Dragon Fruit Blueberry Tea Gummies

The first time I discovered tea flavored gummies I was at Surfas, a true chef’s paradise and my favorite culinary store in Los Angeles. I found myself moseying through the glorious candy aisle, when bam!, there they were: blackberry hibiscus gummy bearstotally over-priced but quite possibly the cleverest tea & food invention around.

Since that first bag of tea gummy bears, I’ve taken to the kitchen several times to experiment with tea gummy recipes. With the weather heating up this week, I was inspired to make a tropical version of these treats using Tea of the People’s Blueberry x Dragon Fruit Dragon Well Green Tea. This vibrant Lung Ching blend is sweet, tangy, and packed with exotic fruit flavor. You can literally taste the antioxidants and vitamins in the brew, which takes on the most gorgeous shade of ruby-red after a few short minutes of steeping.

My best secret for flavor-packed tea gummies is to steep the tea in juice instead of water. Drop for drop, the candy base will pack equally concentrated tea and fruit flavor. An overnight, cold steep in the fridge produces a brew that’s pure in taste and not cloudy.

I have to admit that I find the shape of dragon fruits to be quite puzzling…attractive, yet rather odd. Dragon fruits actually come from cactus plants. In taste and texture, their flesh tastes a lot like bland kiwi. The color of a dragon fruit’s flesh is either white or hot pink, and is characteristically flecked with small, black seeds. If you’re lucky enough to find one, don’t be scared…try it! That being said, the less adventurous can easily swap out kiwi for dragon fruit in this recipe.

Just like regular gummy candies, these gourmet tea gummies yield a chewy, thick bite that you can really sink your teeth into. If candy molds aren’t your thing, then simply pour the liquid mixture into a baking dish, let it chill, and cut the jelly sheet into small squares. In less than an hour, you’ll be in tea gummy bliss. Guilt-free, antioxidant-packed snacks to munch on whenever you want…there’s lots to love about this adult take on a childhood favorite!

Many thanks to Joshua Caplan, Founder of Tea of the People for sharing his delicious teas with me! Check out the Tea of the People site for more enticing and unique tea flavors, including Acai x Goji Dragon Well and Pomegranate x Yumberry Dragon Wellalso great for making antioxidant gummies.

Dragon Fruit Blueberry Tea Gummies

Makes 5 cups of gummies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups organic blueberry juice (no sugar added)

2 rounded Tbsp green tea (I used Tea of the People’s Dragon Well Green Tea, Blueberry x Dragon Fruit)

3/4 cup gelatin

1/2 dragon fruit or 2 kiwis, skin removed

1/2 cup organic blueberries

1/4 cup agave or honey

1 tsp stevia

non-stick vegetable oil spray

Equipment:

large pitcher

strainer

blender

candy mold or 9 x 13 baking pan

large pot

large glass measuring cup (with a spout)

Directions:

1.)  In a large pitcher, cold steep the tea by combining it with the 2 1/2 cups of blueberry juice. Mix in the tea leaves so that they are able to fully and freely steep. Set this in the fridge to chill for 6-8 hours, then strain the leaves from the juice until ready to make the gummies.

2.)  Purée the 1/2 dragon fruit (the white flesh only, not the tough pink rind) and 1/2 cup of blueberries in a blender on high. Set aside. Mix the gelatin into 1 1/2 cups of the blueberry juice tea, and allow it to bloom.

3.)  Pour the other 1 cup of blueberry juice tea and the dragon fruit-blueberry purée into a large pot and bring it to a boil over low heat. When it comes up to heat, dump the bloomed gelatin into the hot juice-tea-puree mixture and let it gradually and completely dissolve. Turn off the heat, then skim off and discard any foam off the surface of the mixture. Mix the agave and stevia in until dissolved.

4.)  Give the candy mold or baking pan a very light, even spray of vegetable oil. Pour the mixture from the large pot into a liquid measure. Fill each cavity of the mold, carefully pouring directly from the liquid measuring cup. If using the baking pan, pour the entire amount of the mixture from the large pot to the baking pan. Place the filled molds or pan into the fridge or freezer until the gummies are fully set and firm to the touch. In the freezer, it will only take about 5 minutes for the candy mold gummies to set.

5.)  Use your fingers to remove the gummies from their molds. If using the candy mold, repeat steps 4 & 5 as many times as it takes to use up all the tea mixture. If the gelatin tea mixture starts to set in the measuring cup, give it a zap in the microwave for 10 seconds to return it to a liquid state. Store gummies in the fridge in an airtight container.

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Char

Oooh, looks tasty! I have a dragon fruit plant in my backyard that produces more than I can eat, I will try and remember when the fruit is ready to turn them into gummies!

Reply
Bonnie Eng

Thanks Char! Wow, I can’t believe that you have a dragon fruit plant in your backyard! Did you plant it? Lucky you, the fruits are so expensive, but I love their taste. 🙂 Their mild flavor makes them perfect for gummy candy making.

Reply
shootingvienna

The dragon fruits we have in Vienna are really bland and I always wondered what they should actually taste like. I prefer gummies to chocolate and love the look of yours 🙂

Reply
Bonnie Eng

You are so right, some dragon fruits are super bland. I think waiting for them to soften/ripen a bit sometimes helps. You can easily swap out the dragon fruit puree with some other berry puree, even more of the blueberries. I love that these are really healthy and easily fill a candy craving. 🙂 Thanks Beatrice!

Reply
Chaya

Dragon fruits are so pretty! I don’t love their taste, but I do LOVE gummies, and this flavor combination sounds so good, especially with the blueberries! Gorgeous pictures, too. You make me want to try these now!

Reply
Bonnie Eng

They are quite exotic looking aren’t they? I rarely use that word, but I truly believe that they look exotic! Since you don’t like the taste of dragon fruits so much, just add more blueberries (or other berries!). The gummies will be just as delicious…thanks Chaya! 😉

Reply
Bonnie Eng

I love all the healthy recipes on your site Colleen! Tart cherry gummies sound amazing. The tea here adds a layer of flavor and nutrition that I think you will really enjoy. You can also easily swap out the blueberry juice for cherry juice. 🙂

Reply
Lan | morestomach

what gelatin do you use?
these are so great, i’ve never thought to steep tea in juice! i’m already thinking about warmer weather activities and i be these would make such great snacks during a picnic or hike, as long as they’re kept next to a cool pack.

Reply
Bonnie Eng

Lan, I just used regular powder gelatin (Knox). Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to try gelatin sheets sometime…I’m wondering how the texture would be different. I’m not sure how the tea would steep in more acidic juices (like OJ) but here with blueberry juice, the tea steeped perfectly. I agree, these make perfect hiking snacks. Hope you can try them sometime! 🙂

Reply
Bonnie Eng

Hey Lu Ann! This recipe would work great with that tea too! You could easily swap out the blueberry juice with pom juice. The gummies will end up just a bit more on the tart side. BTW, love your site, you have a new follower! 😉

Reply
Lokness

Fresh fruit gummies? These are way cool! Sounds like a very fun thing to make! With the blueberries coming in season now, these gummies would be so sweet!

Reply
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