Homemade Spicy Gummy Bears
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If you’re looking for a unique way to use up some of your super hot peppers from the garden, try making your own spicy gummy bears. This recipe is very adaptable. If you do not wish to make your gummy bears spicy, you can simply leave the hot peppers out.
Spicy candy may seem repulsive to some, but here at Pepper Geek, we really enjoy it! The sweetness of the candy balances out the spice of the peppers and makes for an enjoyable treat.
We like experimenting with different flavor combinations. You can make this recipe with habanero peppers, ghost peppers, or even reapers if you dare. Choose peppers with a flavor profile that you enjoy.
Here is what you will need to make your spicy gummy bears:
- 1 box of Jell-O (3 oz) – any flavor
- 1 packet of Unflavored Gelatin (0.25 oz)
- 1 tbsp Lime Juice (or lemon)
- 4 Hot Peppers chopped and seeded
- 1/2 cup Cold Water
- 1/4 cup Honey (or corn syrup)
- 1 medium Sauce Pan
- Candy molds (we used these)
- Patience! (this recipe does require a bit of waiting, but the results are worth it!)
Watch the video tutorial on how to make the homemade gummies:
How to make spicy gummy bears:
The first thing we’re going to do is make a “hot pepper juice”. Using a high-speed blender, blend your chopped peppers with 1/2 cup of cold water. You’re going to let this sit for a minute after blending.
Now is a good time to throw on a mask and goggles if you’re using extra hot peppers!
In a medium saucepan, mix your Jello-O packet and packet of Knox Gelatine and give it a little stir so the powders are mixed together.
Strain the blended pepper juice directly into the saucepan. You don’t want any pepper chunks, so make sure you use a fine-mesh strainer.
Stir gently, being careful not to create any air bubbles.
Add lime juice and honey, then stir more until thoroughly combined. At this point we’re going to leave the gelatin to sit and bloom for about 5 minutes.
Now that our candy syrup has sat at room temperature for 5 minutes, you’ll notice it becomes more transparent.
Now we’re going to heat our mixture over medium heat for 3 minutes. You do not want the mixture to boil. Stir the syrup gently as it heats and be careful not to cause air bubbles.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to sit for another 5 minutes before putting the syrup into the candy molds. Don’t allow the mixture to harden.
We like using these silicone molds from Amazon. We don’t recommend spraying the molds with cooking spray because the gummy candy can get greasy. We had no trouble getting the candy out of these molds without using cooking spray.
Now we’re going to use the included droppers to carefully fill our molds.
After your molds are completely filled, you’ll want these guys to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before transferring to the fridge for 1 hour. Be sure to clean your dishes and droppers at this time. The gelatin mixture hardens up, and it becomes very difficult to clean!
Now that your gummies have sat in the fridge for an hour it’s time to pop them out onto a flat surface like a cutting board. They will be sticky, but that’s perfectly normal.
These gummies are perfectly fine to eat right away. If you want a chewier candy like a traditional gummy bear, you want to leave these guys out to dehydrate at room temperature (or in the fridge) for 24-48 hours.
You’ll notice they will firm up and shrink in size after dehydrating. On the left is a fresh gummy bear, while the red one on the right side has dehydrated for a couple days and firmed up.
That’s all there is to it! If you have made gummy bears (spicy or not), be sure to leave a comment and tell us what flavors you used.
Other sweet and spicy snack recipes
- Spicy chocolate Mexican fudge – A chocolatey treat with a bit of heat. Great for gifting around the holiday season.
- Spicy habanero pepper sugar – Perfect for lining spicy margaritas with or dipping chocolate covered pretzels.
Spicy Chili Pepper Gummy Bears
Equipment
- Medium Saucepan
- Silicone Candy Molds
Ingredients
- 1 packet Jell-o any flavor
- 1 packet unflavored gelatin
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice or lemon
- 1/4 cup honey or corn syrup
- 4-5 fresh peppers chopped and seeded
- 1/2 cup cold water
Instructions
- Using a blender, blend your chopped peppers with 1/2 cup of cold water.
- Add your Jello-O packet and packet of Knox Gelatine to a medium saucepan and stir powders together.
- Strain the blended pepper water directly into the saucepan.
- Add lime juice and honey, then stir more until thoroughly combined.
- Let mixture sit for 5 minutes.
- Stirring gently without boiling, heat mixture over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes to cool but not harden.
- Using droppers fill candy molds one by one, being careful of air bubbles. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
- Transfer to fridge for 1 hour.
- Pop candy out! At this point, it is ready to eat. However, you'll want to let it dehydrate at room temp or in the fridge for 24-48 hours for a more traditional/chewy gummy bear texture.
Crystalyn
Crystalyn loves spicy food and getting creative in the kitchen. When she isn’t finding new ways to use hot sauce, shes very busy watching cat videos on the internet.
Excellent Candy! I replaced the sugar with coconut sugar (healthier) and used honey. I love the Pepper Geek’s recipes and videos, they are very easy to follow😃
Thank you for the rating! Glad the candy came out tasty 🙂
made lots of them. Easy. they are a HIT everywhere I Go Thanks
I used maple sirup instead of honey/corn sirup and my Gummy are much less sticky !!!
These came out wonderful – I made two batches using habaneros from my garden. In response to those who had sticky gummies that never quite set, it’s all about water content. I used half the water and by the time I popped them out of the molds after an hour in the fridge they were already non sticky and on their way to gummy bear status.
Thanks for the feedback Jenn! We will consider adding this tip into the recipe notes as well. The humidity makes a big difference with the stickiness as well, so using less water is a good place to start.
I’m going to give this a shot with Pineapple Jell-o and Habs from the garden.
I think a little time in the dehydrator might help firm them up… I’ve tried just regular gummy bears before and ended up with the same problem as others where they just don’t get firm. I’ll report back with the results.
The dehydrator is a really good idea. Do let us know how that works out! With all the humidity we have been having, this might work nicely.
I made this last night. I used 5 large habaneros, and a small box of lemon jello. I added several drops of red food coloring towards the end. These turned out super yummy. However, they are a pain to pop out of the molds. I put them in my fridge uncovered, in hopes that they would dry out a bit. They are super sticky. When I blended the habaneros with the 1/2c of water, once I strained the pulp, there was only 1/4c of spicy water. Do you have any tips :)?
Hi… Love your site! I am going to make these (with Reapers) but I was wondering what the shelf-life is, and how I may increase that (maybe a lil citric acid) to increase the shelf-life. I am trying to get a 6 month shelf-life, preferably un-refrigerated. Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks,
Lee
Citric acid could definitely help, and the high sugar content also acts to help preserve them. Can’t really guarantee 6 months, but maybe!
Delicious!
I make Habanero jelly and use it over smoked pork, pork chops, and a block of cream cheese with crackers
Made these this weekend to try out some spicy treats to take to work. I am having the same result as others about them not firming up any. Either way me and my co-workers have been eating our spicy jello shots and enjoy them just the same. It’s always fun to see their initial reaction after I offer them “spicy candy”. Used 2 ghost peppers, 1 chocolate morugula, and 1 apocalypse scorpion. They hurt but most people have really enjoyed them.
Nice! I think the hotter peppers are a good call (if you want to really feel the heat anyway).
How many sheets of gummy bears does this recipe make using the recommended molds?
I’ve made a couple batches of these now and they don’t seem to ever firm up. They stay sticky. Love the taste but it’s hard to store when they stick together. My current batch has been sitting out for 3 days now and is still just as sticky as when I pulled them from the fridge and removed them from the molds. Is there any way to cause these to dry out and firm up?
High humidity can slow down the dehydration process – you could try placing them on a tray and in the fridge for a day or two to see if they dry out faster there
I’ve a cold press juicer… wondering if I might juice the peppers instead of blending & straining. Thanks in advance.
For this, a juicer would be great – however, be ready to have spicy juices for a few days after!
Have you tried sugar free jello?
How long do the bears last for? How should they be stored?