Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (2024)

by Patti Estep 10 Comments

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This jelly candy recipe is a fun gift for anyone who has a sweet tooth. Made with gelatin, sugar, and flavored drink mix, to create a sweet and tasty treat.

Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (1)

Homemade Jelly Candy

My husband is a big fan of fruit jelly candy.

In fact, one of our girls had a friend who worked in a hardware store as a cashier in high school. One day she asked, "Is your dad the guy who comes in and buys Chuckles® all the time?" My mother loved them too, and although she has passed, I thought it would be fun to make some homemade jellies for my family and friends.

Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (2)

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Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (3)

After researching many recipes I decided to make them with gelatin, sugar, and Kool-Aid® packetsHomemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (4). It was the easiest way to get a few different flavors and colors, at a very affordable price.

One problem I ran into was the fact that I could not find lime Kool-Aid® so I did use lime extract and green food coloring for one of the batches. After all, my husband was the muse for this idea, and that is his favorite flavor.

Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (5)

In the end, the jellies turned out pretty good. The color and flavor were perfect. The firmness could have been better. This seems to be an issue for many recipes.

One thing that helped is flipping the jellies over after 24 hours, and adding a coating of sugar to the top, then letting them dry out another day. Also, the smaller ones dried out better, so keeping them small is a good idea.

Packaging Ideas

I have them packaged in Weck jarsHomemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (6) and cellophane bagsHomemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (7), (the crinkly kind)for gift giving.

Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (8)

How Long Will They Last?

They should last for a month or so if kept in a sealed container. Probably longer in the refrigerator, unless of course, someone decides to gobble them up.

What are you making this year?

Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (9)

More Homemade Treats

  • Homemade Salted Caramels
  • Hot Chocolate Bombs
  • Mason Jar Mug Cake
  • Chocolate Candy Drops
Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (10)

Homemade Jelly Candy

Patti Estep

This jelly candy recipe is a fun gift for anyone who has a sweet tooth. Made with gelatin, sugar and flavored drink mix, to create a sweet and tasty treat.

4.46 from 46 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Additional Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Candy

Cuisine American

Servings 60 approx 5 dozen

Calories 107 kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 - 1 oz. boxes gelatin 8 envelopes
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 2 1/2 cups boiling water
  • 6 cups sugar
  • unsweetened Kool-aid packets or flavored extract with food coloring
  • 2 cups sugar for coating

Instructions

  • Prepare pans by lining them with plastic wrap and vegetable spray. I used three 8x8 oven pans and two bread loaf pans.

  • Place cold water in a bowl and sprinkle gelatin over top. Stir slightly to get all powder incorporated. Set aside

  • In a medium saucepan bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add sugar and stir. Let simmer, stirring until all sugar is dissolved.

  • Add gelatin mix to the sugar and water mix. Once all the ingredients have dissolved bring back to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes.

  • Remove from heat and let cool for about 1-2 minutes.

  • Divide mixture into 5 bowls. Add one packet of drink mix to each bowl. If using extract add 3 teaspoons and enough drops of food coloring to get the color you wish. I used 5 drops of green for the lime candy.

  • Mix with a wire whisk to ensure all the drink mix is dissolved.

  • Pour into prepared pans and refrigerate overnight.

  • Place a nice layer of sugar on parchment and flip the jelly candy on top. Then move to a new piece of parchment and use a pizza cutter to cut into small square or rectangular shapes.

  • Let sit overnight. Then coat the bottoms of the candy in more sugar and let sit out overnight again with the newly coated side up.

  • Place in bags or airtight containers.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 107kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 1gSodium: 3mgSugar: 27g

Keyword candy, homemade gifts, jelly candy, snacks

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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About Patti Estep

Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary Culp

    I've been looking for the Jell-o mint candy recipe my mom made in the 1950's. I got a Jell-o cookbook, but that recipe didn't work out. I remember them being in a square pan to set and weren't real high. She would cut them in 1 inch squares. Then some she would roll in powdered sugar and some she would put a chocolate topping. So good. They were very solid and not jiggly. I'm going to try these. I'll let you know.

    Reply

    • Patti Estep

      They so very interesting Mary. The ones I made are not very hard either. Let me know if you figure it out.

      Reply

    • Pat Payne

      Mary, is this the recipe you are looking for? We called it Turkish Delight.
      18oz of Jello, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 c. boiling water, 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Combine jello, salt and boiling water in saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down temp and simmer gently for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add lemon juice. Pour into an 8"x8" glass dish that has just been wet with cold water. (I just lightly spray with Pam.) Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or best overnight. Carefully cut with knife into 1" squares. I usually tug it out of pan and set the big square on a cutting board then cut with sharp knife or even with scissors. It will be very stiff. Toss squares in powdered sugar. Keep in ziplock bag with a little extra sugar. Hope you see this. It's been two years since you posted. Happy Holidays !

      Reply

  2. Bliss

    I have one all thing gummy son, I might have to make these for him. Pinned.

    Reply

    • Patti Estep

      Bliss, you better get right on it. 🙂

      Reply

  3. Debi

    You put two boxes of gelatin 8 packets what does that mean?

    Reply

    • Patti Estep

      Debi, I can see why that was unclear. The recipe calls for 2 boxes (1 oz) each of unflavored gelatin. Each box contains 4 envelopes.

      Reply

  4. D

    Do you think we can substitute Jello instead of gelatin and flavoring? They have some unique flavors at certain times of the year.

    Reply

    • Patti Estep

      I definitely saw a least one article using jello so I'd say yes. You may need to play around with it to get it where you want it, ie cooking it on the stove, adding additional sugar or corn syrup... There are many recipes online with all kinds of ingredients. Lots of people were even using applesauce. Let me know how it turns out.

      Reply

  5. Carole

    Neat idea and love those sweet treats you can make ahead of time, especially for gift giving. I have a book idea for you... Ask me about it...

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Homemade Jelly Candies Recipe to Make and Gift (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in jelly candy? ›

Jelly candies are made from Gelatin|Pectin|Carrageenan, Glucose syrup, sugar, purified water, sodium citrate, fruit and plant extracts, flavors, colors, and a little citric acid, etc, blended all these ingredients controlling various characteristics to come up with the best taste and texture.

What are the four required ingredients in a jelly? ›

Substances essential for fruit jelly making are fruit flavor, pectin, sugar, acid and water. A pectin gel or jelly forms when a suitable concentration of pectin, sugar, acid, and water is achieved.

How to make a jelly step by step? ›

Making Jellies Without Added Pectin
  1. Measure juice and sugar. When a recipe is not available, try using ¾ cups sugar for each 1 cup of juice. ...
  2. Add sugar to juice. ...
  3. Test for doneness as instructed below.
  4. Remove jelly from heat; quickly skim off foam.
  5. Pour quickly into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch head space.
Nov 5, 2020

What are the ingredients in jelly slices candy? ›

Sugar, glucose syrup, water, EGG white, gelling agent; pectin. Acidity regulator; natrium citrate. Acidulant; citric acid. Colour; E141.

What is the raw material of jelly candy? ›

Jelly mass preparation is carried out by mixing sugar containing mixture from teacle, sugar, water with pectin containing mixture and boiling till temperature of 105-107°C. At the same time sugar containing mixture can be used as a mixture of components as syrup with humidity of 16-20%.

How to make jelly for dummies? ›

Directions
  1. Boil fruit and water: Combine fruit and water in a saucepan. ...
  2. Transfer to a sieve and let drain: ...
  3. Bring juice to a boil; add sugar, then add lemon juice and salt: ...
  4. Test for doneness: ...
  5. Ladle into clean jars; let cool:
6 days ago

What is the secret to making jelly? ›

Jellies are produced by extracting the juice from fruits and then adding sugar and lemon juice (or another acid), while pectin is added to help it solidify. Unlike jams, jellies are known for their heightened sweetness, which is achieved by cooking the fruit over low heat for an extended period.

What is jelly fruit candy made of? ›

1. STRAWBERRY FLAVORED JELLY CANDY: Water, sugar, carrageenan, citric acid, sodium citrate, strawberry artificial flavor, potassium sorbate and potassium benzoate as preservatives and FD&C Red No. 40.

How do you harden jelly candy? ›

Make/buy some jelly and put it in the freezer. It will get hard in a few hours. How do they make rolos and other candies that have solid outside but liquid inside? Freeze the liquid part, then apply a coating such as warm, melted chocolate.

What do jelly sweets contain? ›

~~~~~Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Pork Gelatine, Acids, (Citric Acid, Lactic Acid) Colours (E120, E153), Flavourings, Vegetable Oil (Coconut), Glazing Agent (Carnauba Wax).

Are jelly candies made with gelatin? ›

Gummies, gummi candies, gummy candies, or jelly sweets are a broad category of gelatin-based chewable sweets.

What are the ingredients in Jolly Rancher jelly? ›

Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Cornstarch, Contains 2% or Less of: Cornstarch, Gum Acacia, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Citrate, Confectioner's Glaze, Carnauba Wax, Mineral Oil, Artificial Color (Red 40), Beeswax.

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