DIY Peelable Mango Gummy Candy Recipe

Walgreens may not be the first brand that comes to mind when on the lookout for the latest food trends, but one of its Nice! snack products garnered lots of attention online after it started trending on TikTok early in 2024. The company's peelable gummy mangoes, inspired by a sweet treat already popular in such Asian countries as China and South Korea, are not only tasty, but they're also super fun to peel and pop in your mouth with a satisfying squish. (The peel is edible, too!) Unfortunately, with great popularity often comes scarcity, meaning that the candies are often out of stock. If you're missing them terribly — or if you've never tried them and would like to see what all the fuss is about — one way to get your paws on some of these gummies while cutting Walgreens out of the loop is to make them yourself.

Admittedly, it does take a little time to create your own candies, but think of the impressive achievement! Bragging rights are sure to be yours if you can pull it off, and you absolutely can if you follow developer Katie Rosenhouse's step-by-step recipe.

To make the candy, you'll need unflavored gelatin powder, fresh or frozen and thawed mango, honey, lemon juice, and salt. You're also going to need some cornstarch and a dried lima bean to make the mango-shaped candy molds.

In a medium bowl, stir to combine water and gelatin. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend mango in a food processor or blender until smooth. This should yield about 1 cup of puree.

In a small pot over low heat, stir to combine ½ cup mango puree, honey, lemon juice, and salt. Bring to a simmer. Reserve remaining ½ cup mango puree.

Add gelatin mixture to pot and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

Divide mango-gelatin mixture evenly between two bowls. Set one bowl aside.

To remaining bowl, stir in reserved ½ cup mango puree.

Transfer the mixture with the extra 1/2 cup mango puree to a piping bag or squeeze bottle. Set aside.

To make your own mango-shaped molds, spread cornstarch evenly into a 9x13-inch rimmed baking sheet or dish.

To make the mold, glue a large dried lima bean to a cake pop stick or wooden skewer.

Once the bean is set, press into the cornstarch to create 45 mango-shaped wells.

Use your piping bag or squeeze bottle to fill each well with mango mixture.

Freeze for 15 minutes or until gummies are firm.

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.

Transfer mango gummies to a medium bowl and rinse with cold water to remove excess cornstarch. Drain and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Warm the remaining bowl of mango-gelatin mixture in the microwave or over a double boiler if needed, just until smooth. Do not let the mixture exceed 200 F.

Dip gummies one by one into mango mixture. Transfer each gummy back to the parchment-lined baking sheet as you go.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

"Peel" and enjoy your gummies. Remember: the peel is edible, too!

This recipe makes 45 pieces of candy, which is about the size of 4 ½ bags of the Walgreens product. Walgreens estimates a serving size as 4 pieces, which means our recipe will make about a dozen servings. Rosenhouse suggests that you store the candy in an airtight container at room temperature and says it'll last for up to 2 weeks, but this depends on the temperature of your room. If it's summertime and there isn't a cool spot in the house, you might want to put the candy in the fridge so it doesn't get all melty. Unfortunately, you cannot store the gummies in the freezer since this might make them lose their squish.

You do, however, briefly freeze the candy at one point while you're making it, which is before you dip it to make the "peel." You may want to freeze it one more time if you want an even thicker peel. since Rosenhouse says the secret to achieving this is double-dipping (and increasing the amount of mango-flavored gelatin as necessary). Once you've dipped the first time, you should then re-freeze or at least refrigerate the candies until the first coating is set before you dip them again.

If mango isn't your favorite, you can certainly make other kinds of peelable candy. In Japan, available flavors include grape, peach, and lychee, while a the Chinese candy company Amos makes banana-flavored ones. Any of these flavors would work, while Rosenhouse also suggests trying the recipe with blueberries, strawberries, and pineapple. All you need to do is swap out the mango puree for an equal amount of different fruit.

Rosenhouse does caution, however, that "different fruits may yield different textures" and suggests that you do some experimenting to find the right fruit-to-gelatin ratio. In this case, you might want to make a smaller batch to start with so you don't wind up wasting too much candy if something doesn't work out the first time you try. As for shaping the candies, you might be able to find tiny fruit-shaped molds online, but you could also just mold the gummies into little circles. For peaches, grapes, and blueberries, this pretty much is their shape, after all. Mini silicone ice cube trays would also work if you don't mind peeling square candies.