Cooking with Jelly Beans

16 billion jelly beans produced every year

We just passed the National Jelly Bean Day on April 22^nd, and mid week is a great time to celebrate this sweet little candy! This 1860s candy has evolved over the years, and in the 1930s, jelly beans started to get given new flavourings, and also started to become associated with Easter (probably for their egg-like shape). 16 billion of these sweet treats are produced every year and are just as popular as they ever were.

In the 1980s different flavours were added to jelly beans, and this is what made people everywhere, both young and old, fall in love with them – they each had their own unique flavour and its fruity tastes are what made Ronald Reagan (the president of the US at the time) famous for keeping some on his desk at the White House in the Oval Office.

Different jelly bean flavours and colours are now associated with different occasions, such as the festive Mint, Marshmallow, Christmas Coconut or Vanilla Ice in the winter months or Mixed Berry Smoothie, Pomegranate, and Sunkist Lemon for refreshing summer flavours.

Recipes that use jelly beans can include muffins, cookies, cakes, bars, or fudge – a massive array of sweet desserts which are both colourful and fun. For an Eater treat, why not give the Jelly Bean Pizza a try? Basically a huge cookie with lots of frosting and decoration, this is a perfect dessert for kids and adults alike, and creating it with younger children is a great afternoon activity too.

Making cookies with jelly beans

Cookie Ingredients

• 7 tbsp butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 1.5 cup powdered sugar
• Jelly beans

First, cream together the butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg then blend together. Gradually add flour, baking soda and salt then roll the dough into a 12 inch pizza shape.

Heat the oven to 350F then place pizza in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

For the frosting, whisk the milk, cream cheese, sugar and food colouring (if you choose to use it) and evenly spread it across the top of your pizza-cookie. Decorate with chocolate drops, sprinkles, and most importantly, jelly beans!

For another Easter, Summer, or any-time-of-the-year treat, try hot chocolate with whipped cream topped with jelly beans, jelly bean brittle, jelly bean Bundt cakes, mallow bars or biscotti – the jelly beans can be used to add colours, textures, and different flavours to each of your creations, and you are sure to want to try as many of these colourful recipes as you can! Find more recipes for jelly beans on Recipebridge.