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5.0 from 6 votes

Homemade Gumdrops

🎄❤️💚 Skip the store-bought gumdrops and make them at home instead! This EASY recipe makes soft and chewy gumdrops that are flavored three ways! They're perfect for gifting because you can make them in advance and people always ADORE these old-fashioned gumdrops! Tips - The recipe below makes 3 different colors/flavors of gumdrops so the process will be repeated 3 times. You can make only 2 colors/flavors (red and green for example) or just 1. You can even skip the food coloring, let them all be "clear" or natural colored, and just use one of the minty extracts. Do what works best for you. I find all 3 varieties fun and festive and it doesn't really create that much more work. Also see the Notes below for additional thoughts and tips.

Prep Time
25 mins
Resting Time + Chilling Time
11 hrs
Total Time
11 hrs 25 mins
Servings: 70
Calories: 72 kcal
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 9 envelopes unflavored gelatin
  • 1 ½ cup water divided
  • 2 ¼ cups water divided
  • 4 ½ cups granulated sugar divided
  • 2 drops cinnamon oil or to taste
  • 2 to 4 drops red food coloring or as desired (I recommend gel food coloring)
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon mint extract or to taste
  • 2 to 4 drops green food coloring or as desired (I recommend gel food coloring)
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon peppermint extract or to taste
  • 2 cups granulated sugar for coating, or as necessary

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Spray 3 separate 8x8-inch baking pans with cooking spray; set aside. Tips - If you are only making 2 colors/flavors rather than 3 and want to make one color/flavor as a double quantity (like double the amount of mint vs cinnamon), you will spray one 9x13-inch pan for your mint and another 8x8-inch pan for the remaining color/flavor). A 9x13 basically holds the equivalent of two 8x8 pans. I mention this because it's unlikely the average home cook has 3 separate 8x8-inch pans, but chances are you DO have one 9x13 and one 8x8 so in that case.
  2. Grab 3 small bowls and add 1/2 cup water to each bowl.
  3. Sprinkle 3 envelopes of gelatin over each of the 3 bowls of water (so you're using 9 packets total). Set bowls of water + gelatin aside.
  4. Separately, in a small saucepan, bring ¾ cup of water and 1 ½ cups of sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
  5. After sugar has dissolved, add one bowl of water + gelatin , reduce the heat to medium-low, sti, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. For Red/Cinnamon Gumdrops - Remove the pan from the heat, add 2 drops cinnamon oil and add 2-4 drops of red food coloring, stir, check the color, and add additional drops of food coloring as desired. Pour this mixture into one of the 8x8-inch pans. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 3 hours. Repeat this process in steps 4 and 5, and then customize step 6 for the other colors/flavors of gumdrops.
  7. For Green/Spearmint Gumdrops - Repeat the process of steps 4 and 5. Remove the pan from the heat, add the spearmint extract, add 2-4 drops of green food coloring, stir, check the color, and add additional drops of food coloring as desired. Pour this mixture into one of the 8x8-inch pans. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 3 hours. Repeat this process for final flavor.
  8. For Natural "Clear"/Peppermint Gumdrops - Repeat the process of steps 4 and 5. Remove the pan from the heat, add the peppermint extract, and stir. Tips - Peppermint extract tends to be more potent than spearmint so be careful so you don't make them too minty and potent. I don't add food coloring for the peppermint flavor and leave it natural (clear), but you can add green food coloring if you'd like. Pour this mixture into one of the 8x8-inch pans. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 3 hours.
  9. Chilling - All the pans should stay in your refrigerate to chill for 3 hours, or until well set. I do not cover mine.
  10. Cutting - After 3 hours or so (make sure they are very well set), run a paring knife or butter knife around the edge of each of the pans. Now cut each pan into 4 large squares. Using a spatula, lift out each of the 4 large squares per pan, and place them onto parchment paper.
  11. Using a sharp knife, cut each square into smaller pieces of candy, however big or small you want your gumdrops. Tip - You can use small cookie cutters if you'd like to cut them out into cute and festive shapes, if desired.
  12. Overnight at Room Temp - All the gumdrops to sit on the parchment paper, overnight for about 8 hours, on your counter. Do not try to shortchange this process, do it in the fridge/freezer, just do as I recommend, on your counter, overnight.
  13. Sugaring - The next day, pour about 2 cups of sugar into shallow bowl or casserole dish, and place the gumdrops squares into it. Toss them around to coat with sugar; do this in batches as necessary. Place them back on parchment paper to rest and let the sugar absorb while you coat all the batches. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

  • Flavoring/Colors - As I have mentioned, you can use any flavor and color combo you want to, i.e. use green food coloring for both the spearmint and peppermint flavors. You can only make 2 colors, i.e. a bigger batch of red and a smaller batch of 1 of the green flavors, mixing and matching as you like. A 9x13-inch pan is equivalent to two 8x8-inch pans in case you only have one of each type of pan. Then make two colors, with one of them being double the quantity of the other.
  • Extracts/Oils: Be careful using extracts like this. 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract is nothing! Whereas the same amount of mint extract can be very potent, depending on the brand. Start with 1/4 teaspoon and work your way up. Spearmint or just what's often simply called 'mint' extract tends to be more mild than peppermint extract. Be the most careful with peppermint extract. If you want to use cinnamon extract rather than cinnamon oil, that's fine. Use what you can find. However, the reverse is not true -  I would not use mint oils. I fear they would be overly minty and too strong to really enjoy and so stick with mint extracts. All flavoring should be added to taste (yours); start slowly and add more as needed. 
  • Food color: I prefer gel food coloring in general and that's what I tested this recipe with and what I keep on hand. All food colors vary in their final intensity. Add enough drops as you desire to achieve the desired shade. 
  • Storage: Gumdrops will keep airtight for about 1 week at room temp, potentially a bit longer. I don't recommend storing them in the fridge nor freezing them. Room temp is best. As time passes, if they start to "sweat" or weep a little, add a little powdered sugar to some granulated sugar and toss them again. Exact amounts will depend on how weepy they are. Also consider making cracking the seal on your airtight container a bit and allowing them to have some natural air circulating. Winter air tends to be quite dry and you may be able to fix the weepy issue with less sugar if you allow more air to circulate. 

Nutrition Information

Serving 1gumdrop Calories 72kcal (4%) Carbohydrates 19g (6%) Protein 0.1g (0%) Fat 0.1g (0%) Sodium 1mg (0%) Potassium 1mg (0%) Fiber 0.1g (0%) Sugar 19g (38%) Vitamin A 0.3IU (0%) Vitamin C 0.004mg (0%) Calcium 2mg (0%) Iron 0.02mg (0%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 70Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 72

% Daily Value*

Serving 1gumdrop
Calories 72kcal 4%
Carbohydrates 19g 6%
Protein 0.1g 0%
Fat 0.1g 0%
Sodium 1mg 0%
Potassium 1mg 0%
Fiber 0.1g 0%
Sugar 19g 38%
Vitamin A 0.3IU 0%
Vitamin C 0.004mg 0%
Calcium 2mg 0%
Iron 0.02mg 0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.