I Made DIY Easter Candy And Will Never Go Back To Store-Bought Again

How adorable is this little candy maker? Dash has a ton of cool kitchen gadgets ranging from sous vide machines (the wannabe Iron Chef in me is gleefully screaming right now) to fondue pots to dehydrators — literally, there is a kitchen gadget for everyone!

I figured this candy maker would be perfect for experimenting with making my own sweet treats around the next upcoming candy-centric holiday, which happened to be Easter. Also, it matches with the pastel accents in my kitchen, so that was a plus. If you know me, you know I love a good pastel aesthetic.

The candy maker also comes with a detachable handle, two molds (one heart mold, one bear mold), and a recipe booklet. I ended up also using an additional mold I already had.

I'm a baker, so I had an arsenal of ingredients to choose from. The only two things I needed to go out and buy were unflavored gelatin packets and fruit juice, which cost about $5 total. The rest I already had on hand. For the gummies, I used:

• 2 to 3 tbsps. unflavored gelatin powder
• ¾ to 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1 tsp. organic raw honey

I wasn’t sure what flavors I wanted to do for the chocolates, so I grabbed a bunch of different items I had already:

• Semisweet, milk, and white chocolate chips
• Orange and peppermint extracts
• Sprinkles
• Food coloring (pastel colors)
• Unsweetened coconut

Not pictured:

• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Coconut oil
• Paper towel

Note: You can get creative with the types of ingredients you use for both the gummies and the chocolate! Any clear fruit juice should work for the gummies, and you can probably even make your own wine- or booze-infused gummies if you want to!

First, I plugged in and turned on the candy maker. See that little blue light? Once it shuts off, the candy maker is properly heated, and you can begin to add your ingredients.

I measured out a little more than ¾ cup of pomegranate juice and about a teaspoon of honey, and then I grabbed three packets of gelatin. One packet of gelatin is equivalent to about 1 tablespoon.

After I measured my ingredients, I grabbed a jar of coconut oil and a paper towel. I rubbed the oil on the paper towel, then lightly coated the silicone molds with it to ensure that the gummies wouldn't stick when I popped them out of the molds.

I've never made gummies before, so I did a little research for this part and decided, "When in doubt, coconut oil it out." That's how the saying goes, right?

Once the machine was ready to go, I slowly poured the pomegranate juice into the boiler. I added the honey and stirred until the mixture was hot. Then I slowly added the gelatin powder while continuously whisking to make sure the gelatin completely dissolved.

I noticed that some of it started to clump (I definitely added too much powder, so keep an eye on this), so I took the boiler off the heat and strained the mixture through a metal strainer.

Then I ruined my strainer.

I poured the strained mixture back into the boiler, stirred it a bit more, then let it cool for about two minutes before pouring into the molds.

Pro tip: Place molds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat before pouring the gelatin mixture into the molds. I most definitely did not do this, and trust me, it'll save you a lot of cleaning up.

Place the cookie sheets on a flat surface in your fridge for up to three hours to set.

Ta-da! I let these set in the fridge for about two hours, then easily popped them out of the silicone molds. May I present to you: Pomegranate Honey Gummies. It has a nice ring to it, no?

I got about 15 large gummies out of the amount of liquid and ingredients I used. If you're looking to make a huge batch of these, the process will be a little time-consuming, so be sure to plan your day appropriately.

The more I thought about what kinds of flavors I wanted to use in my chocolates, the more I strayed away from the ingredients I started with. Instead of relying on chocolate chips as my chocolate base, I used the following ingredients:

• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup coconut oil
• 2 tbsps. honey
• Some vanilla extract

First, I added half the coconut oil to the preheated boiler, let it melt, then added the other half and stirred until the coconut oil was liquid. Then I slowly combined all the other ingredients until they were well mixed. I poured the chocolate into the molds, which I had prepped first by lightly rubbing with coconut oil and putting on a cookie sheet, then placed the molds in the freezer for an hour to set.

To give my chocolates some added pizzazz, I melted 1 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave with a tablespoon of coconut oil in increments of 15 seconds, stirring every time. Once the chocolate was melted, I added peppermint extract and 4 drops of pastel green food coloring and mixed until I got the shade I wanted. Then I drizzled the chocolate-mint mixture over some of the chocolates.

For my second batch of chocolate candies (the smaller chocolate hearts on the right), I used the same ratio of unsweetened cocoa powder and coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of honey, and ½ teaspoon of orange extract. I also sprinkled espresso sea salt on the molds before pouring the chocolate in. I allowed it to set for an hour in the freezer, and voilà! Homemade chocolates perfect for Easter Sunday.