I made collagen protein gummy bears because the rest of the internet is crazy about them. But don’t be fooled, collagen protein gummy bears do not taste like real gummy bears. Read on to see my full review.
I like to think of myself as an honest blogger — whether that means telling you that someone’s veggie burger is just a mushy mess, trying the latest Oreos and promptly informing you that they definitely don’t taste like a , or like today, making collagen protein gummy bears and letting you know they aren’t worth your time. In fact, they just plain suck.
In truth, I had no idea collagen protein gummy bears were even a thing until a friend of mine mentioned it to me. Since she’s not much of a baker, I told her I’d make the gummy bears and share them with her plus, I’m a huge fan of collagen and am always looking for more ways to incorporate it into my diet.
Before diving into making the bears, I did a bit of research on the web and found that collagen protein gummy recipes are pretty much all the same — 1 cup liquid to plus a bit of sweetener, if you’d like.
I landed on making two types of gummy bears, a fruit flavor, and a sour flavor. My fruity flavor was pomegranate blueberry while my sour was a citrusy orange-lemon flavor. Since I wanted a bit of variation in my gummy bears, I added food coloring to some of the sour orange-lemon mixture, creating a toxic looking neon green color. I also ordered these ridiculously , that came with a convenient dropper to fill each of the tiny bears.
I was beyond excited to make my collagen protein gummy bears and I had really high expectations for these gummies. In fact, I thought I was about to have a low sugar, protein-filled, good for you gummy bear that was a spitting image of my favorite .
It’s super easy!
Making these gummy bears really is easy. You slightly warm your juice of choice on the stove until it’s lukewarm, stir in your sweetener (if you’re using any) then whisk the hell out of the mixture as you slowly add the collagen until everything is dissolved.
Next, grab your dropper, fill the bears and refrigerate until set about 20 minutes. Now comes the worst part, popping out all of these little bears. It’s really not that bad since they’re in silicon molds, you’re basically taking your finger and pushing the bears inside out and they fall right out.
However, I had 300 bears to pop out. Ugh.
As soon as I had my bears out, I was ecstatic to eat my good-for-me Haribo gummy bears. Except, the instant I put them in my mouth, my dreams of protein-rich gummy bears died.
Collagen protein gummy bears do not taste like real gummy bears. They taste like overly stiff Jell-O. The texture is just plain horrible. And since they’re so small and made with real fruit juice (which is actually pretty mellow in flavor) you need to eat about 20 in one handful to taste anything.
Beyond disappointing.
So friends, if you’re thinking collagen protein gummy bears sound like a good idea, this is your warning. If I still haven’t convinced you, then please, at least save yourself some money and don’t invest in the gummy bear molds. Just make them in a good old 8×8 inch pan (which you should be using to make brownies instead…) and cut them into squares.
Then, when you taste your collagen protein gummy bears for the first time and are hugely disappointed, please hop back here and let me know what you thought so I can casually throw a ‘told ya so’ into the conversation.
As for my friend, whom I promised to share these gummy bears with, she said they were good but agreed, they were best eaten in handfuls for a full sweet ‘n’ sour mix! I still think she was being kind.
Have your made collagen protein gummies yet? What were your thoughts?
- 1 cup POM Wonderful pomegranate blueberry juice
- 2 tablespoons collagen
- 2 tablespoons honey
- silicon molds or an 8x8 inch pan lined with parchment paper
- In a small saucepan over low heat warm the juice until lukewarm to touch
- Stir in the honey until dissolved
- Remove from heat and while whisking, slowly add in the collagen powder until fully dissolved
- Immediately pour the mixture into your molds
- Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until fully set, dependent on the size of your mold
- Remove gummies from their mold once set or cut into squares if using an 8x8 inch pan
- Eat immediately or store refrigerated up to 2 weeks
- 1 cup orange juice
- juice of 1 large lemon
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons + 1.5 teaspoons gelatin
- silicon molds or an 8x8 inch pan lined with parchment paper
- blue or green food coloring, optional
- In a small saucepan over low heat warm the juice until lukewarm to touch
- Stir in the honey until dissolved
- Remove from heat and while whisking, slowly add in the collagen powder until fully dissolved
- If you'd like to color your mixture so you have two different gummy colors, split the liquid into two bowls and add 1 drop food coloring of choice to one bowl and whisk. If you'd like a more vibrant color, add 1 drop at a time until the desired color is achieved
- Once colored, pour the mixture into your molds
- Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until fully set, dependent on the size of your mold
- Remove gummies from their mold once set or cut into squares if using an 8x8 inch pan
- Eat immediately or store refrigerated up to 2 weeks