Celebrate National Jelly Bean Day With These Unique Recipes

In case you haven’t worked it out on your own yet, National Jelly Bean Day is a day set aside to enjoy jelly beans in all their gummy deliciousness. While not a Federally recognized national holiday, April 22nd is now known as “National Jelly Bean Day”, a time to sit back with a bowl of jelly beans and enjoy their wide variety of flavors.

Jelly beans have a mysterious history. While most “candy experts” agree that what we know as a jelly bean has its roots in Turkish Delight candies from the middle east, no one is exactly sure when or where the first “jelly beans” were created. The most common answer to jelly beans origin here in America is that an unknown candy man from the North took out advertisements suggesting that people send jelly beans to Union troops during the Civil War. Since jelly beans “keep well”, they were the perfect sweet snack to send to troops in combat.

You can celebrate National Jelly bean day in some creative ways – consider the classic “How many jelly beans are in the jar” game. Fill a clear candy jar with jelly beans and offer them as a prize to the person who correctly guesses how many beans are in the jar. To celebrate this yummy national holiday more simply, place a dish of jelly beans on your desk at work, or in your home, and offer them to co-workers, friends, or family.

There are some interesting jelly bean “recipes” around the web. Here are a few of my favorites:

Jelly Bean Fudge

A unique dessert for fudge lovers and jelly bean aficionados alike – this simple fudge recipe has a surprise inside: jelly beans. As the recipe suggests, make sure the fudge isn’t hot enough to “melt” the jelly beans once you add them to the mix.

Jelly Bean Carrot Cakes

A fun dessert for kids and grownups alike, you can decorate these cupcakes any way you’d like – I suggest using jelly beans to make cute pictures on top of the little cakes.

Vegan Jelly Beans

Okay so its not a “recipe” – but if you have vegan friends or family, they can enjoy jelly bean flavor without any animal derived ingredients. These delicious little jelly beans are made without beeswax, gelatin, “confectioner`s glaze”, or any other animal products that are commonly found in jelly beans.

Jelly Bean Peanut Butter Cups

Believe it or not, the sweetness of the jelly beans mixes nicely with the salty and sweet flavors of a peanut butter cup.