Jan 20, 2017
Dairy FreeFat FreeGluten FreeLow CarbPaleoSugar Free
These 5-ingredient Healthy Homemade Orange Gummy Bears are just like the storebought kinds — they’re soft, chewy, sweet and bursting with orange flavor! You’d never know they’re fat free, refined sugar free and all natural… YUP, that means no high-fructose corn syrup, artificial food flavorings, synthetic food dyes or preservatives whatsoever!
These Homemade Orange Gummy Bears are super chewy, sweet and addicting, you’d never know they’re made witha little secret ingredient.
Can you guess what it is? I’ll give you a few hints:
- It’s orange
- It’s crunchy
- A lot of people like it(but I hate it)
- Rabbits eat ’em
Secret Ingredient = Carrots!
Yes, these Homemade Orange Gummy Bears have carrotsin them. But you’d never know it, I swear. You gotta trust me on this one. I absolutely despisethe taste of raw carrots and I ate these Gummy Bears one after another, after another, after another. No carrot taste in the slightest.
To be completelyhonest, I’m probably not the best Nutritional Sciences student out there. I eat healthy and everything, but I definitely don’t eat enough vegetables on a daily basis. I mean, how could I when I have over 40 homemade Protein Bars stashed away in my freezer right alongsidea big tubChocolate Frozen Yogurt? And that’s not all… Ialways have a fresh batch of sweets in the fridge. Last week I had Peanut Butter Fudge and this week I havea triple-sized batch of Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dipwaiting for me. I swear, it’s calling my name right now.
Ohmygodmylifeisfallingapart.
Just kidding. Because I got someveggies in with theseHealthy Homemade Orange Gummy Bears 😉
When KitchenAid® sent me their Juicer AttachmentI was beyond excited, but a little nervous too — this is myfirst juicer and I’ve never juiced before in my life. My nerves flew out the window when I turned tomy little“healthy food community” onInstagram. I asked what I should make with the juicer first and got a bunch of great ideas for some daily juice recipes. I knew right then that thiswas an opportunity for me to incorporate more vegetables into my diet. Rather than eating vegetables just at dinner and sometimes during lunch and snacks, I could now eat veggiesfor breakfast, snacksanddessert in the form of juices! I literally ran over (okay, Idroveover) to Costco and got about 8,052 pounds (okay, morelike ~25 pounds) of fresh, organic fruits and veggies to start juicing. I got organic spinach, kale, carrots, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and apples. Then I went to Whole Foods for someorganic oranges and lemons.
As I was hauling all that fruit and veg up the stairs to my apartment, I planned on what desserts I should make with them. Juices? Smoothies? Applesauce? Nah.
I was craving oranges and then my Strawberry Gummy Bears popped into my head. Yup, gummy bears it is. I edited the recipe to use oranges instead of strawberries, and to add vibrantorange color (without using anyfood coloring) I added some carrots too.
About six or seven years ago, my dad had a health scare and decided to start livinga healthylifestyle (this iswhat made meso interested in nutrition!). He bought a (stand-alone) juicerbut ended up absolutely hatingit. My mom tried it out and pretty much wanted to chuckthe thing out the window. It was clunky, it was heavy, it took up way too much counter space, it was loud and impossible toclean. Because of their bad experiences, I had a fewnegative preconceived notions about juicers…
But that changed abouta week ago. I tried out theKitchenAid® Juicer Attachmentand was totally shocked… in a good way. It didn’t have any of the problems my parents had with their juicer. Since it attaches to the head of your stand mixer, it doesn’t take up any counter space. Plus, it’s dishwasher safe (haaaallelujah), it extracts a ton of juice and it’s super easy to use. Even for me, the most technologically inept person on earth…
Grab some oranges and carrots and get on juicin’!
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Healthy Homemade Orange Gummy Bears
Servings: 26 Bears
Prep Time: 30 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr
These 5-ingredient Healthy Homemade Orange Gummy Bears are just like the storebought kinds -- they're soft, chewy, sweet and bursting with orange flavor! You'd never know they're fat free, refined sugar free and all natural!
Ingredients
- 4 Navel Oranges (to get 1⅔ cups OJ)
- 10 Carrots (to get ⅔ cup Carrot Juice)
- 1 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 1 tsp Orange Flavor
- 60g (6 tbs) Unflavored Gelatin
Instructions
Give the oranges a rinse, then slice off the orange peels with a sharp knife. It doesn't have to be perfect, just get the majority of the peel off. Slice the oranges in half.
Wash the carrots, chop the ends off and then chop into 4" chunks (no need to peel the carrots).
Attach the KitchenAid Juicer Attachmentto yourstand mixer fitted with the high pulp filter, then place a tall container underneath the juice opening and another container underneath what I call the "poop shoot."
Turn the stand mixer on high speed and start juicing! Juice the oranges until you get 1⅔ cups worth of juice, and juice the carrots until you get ⅔ cup worth of juice.
In a nonstick saucepan, stir together the orange juice, carrot juice, stevia extract and orange flavor with a rubber spatula. Stir in the gelatin, then let it sit for 5 minutes.
Place the pan over medium/medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until the mixture begins to bubble. When it starts to bubble, stir constantly and keep it on the heat for ~2 more minutes. Remove from the heat.
Place yourgummy bear moldson a cookie sheet and then fill the molds with the gummy bear mixture (I use a ¼ cup measuring cup). Let cool on the counter for about an hour, then place the pan in the fridge. Refrigerate until firm (I leave them overnight). Refrigerate to store. Keeps for ~3 days.
Course: Snacks
Cuisine: Candy
Keyword: Dairy Free, DIY, Fat Free, Gluten Free, Low Carb, Paleo, Sugar Free
Check out theseStrawberryGummy Bears,Green Apple Gummy Bears,Blueberry Fruit Snacks, andPeach Mango Fruit Snacks!
Enjoy 🙂
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With love and good eats,
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–Jess
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posted in 5 Ingredients or Less, Bite-Sized Treats, DIY
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