Elderberries have been shown to boost immunity, decrease mucous production during colds and to fight the flu. FIGHT THE FLU??? Sign me (and my family) up!! For a long time, I was able to give my son his daily dose (1 tsp) of Elderberry syrup mixed in a bowl of yogurt. Lately, he has been refusing to eat yogurt. This left me searching for new ways to get him to take his daily dose.

I’ve been playing around with making my own gummy bears for a few months now, so I decided to make some Elderberry Gummy Bears! I had a few goals in mind when I crafted my recipe.

1. Make them yummy so that my son would be excited to eat them.
2. Be able to know how many gummies would make a daily dose.
3. I wanted a texture to the bears that would be similar to real gummy bears

What you need:

• 3/4 cup juice or water – I used Grape Juice because I wanted these to be YUMMY and because I already had it at my house!
• 1/2 cup Elderberry Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons of Gelatin – I used Vital Proteins Beef Gelatin
• 1 tsp of Local Honey – my mom is a beekeeper so I use her honey!
• You will also need Gummy Bear silicon molds – I bought these on Amazon
• A cookie sheet

Step by Step Instructions

1.In a 2 cup glass measuring cup, add the 3/4 cup of juice or water.

2. Slowing sprinkle the 2 Tablespoons of gelatin over the COLD juice or water.

3. Allow a couple of minutes to allow the gelatin to dissolve (this is called letting your gelatin “bloom”). This prevents clumps in your gelatin later on.

4. Microwave your mixture for 30 seconds. Stir. If there are still undissolved bits of gelatin, microwave for another 20-30 seconds. Your goal is to get the mixture just hot enough to dissolve the gelatin. YOU DO NOT WANT THE MIXTURE TOO HOT (this will destroy many of the benefits of honey).

5. If you did heat your mixture to the point of bubbling, wait a few minutes for it to cool down before moving on to the next step.

6. Add 1 teaspoon of local honey. Stir

7. Add in your 1/2 cup of Elderberry Syrup. Stir.

8. Place 3 of the gummy bear molds onto a cookie sheet. This will make it easier to transfer to the fridge without spilling any Elderberry goodness.

9. Using the eyedroppers that came with your gummy bear molds, start filling your bears. Move fast, because your gelatin will start hardening in the measuring cup if you go too slow! Pro tip: If your toddler demands to help, set them up with a small bowl of water and let them fill one of your extra gummy bear molds with an extra eyedropper while you work!

10. Place in the fridge and allow to set up.

11. Once fully hardened, you can easily pop out the bears. In my experience, if the bears are tearing when you try to pop them out, you have not given them enough time in the fridge.

Safety

Honey should NEVER be given to children under the age of 12 months. Aside from the actual honey in this recipe, the Elderberry syrup I use also contains honey.

Elderberry Gummy Bear Dosing:

8 bears a day for the children’s dose of 1 teaspoon a day 

24 bears a day for the adult dose of 1 tablespoon a day

If you are thinking – holy cow, 24 bears a day is A LOT of bears. I 100% agree. I still plan on taking my daily shot of Elderberry syrup instead. But 8 bears a day will be such a great treat for my son.

Note: If you alter this recipe or use different gummy bear molds, you may have to do a little bit of math (-sorry) to figure out how many bears equal a kid dose.