Homemade Gummy Vitamins for kids with Probiotics, too

finished vitamin and probiotic gummies

So this weekend we made a batch of homemade gummies with vitamins and probiotics. First let me speak to probiotics. Interestingly, a cashier in my grocery line was speaking to the lady in line in front of me and she was telling the lady in front of me about probiotics and told her that only liquid probiotics were any good because otherwise the probiotics were dry and therefore dead. This goes against everything I have learned. Yeast is dry on the shelf for months and is still live. I have bread that proves it. Plus if probiotics are live in liquid and not freeze dried, then they have to have something to live on while on the grocery shelf, example, wet yeast wouldn't make it once the sugar supply ran out if the yeast cells were on the shelf.
I am an advocate of dry probiotics which are freeze dried and waiting for "reanimation." Here's a link to an article that speaks to it. There are many such articles and you can make your own decisions.
So I wanted to have vitamins and probiotics in my gummies. I try to make enough for 2 - 4 weeks worth, max, so my little reanimated probiotics can flourish and still be alive when we eat them.

Also please note, I am not a doctor, I am sharing my experiences and thoughts. Please consult your doctor if you have questions or aren't sure what you are doing.

I use only organic bovine gelatin. It's an easy way to start of with a clean gummy that is healthy. You can smell how good it is when you use it!

Now here's the part where I am more persnickety than some on ingredients and portions.
If a dose of probiotics is x amount per person per dose and same with vitamins, then I don't think you should just mix a batch and pour it into molds and see how many you get. If I am adding enough vitamins for 18 doses, then I need to have it make 18 gummies. I am a stickler for that.
Fortunately, I know my molds and how many one batch will fill and I can add probiotics and vitamins accordingly.
So what I do is pour water into my molds and then put that water into measuring cups and know ahead of time how much I need to make.
I also use liquid vitamins instead of vitamin drops, so I know I need two tsp of vitamins per gummy... so if I am making 18 gummies, then that's how many tsps of vitamins I need.

I use these molds because they are big enough for the vitamin amount and also they can double serve for candy making. I don't need a set of gummy only molds. You can use what ever suits your fancy.
The recipe below fills 3 of the trays that I use. I put a teaspoon in the photo next to the finished gummies so you can determine size.


16 teaspoons organic gelatin
1 cup fruit juice (not pineapple)
2 tblsp organic honey (sweetens and gives the probiotics something to live on)
liquid vitamins
and probiotics

I do realize this isn't as tidy as recipes that give a definitive amount, because it is defendent on the size of the molds that you use. That will determine how many vitamins and probiotics.
16 tsps gelatin and 1 cup juice and honey and vitamins make almost 2 cups of liquid. If your molds hold less, then feel free to cut in half.
Just please remember to use vitamin amounts equal to how many gummies you are making.

Add gelatin and juice and honey to a pan and heat until the gelatin dissolves. It starts out very thick and thins out way before boiling. Photos are below.
Then stir and cool if needed (you really shouldn't have to cool that much) just so that it doesn't kill the probiotics. Add vitamins and probiotics and mix well and pour them into your molds.
Pop the molds into the freezer for 10 mins to help set and remove from molds.
There you have it! I store mine in fridge and make only 2-4 weeks at a time.

the gelatin, juice and honey is very thick at first

the liquids melting with the gelatin thins out as it warms.