Real Cranberry Gummy Bears
These Real Cranberry Gummy Bears are slightly sweet, a little tart, easy to make, a healthier option to candy and a fun poppable treat. We love making them with fresh or frozen cranberries.
Who’s ready for Thanksgiving? If you raised your hand, you’re way ahead of the game! Congrats!
I’m not quite ready, but I’ve begun planning. We are hosting this year and have several additional people coming. So a little more pre-planning was in order.
To get me in the Thanksgiving mood, the kids and I whipped up a batch of these absolutely delicious and fun Real Cranberry Gummy Bears. And just in time, too!
Today kicks off Cranberry Week hosted by Caroline Williams of Caroline’s Cooking. This week a fantastic group of bloggers will be sharing dozens of great Cranberry recipes. Sweet & Savory. You’ll be all ready for Thanksgiving.
We picked these Real Cranberry Gummy Bears to share today because we love them! They are super easy to make and taste great. The kids ask me to make them all the time.
You only need a couple of ingredients and some gummy bear molds. I bought this set from Amazon. It was perfect for this recipe.
This makes a great holiday snack, fun gift idea or a ‘just because’ snack this time of year. Or anytime really.
These can be made with fresh cranberries if desired. You will need to boil the cranberries for a couple of minutes to make them softer to work with, otherwise they leave very chewy, crunchy chunks. We recommend using frozen that have been thawed first.
Who’s ready to make some Real Cranberry Gummy Bears?
I’m excited to be sharing this recipe as part of Cranberry Week – now in it’s third year! See all the tasty cranberry recipes being shared today below and follow #cranberryweek on social media for more ideas all week long.
- Bourbon Cranberry Sauce from Cookaholic Wife
- Cranberry Apple Pie from The Redhead Baker
- Cranberry Almond Shortbread Tart from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Cranberry Cheese Ball from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread from Our Good Life
- Cranberry Ice Cream from Kate’s Recipe Box
- Cranberry Orange Bread from The Saucy Fig
- Cranberry-Orange Glazed Ham from Cooking For My Soul
- Cranberry Orange Scones from A Joyfully Mad Kitchen
- Fall Pizza with Sausage and Squash from Caroline’s Cooking
- Glazed Cranberry Almond Squares from Family Around the Kitchen
- Hot Spiced Cranberry Orange Cocktail from The Gingered WhiskMaple Honey Cranberry Sauce from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Quinoa with Turkey, Brussels Sprouts & Cranberries from Books n’ Cooks
- Real Cranberry Gummy Bears from Daily Dish Recipes

Real Cranberry Gummy Bears
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen cranberries thawed
- 1/3 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
- [gummy bear molds]
Instructions
- Thaw frozen cranberries. I don't recommend using fresh cranberries in this recipe.
- In a blender, puree the thawed cranberries with 1/3 cup of water.
- Pour into a saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat. Add lemon juice and honey and whisk until combined.
- Sprinkle gelatin over the top of mixture a little at a time, stirring constantly. Be sure to sprinkle the gelatin on top (do not dump it all in at once) or you will wind up with clumps of gelatin that never really break up.
- Cook over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes or until mixture is smooth. Gelatin when melted will give the mixture a glassy, smooth appearance.
- Put your gummy bear mold's on a cookie sheet, and using a dropper, fill all the mold's with the mixture.
- Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.
- Pop the bears out of the mold's and enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
These are so cool! I am trying to resist new kitchen toys, but those molds are irresistible!!
Absolutely cute! I love this idea!
I love this recipe so much – I totally want to make it with my daughter. Going to buy a few extra bags of cranberries to stash in the freezer just for this!
I would love nibbling on these. They look so good but I would have to eat fast around here before anyone found out I had them. Not that I don’t like sharing, but—some things are best left as a secret stash.
These look so yummy! My kids would have a blast making these cranberry gummy bears!
I have GOT to find those molds. These look so fun and delicious.
These are so fun! I need one of those molds!
Could I use real cranberry juice instead of the whole cranberries?
You can use real cranberry juice to try and make this recipe, but if it has anything added into it, it will change the recipe. Most on the market juices have something added, like color or sugar or preservative.