How To Make TikTok's Frozen Gummy Snacks

Gummy candies are supposed to be fun to eat — the Haribo gummy bear commercials are all about adults reverting to a childlike state as they share a bag of the chewy snacks — but not everyone's a fan. Gummies are just lumps of sugary goo desperately in need of a texture other than squish. Leave it to TikTok to find a solution. Now, not all TikTok gummy bear experiments are worth doing. According to no lesser authority than the BBC, melted gummy bear jelly is a fail. Frozen gummy bears, however, seem to work out pretty well.

No, you don't just stick a bag of bears in the freezer, although that would certainly alter the texture. Instead, you soak them first to infuse them with flavor and help them expand, a bit like those Magic Grow toys from when you were a kid. Since you're probably intending to eat the bears after you freeze them, you can use something more flavorful than water to steep them in. Lemon-lime soda seems to be popular, but any complementary flavor will do. Let the bears sit overnight to soak up as much soda as possible then drain them, freeze them, and eat them. Not only are they twice the size of standard bears, but they're less squishy and more popsicle-like.

@katchaomeow

so crunchy and so fun to eat – kids loved it. Will you try it? ib: @えみり🦔🍎/emiri ASMR #viralsnacks #viralfood #asmrfood #frozengummybears

♬ original sound – Kat Chao

While frozen gummy bears may be having a moment with mommy vloggers, a less family-friendly version dates back at least as far as the '90s. Drunken gummy bears, or rummy bears, have long been a less failure-prone alternative to homemade Jell-O shots, since the latter may not set if you use the wrong booze-to-water ratio. With gummy bears, though, they'll soak up as much as they can of the rum, vodka, tequila, or whatever spirit you care to use, and hold their shape in the freezer.

So, will rummy bears get you drunk? It depends on how many you eat, although you should definitely keep them away from children. Given enough time — some sources suggest soaking the bears for up to three days — a seven-ounce bag of gummy candies can absorb roughly the same volume of alcohol. Assuming a standard gummy bear weighs 2.5 grams, this means each bear should absorb 2.5 milliliters of alcohol. If you eat 20 bears, you'll have taken in 50 milliliters of liquor, which is the same size as an airplane miniature bottle.