3 Ingredient Vitamin C Gummies for Kids

Ever since Josie was just a few weeks old, we have been giving her vitamin C as a preventative measure whenever she was exposed to sick friends and family.  We originally mixed it with a small amount of breastmilk and gave it to her in a bottle, but now that she is a toddler, I found that having these gummy vitamins on hand are an easy way to give her a dose of Vitamin C.

I learned about the benefits of vitamin C from the work of Dr. Andrew Saul and his daughter, Helen Saul Case.  Here is a great article with information about determining the correct dosage of vitamin C.  This article has helpful tips for getting your kids to take vitamins.

Ingredient Notes:

Vitamin C powder: I purchased sodium ascorbate on Amazon.  It has a slightly sour and salty flavor.  For this reason, I found that orange juice wasn't sweet enough to mask the sour flavor of the vitamin C.  If you find that the vitamin C flavor is still too strong even with grape juice, you can reduce the amount of vitamin C in the recipe or add honey to the mixture.

Gelatin:  I find that 2 1/2 tsp is the right amount to give the gummies a pleasant texture.  You may find after making the first batch of this recipe that you want to increase the gelatin for a more chewy texture or decrease it for a softer texture.

Juice: I experimented with both orange juice and grape juice and found the orange juice gummies were too sour for Josie to be willing to eat.  The grape juice is just sweet enough for her to eat the gummies willingly (but nowhere near as sweet as candy gummies).  

Molds:  I used cute gummy bear molds for the purpose of the photo, but I actually find it easier to just pour them into a flat square foot container and then cut them into cubes after they have hardened.  At the age of 1 1/2 Josie can't tell the difference between square gummies and bear gummies.  :)  

Vitamin C Gummies

• 1/2 cup grape juice, divided
• 2 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 4 tsp vitamin C powder (sodium ascorbate)

Combine 1/4 cup grape juice with gelatin.  Stir and set aside for about 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to dissolve.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/4 cup grape juice in a small saucepan until steaming.

Combine the steaming juice with the gelatin juice mixture and stir thoroughly.  Cool to room temperature, then add the vitamin C powder and stir till dissolved.

Pour into molds or a food container.  If using a regular container, you will want one that's approximately 5"x5".

Refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until set.  If using a square container, you can cut them into 16 pieces, which will give you about 1000mg vitamin C per piece.  There is 17,600 mg of vitamin C in the entire recipe, so you can divide that by the number of pieces or gummy bears to determine how many are needed for your desired dose.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.