A few months ago I made a new batch of elderberry syrup and I turned half of it into elderberry gummy vitamins. After sharing a photo of them on Instagram and Facebook I had a lot of requests for my recipe.
Honestly, my elderberry syrup recipe is pretty simple and elderberry gummy vitamins just need one more ingredient to take them from syrup to gummies.
Why make gummies? Good question since most kids will take down elderberry syrup without batting an eye. My son in particular would eat the entire batch all at once were I to let him.
However, turning the syrup into gummies is just a great and healthy way to put more real gelatin into our diets. Gelatin offers protein, support for hair, skin and nail growth, benefits to joints, and improves digestion.
Comprised mostly of amino acids, it’s not only good for all the above but also for immune support! This is the brand of gelatin I prefer.
To make elderberry gummy vitamins, we start with elderberry syrup.
Make elderberry syrup as simple or complex as you like. I prefer to use elderberries, bing cherries and blueberries along with a few spices when I make mine. (I bought these elderberries)
Ginger, cinnamon, and clove are all warming spices that help with digestion and fight infections. The cherries and blueberries are additional antioxidants and add great flavor. In fact, I don’t use near the amount of honey I would need if I didn’t use the cherries and berries.
I add my water and bring the mess to a boil. I often use frozen berries and cherries, and frozen cherries won’t split like fresh ones do so I typically take a wooden spoon and smash them after they boil.
Then reduce the heat and simmer until the water level is about halfway reduced. This is typically 30-45 minutes.
Next comes the “fun” part. Straining all the berries out of the syrup. I don’t mind a little pulp, but don’t want seeds and stuff obviously. Use a mesh strainer and allow the syrup to drain through.
If your syrup is still warm mix in the honey. If the honey isn’t blending in well you may need to heat it a little. Once your syrup is made, set aside a cup of elderberry syrup for gummies and pour the rest into a glass jar.
Elderberry syrup will last months in the fridge. Gummies however, rarely last longer than 3-4 weeks.
Place the jar of syrup in the fridge and assemble the rest of the stuff you need for making elderberry gummy vitamins.
You need gelatin, hot elderberry syrup and silicone molds or a glass baking dish.
Pour the saved 1 cup of syrup into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and quickly whisk the gelatin into your syrup and pour into molds. Chill for 30 minutes before removing from molds.
I’ve noticed that the silicone molds tend to hang onto the gummies. My solution is to place the set gummies in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. After that they will pop right out. I let them thaw and then place into a sealed jar and then into the fridge.
If you are using a glass dish to set the gummies, let them set up then cut into small squares. Gummies will come out of glass dishes no problem.
My toddler typically gets about 5 of these a day.
- ⅔ cup dried elderberries
- 1 cup fresh or frozen bing cherries
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger root
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 3½ cups of water
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon gelatin
- Mix everything but the honey and gelatin into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until liquid has boiled about halfway down.
- Strain out the pulp.
- Mix the honey into your syrup, returning it to the heat if necessary to mix the honey in.
- Set aside 1 cup of elderberry syrup and pour the rest into a glass jar and tightly cap before placing in the fridge.
- Pour the set aside syrup back into the pan and bring to a quick boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin until dissolved.
- Pour into silicone molds or a glass baking pan.
- Allow gummies to set then remove from molds.
- I typically give my toddler 3-5 a day. You will have to set your own serving size based on the size you make your gummies.
- Take the leftover syrup that you placed in the fridge as normal, or turn it into gummies later.
- Syrup lasts many months in the fridge. Gummies will last around 3-4 weeks.
Sarah @ Pretty Simple Ideas says
January 11, 2016 at 11:06 amI keep hearing how good elderberry is to fight colds and flu, too. Need to add this to my list of things to make soon.bel
Quirky Homemaker says
January 11, 2016 at 1:34 pmWhat a great idea. I’m not sure I’ve ever had elderberries before! I love the idea of using gelatin to make gummies. Stopping by from Motivation Monday. Have a great week!
Kendra says
January 11, 2016 at 1:46 pmI’ve not actually ate fresh elderberries as they don’t grow around here. But we do like them for this syrup!
Emily says
January 14, 2016 at 5:46 pmI have never tried to make my own gummies before, but these sound really good, and really good for you! Thank you for linking up with Merry Monday this week!
Brittney M says
January 15, 2016 at 1:56 pmThis is something I’ve always wanted to try. Thanks for sharing your recipe! How many gummies does your recipe make?
Kendra says
January 15, 2016 at 2:14 pmA little over 8 ounces of gummies. I cannot say how many gummies exactly as that depends on the size of mold you decide to use 🙂
Walking on Sunshine Recipes says
January 17, 2016 at 6:31 pmThank you for sharing your recipe with Delicious Dishes Recipe Party this week! We hope you’ll come back next week for more yummy goodness!
samantha says
January 21, 2016 at 10:52 pmI know you have a pretty vast knowledge of oils and vitamins and all things good for the body. I know I can’t give my 8 month old the syrup due to the honey in it. I have a pretty sick girl, snotty nose and coughing. Do you have any advice on what I can do for her to make her feel better? Thanks
Kendra says
January 22, 2016 at 11:50 amOh dear 🙁 When babies under a year or so are sick it is really hard on all involved.
Breastfeeding is very helpful if you can and I think that helped us a lot last winter, but he still got frequent colds from the kids I nannied.
I will share what I did, but I hesitate to give advice. Just remember that you know your baby best of all.
I found that placing onion slices on his feet at night helped with the coughing. I also used a humidifier and diffused certain essential oils (however some will caution against using oils on young babies)
You can also make this recipe with maple or aguave syrup, which I didn’t know last year.
Mariana says
February 1, 2016 at 7:14 amWell I definitely need to try this! I’ll wait a bit till temperatures start to drop (I live in Brazil, our fall starts in March and winter starts in June). I still got to find the elderberries here however.
Kayla says
March 23, 2016 at 9:36 pmI just printed this off to save it for later this year when I get fresh elderberries. I also want to say that I am so excited to have found your blog!
Kendra says
March 26, 2016 at 11:46 pmSo jealous that you get fresh elderberries!