unflavored gelatin and I had no idea what to do with it. Also, I saw the kombucha gummy snacks and thought they looked cool, but I’m going to be a kefir household, not kombucha. It’s good to know that I don’t have to skip out on the gummy treats :).
Stephanie says
Curious about trying this with my milk keifer…
Elise says
I haven’t, but I imagine it would work. I have no idea how they would taste, but I’m sure you could adjust the sweetener, or the amount of fruit etc. to taste. 🙂
Lesli says
These are intriguing and I am going to give them a whirl. While honey does have antibacterial properties that will also mess with kefir, the maple syrup should be great. Thanks for sharing!
Martina says
Hello , I have lots of kefir grains left and was looking for a recipe when I found this one,
I am just wondering if the T is for TSP or TBSP Thanks
Elise says
It’s for Tablespoon. 🙂
Alana Smith says
Tablespoon tblespn teaspoon tsp
Becky says
Is the water kefir in this recipe unflavored & after one fermentation or two?
Elise says
I use unflavored, and only one fermentation. you could easily use whatever flavor you think would compliment the fruit though. 🙂
Becky says
Ok thank you!
Micaela says
Wonder how this would work with agar agar?
Diana says
Do u have any milk kefir jello recipes?
Elise says
I’ve never actually used milk kefir!
Jessi says
If the water kefir is all ready sweet can you skip the honey? And does the ratio between liquid and gelatin stay the same?
Elise New says
Yes, if it’s already sweet. Honestly, your kefir shouldn’t be sweet if it’s properly fermented though. I’d keep the liquid/gelatin ration the same.