12 Calorie Sugar Free Gummy Bears Recipe

I love gummy bears!  A few months ago I began experimenting with online recipes for sugar free ones.  There are quite a few recipes, and they all have different thoughts on the sweeteners and flavorings.

I was looking for something specific, a certain texture that would have a very chewy bite and a burst of intense flavor.  Most gummy bear recipes are based on gelatin, which is usually made from pork.  If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you can substitute Agar Agar for the gelatin in this recipe.  The gelatin is what gives the gummy bears their texture, and how much gelatin you use will determine how chewy they are.  Less gelatin, and the gummies are more like Knox Blox; more gelatin, and they’ll have a rubbery texture with more resistance to the bite. (The more gelatin ones also bounce like crazy, which is fun!)

In my experiments I tried a number of flavoring options: sugar free Jello, extracts like vanilla or anise, flavored hot teas, and powdered single serving drink mix.  These flavorings all affect not only the taste, but also the texture.  There was one experiment however, that gave me exactly what I was looking for: liquid water enhancer!

These liquid water enhancers are the kind that you squirt into your water bottle so that you can control the intensity of the flavor of your water.  Mio was the first brand on the market, but there are a lot of other brands (including house brands) that provide a wide range of not only flavors, but also options like caffeine and vitamins. The sweeteners vary from brand to brand, aspartame to sucralose to stevia, so you have your choice about which sweeteners you prefer.

• Servings: 12 servings of 25 gummies each
• Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how many molds you have
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp liquid water enhancer, any flavor
• 2/3 cup of very cold water
• 7 packets unflavored Knox gelatine

Tools you’ll need:

• small sauce pan large enough to hold a glass measuring cup
• 2-cup glass measuring cup
• fork
• spoon (one with a more pointy tip works best)
• Silicone candy molds (Gummy bear one at Amazon)

Directions:
Fill the saucepan half full with water and place it on the stove with the heat set to medium-low (3.5 on my electric burner). Pour the tablespoon of liquid water enhancer into the glass measuring cup and add 2/3 cup cold water. Stir well.

Add all 7 packets of unflavored Knox gelatine to the liquid. Do this quickly, as the gelatin will begin to absorb the water immediately and gel within less than a minute. Stir well, making sure to scrape down the sides of the measuring cup. The gelatin will set into a firm mass. Set your timer for 10 minutes.

After the timer goes off, carefully lower the measuring cup into the pan of hot water. The gelatin will begin to melt and after about 10 minutes or so (depending on how high your heat is), the gelatin will return to a liquid state. It will resemble a thin syrup in consistency. There will be a skin of foam on the top, and you can either stir that back into the melted gelatin or skim off the top. It’s up to you. The foam makes for a slightly softer gummy (and makes more gummies per batch) while removing the foam makes for fewer gummies but slightly firmer ones.

Begin carefully spooning the melted gelatin into your gummy molds, filling them to just below the surface of the mold. If you only have one mold like I do, it will take 4-6 batches of gummies to use up all the liquid gelatin. Keep the leftover gelatin warm on the stove in between batches. The gelatin will get a thin skin on the top, and just break the skin and tip the glass to allow the melted gelatin to be accessible.

Chill the molds in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, then remove the chilled gummies. Store gummies in sandwich baggies in the refrigerator. Do not freeze, and do not store at room temperature. The gummies will last a week in the fridge, although I’ve never tested that personally because I eat them all before that time!

Nutrition Information:
Calories: 12 per serving of 25 small bear-sized gummies
Protein: 5 grams (but keep in mind that gelatin is an incomplete protein)
Carbohydrates: 0
Fat: 0
Sugars: 0

There’s a lot to be said about getting gelatin in your diet, and while I don’t have room in this post to share about it, you can Google the benefits of gelatin and it may just convince you that you need a daily dose of 12 Calorie Sugar Free Gummy Bears in your life!