If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, I could make a lot of these cookies. Gumdrops remind me of Willy Wonka’s everything is edible room and Katy Perry’s California Girls music video (even though I just watched it and there are exactly zero gumdrops in it). Gumdrops are a nostalgic candy that no one really likes, but everyone eats around the holidays. Believe it or not, they are essential to the world we live in. Could you imagine Candyland without Gumdrop Mountains or a gingerbread house minus these sparkly staples? They are a fundamental old-fashioned candy – flavors of orange, lemon, lime, grape, and cherry.
They are also a pain to chop up. Because of their overwhelming stickiness, I have to cut each gumdrop individually & pull the pieces off of my knife. The recipe doesn’t specify how small to chop them, so I cut them in 6ths and call’em chopped. Their wonderful glittery colors all blended together in one cup is about as beautiful as candy can get. But I can’t seem to fathom what they’ll taste like in a cookie. Will they melt? Will their flavors come thru? 
<--- Annalie in her "I am Berry Cute" onesie...too cute! --->
What exactly is a gumdrop anyway? They seem to be made up of a combination that would survive a nuclear explosion. After chopping away at them for what seemed like forever, they seem pretty indestructible. If the world is ever under some crazy alien attack, I bet that gumdrops will survive, right next to the Twinkies. Gumdrops are brightly-colored gelatin- or pectin-based pieces, shaped like a truncated cone and coated in granulated sugar. This makes them very sweet. And the gelatin base makes them stick to your teeth as you chew. So they are basically gelatin/pectin, sugar, artificial flavoring, more sugar, and food coloring. Not exactly healthy, but we are talking about candy here.
What exactly is a gumdrop anyway? They seem to be made up of a combination that would survive a nuclear explosion. After chopping away at them for what seemed like forever, they seem pretty indestructible. If the world is ever under some crazy alien attack, I bet that gumdrops will survive, right next to the Twinkies. Gumdrops are brightly-colored gelatin- or pectin-based pieces, shaped like a truncated cone and coated in granulated sugar. This makes them very sweet. And the gelatin base makes them stick to your teeth as you chew. So they are basically gelatin/pectin, sugar, artificial flavoring, more sugar, and food coloring. Not exactly healthy, but we are talking about candy here.
I get my baking on while my husband flips through all the different football games going on today. Now that I’ve gone thru 19 other cookies, these Gumdrop Cookies are a breeze to make. I LOVE that I finally get to add oatmeal to another cookie. And the coconut sounds yummy too. Without much ado, my first batch is ready. My hubby makes a comment that the kitchen smells like corn (???), but I guarantee you these cookies taste nothing like the such. Thank goodness, right? These cookies are a chewy delight with just the right amount of sugar. They taste like ranger cookies! (a fave from my childhood) And in every other bite you get a taste of a gumdrop. To answer my inquiries from earlier, the gumdrops do not melt. They do not infuse their flavors throughout the cookie. Instead, they remain intact and you only taste them when you get a bite of one. A few of my cookies don’t even have any gumdrops in them. And honestly, those are my favorites.
Overall, this is a fantastic cookie…besides the gumdrop part. The base for the cookie is what makes them so delicious. As an adult, I’m not fond of the actual gumdrops, but I bet kids would love them! That’s why I’m taking a few out to my nephew tomorrow. And if he doesn’t like them, I’ll just eat around the candy. LOL
Cookie Grade: B+ = Would eat the whole batch if there weren’t any gumdrops in them.
What I was jammin’ to: MIKA - if you haven’t heard them, they sound like Queen (awesome!). YouTube their song Grace Kelly. Happy music J
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