This Kombucha SCOBY Candy is a delicious way to use your extra kombucha “mothers”. Carmelized and perfectly gummy, they’re a fun and unique treat!
Okay so hear me out. And yea, I know that’s no way to start a post about anything intended to be edible. But open your mind a bit for this one. Today, in the spirit of Halloween and also my sugar addiction, we’re making gummy kombucha SCOBY candy (aka kombucha mothers…so…sugar mamas!).
Chances are, if you’ve already got to the point where you’ve even made a SCOBY (see simple guide to homemade kombucha), you’re probably already a bit open to trying unconventional things…i.e. eating that alien-like rubbery thing sitting on the top of your brew. But honestly, you need to try these. They’re soft yet oh-so-gummy with a hint of kombucha and caramelization. By no means could the word “healthy” be used to describe this candy, with the massive amount of sugar and boiling, which kills off most of the probiotics in it. But I’ll be darned these are tasty.
These mamas are tough, so you’ll want to cut them into squares with clean scissors. If you’ve got a really thick SCOBY that you can tell wants to break into two SCOBYs, go ahead and halve it. A lot of the thin layers will stick together once they get their sugar boil.
Combine SCOBY squares, sugar, and a touch of lemon juice then boil boil boil.
After they’ve boiled, spread your candies over a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Let the syrup cool off a bit then pour it over your candies.
Bake candies at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 10 or so minutes to caramelize a bit further. Let them cool then (optionally) sprinkle with equal parts lemon zest and sugar.
Ingredients
- Kombucha SCOBY however many you have or are willing to use
- Equal part sugar as SCOBY* by weight
- A dash of lemon juice
- equal parts lemon zest and sugar Optional
Instructions
- Cut: Rinse SCOBY to remove gunky stringy things, then dice with clean scissors or a very sharp knife.
- Boil: Gently combine SCOBY squares, sugar, and a tablespoon or so of lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Boil for 7 to 10 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer, aim for 250 degrees F, 120 C), stirring frequently.
- Coat: Remove pot from stove and, with a perforated spoon, remove candies and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Allow syrup to cool until slightly thickened, then pour over the candies.
- Bake: Bake at 350 degrees F (175 C) for about 10 minutes. Remove and allow candies to cool. Optionally sprinkles with a mix of lemon zest and sugar.
Miranda (Myrabev) says
Oh wow happy halloween indeed, these are so mouth watering I am heading to the kitchen to get me something sweet to eat. Thanks for the recipe
Sarah says
Thanks Miranda! I hope you’ll give em a try 🙂
Christine | Vermilion Roots says
Wow I’ve never seen anyone made anything with scoby. This is super awesome.
Sarah says
Thanks, Christine! Apparently you can make a lot with them actually! Smoothies may be my next SCOBY experiment 🙂
Sarah Bailey says
Ohh I totally haven’t tried anything like this before, I need to give this a whirl – it looks like a sticky delight x
Sarah says
I hadn’t either! I was a bit nervous how they’d turn out (and more importantly, if anyone would eat them after I told them the secret ingredient), but they were friend-approved!
Kathryn With Going Zero Waste says
this is so cool!! Great for when you have too many!
Sarah says
Thanks Kathryn! Yea, I just don’t have it in my heart to throw any of them away!
Nicole Thien says
These look delish! I am definitely going to add this to me “to-make” list!
Sarah says
Oh I hope you do! Thanks for stopping by, Nicole!
Jessica says
Thanks so much for this creative idea! Could the recipe work with xylitol? Have you added other flavors, like vanilla? Thanks again – so very interesting!
Sarah says
Hi Jessica! This would probably not work with artificial sugars. The yeasts and bacteria need real sugar need to feed on in order to go through the process of fermentation. I’ve never tried adding vanilla but I think it could work well! Perhaps add the vanilla at the very end, right before you drink it as a final flavor enhancer. 🙂
Monica says
Great Idea! Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
You’re welcome! I just hate to see a good SCOBY go to waste 🙂
Betty says
These photos are very persuasive! I have to admit, I’ve been skeptical about eating the SCOBY, but now I think I might actually consider it!
Sarah says
Oh Betty you HAVE to try it! I tricked quite a few people into eating them and only told them what they truly were after they were on their 2nd or 3rd. They all loved them! It becomes just like a gummy candy! 😀
Layla says
This would kill all the bacteria voiding the health benefits of the scoby. Why would you eat a dead bacteria cake? You’re just eating sugar at this point.
Sarah says
Hi Layla, I mentioned in the post that indeed, cooking the SCOBY kills most of the probiotics. The purpose is simple the purpose of any candy, to be tasty! And, of course, to put leftover SCOBYs to use rather than throwing them away. 😀
Alana says
Hello! I made these and I just can’t eat them! I can’t get past the texture….i cooked them for the 10 minutes…maybe I should cook them even longer? My scoby was about half an inch thick and very “healthy”.
Sarah says
Hey Alana! What was the texture like for you? They should be the texture of gummy candy, so perhaps a little longer cooking will do the trick. The sugar needs to caramelize a bit to help get rid of that *squishy* feel. You cooked them in on the stove then in the oven, right? The oven step is an important one!
Fain says
I finally tried. Had to cook it longer then 10 min to get temp to 250 the texture is ok but it’s super sweet dusted some citrus acid on outside cause I like sour. I’m glad I tried it
Sarah says
The citrus on the outside really helps cut the sweetness, doesn’t it? I love it with lemon zest 🙂
Ann Wilder says
My granddaughter got me to try this tea and I now can’t live with our it so I am hoping I will love the candy as well
Sarah says
I think you’re going to love it! 😀 So happy you liked the kombucha too!
Alex Mayer says
Hi Sarah. Do you add a bit of water to boil or just lemon juice ( i used lime) , sugar and scoopy?
My liquid was gone very quick
Thank you
Sarah says
Hi Alex! There’s no need to add water. The sugar melts and that’s what is going to be boiling into caramelized goodness (in other words, the boiling isn’t to cook the SCOBY so much as it is to melt and cook the sugar, which is why water isn’t needed).
Melinda says
Can I use a stevia xylitol erythritol blend as the sugar? We don’t use sugar and I have a ton of SCOBYs!! 😊
Sarah says
Hi Melinda! This is one of few recipes where you really cannot use sugar substitutes. BUT you won’t actually be consuming that whole 1 cup of sugar. The sugar is food for the bacteria and yeast. They’ll basically eat it all up and produce wonderful things like acidity and carbonation, and the finished kombucha will be mush lower in sugar as a result. 🙂
Kat says
Hey Sarah,
I think you’re mixing candy and kombucha comments. The dead SCOBY won’t ferment the sugar, right? But I agree that the sugar would be important for caramelization. I’m not sure the desired caramelization can occur with sugar substitutes. Not to mention that sugar alcohols in high concentrations in something you’ll likely be eating mindless quantities of (like candy) would cause a lot of intestinal distress (see the reviews for sugar free gummy bears on Amazon for examples). Thanks!
Sarah says
Whoops, you’re so right! I was confusing the two, but agreed that I don’t think sugar subs would work here. The caramelization of the sugar is an important part of this candy! 😀
Taylor says
Hi there! do these really only last a week?
Sarah says
They could probably last longer, but I found the texture was best within a week. Will try making them again soon and updating with what I find! 😀
Madeleine says
Hi Sarah,
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I tried it out tonight, since I’ve had a neglected jar full of thick SCOBYs sitting around for months just waiting
I used 3 cups brown sugar for roughly 3 cups SCOBY, and added like 4 tablespoons of lemon/lime juice, and tossed in some ginger (store bought powdery type, I don’t have time to grate fresh ginger) into the boiling pot and DANG the flavor is on point. Since my chunks were super thick, I added more cooking and baking time. I will try to make this baking party more of a routine thing, and not let the SCOBYs grow so thick, since the thinner slices cooked way better. The edges/outer layer of the thicker slices turned into what I assume is the desired texture, kind of gelatinous and easy to chew – really delicious! When biting into these thicker chunks though, I noticed that the center was not cooked (or at least not caramelized and soft), and was still very tough/fibrous. Is it safe to eat these pieces, even though they did not caramelize all the way through? May I send you some photos, to get your opinion?
Sarah says
Hi Madeleine! As long as the SCOBY is healthy (no mold etc) then it should be safe to eat, regardless of if it is cooked through. Next time just pull the thick SCOBY apart (like, hamburger style) to make a few thin SCOBYs. I’m so happy you liked this recipe 😀
Darla E says
I’ve seen where the scobies are dried out then used to make things like small wallets !
Sarah says
I’ve heard of this! Intriguing haha, but I haven’t tried it out.
Rebecca says
Love the idea. However, heating the SCOBY would kill the beneficial bacteria and the SCOBY has more than the Kombucha.
Sarah says
Yep this is true! This is purely to get the gummy structure of the SCOBY without having to use gelatin 🙂
Lee says
Hi, tried this, so much fun while on Covid 19 Lockdown in NZ! I put maple syrup in my sugar syrup, real sweet and sour now, just perfect! I also booked the leftover syrup longer and used it as toffee, I put walnut halves in it. Delicimoso. I made a cinnamon sugar for my candies. The sad thing is I cannot share my lollies! (Boo boo, how sad, never mind!) Thanks !
Sarah says
Hahah, so happy to hear you liked them, Lee! 😀
Kahlia says
So I read the instructions and the comments before I made mine. I didn’t have lemon so instead, I chopped up little bits of apple!
I let mine boil for 18 minutes, sprinkled cinnamon on and baked for 15 minutes and they are really good! It’s like apple pie filling. Thank you for the guidance. I really didn’t know how the heck to cook all my scoby!
Sarah says
Ooooh love that modification! Thanks for letting me know how it went! 😀
Justin says
Hi Sarah,
Great idea!
As a refined, simple sugar favoured for home brew beer and spirits, will SCOBY happily consume glucose/dextrose?
Also, I was thinking of throwing a little fruit into the boiling sugar for the first ferment. What are your thoughts on this as opposed to waiting until the second ferment?
Sarah says
Hmm I’m not sure on the glucose/dextrose. Would that be the same as plain table sugar?
But don’t put fruit in the first fermentation – you open up the risk for mold with that.
Happy brewing!
Anne says
Wouldn’t the heat destroy all the good stuff in the Scott? Just wondering!
Sarah says
Yep it will destroy a lot of it, but the fun texture is still there!
Keli Bulat says
It’s hard to say
Cait says
I made these and they are so delicious! They taste just like gummy candies!
Kristin says
Take caution when cooking this! I came over to the stove to stir and a piece popped right out of the pan and into my face. I got a pretty bad burn!
Sarah says
Oh that’s awful, Kristin! Thanks for letting everyone know so people can watch out for this!
Diane says
What else are you into? kefier. I’m looking to get as much probiotics in me as possible. Without buying something that might be processed. So making it seems the solution. Any help will be appreciated
Sarah says
Yep we make kefir, kimchi, even yogurt! Lots of fermentations here on the site! 😀
steve says
Made this, used quite a bit more than one tablespoon of lemon juice, not exactly sure how you’re intended to boil one tablespoon one lemon juice and sugar for 7 minutes without getting a burnt layer of sugar
Mark says
Hi! I threw out a 10″x1″ scoby cpl months back and left one slightly smaller in there. So before I ditched it I had cleaned the whole lot choosing which to keep. It had got a bit not looked after… tiny bit of mould. now its lovely again but works too hard… hey I had a bite in before throwing it to the critters and its sort of tasty with a lovely texture. I’m after a raw marinated style. I really can see it being delicious
Florence says
Thank you so much Sarah, you are a gem 💎 I’m a first timer here so I’m glad I came across your page of goodies first so thank you so much.
Annie says
Do you boil it in water?
Sarah Bond says
No, the sugar will melt and you boil it in the melted sugar! 😀
Douglas Smith says
I see no reason for the sugar and boiling. Chunks of scoby taste like gummy candies with a sour/kombucha taste and still retain the good stuff. After a period of consuming kefir (whey, curds and combo), kimchee, kombucha and anything fermented, most ‘normal’ foods taste too sweet. We hear you can feed scoby to dogs but I don’t have a dog.
Sarah Bond says
Boiling it in sugar makes it sweet like candy! But you’re welcome to skip that step.
Cocopops says
Hi Sarah, I love gummies so I tried your recipe. Cooked about 20min boil boil boil,,,,I do not have a candy thermometer, I stopped cooking when the syrup is thick. Spread out on oven tray and cooked 20min or so in low oven (120C). when cooled,,,,it is gummies, I like it! Its not a health food but at least I know what’s in this treat. No nasties. Thank you the inspiration I was wondering what to do with my scoby family that grown so much. Now I know what to do 🙂
sasha says
I noticed that as it was nearing done boiled it started to turn transparent! Should the scobys be fully transparent you think by this stage or doesn’t matter? They turned out delicious!!! I tried to sugar coat them with powder but they keep absorbing… they’re super messy but taste amazing ! Thanks for this recipe
Sarah Bond says
Oh strange! It shouldn’t matter though. Enjoy!
Poonam says
I had super fat scobies living in hotel that I didn’t know what to do with. It took a while to separate them. Tried the apple cinnamon version. Fantastic! thank you for sharing your recipes <3
Cristina molinar says
Pretty sure boiling it destroys its benefits. Sorry.
Sarah Bond says
Correct, I mention that in the 3rd paragraph 🙂 Still tasty though! And a good alternative to gelatin.