DIY Nerds Clusters Taste Like The Real Thing And Only Require 2 Ingredients

The only Nerds experience better than pouring the loose candy into your mouth straight from the carton is munching on the brand's sweet, chewy Gummy Clusters. But while it's pretty common to see the former in the candy section of grocery and corner stores, it can be tricky to track down the latter. Luckily, you can easily make copycat Nerds clusters at home — and you only need two easy-to-find ingredients to do it. You'll want to buy cartons of your favorite Nerds flavors, of course, along with a few packages (or one big one) of gummy bears (aka our favorite in a ranking of 50 classic Halloween candies) that will serve as the chewy centers, thanks to the gelatin within them that makes them flexible. 

First, spread the loose candy in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, microwave 2 cups of gummy bears for a minute and a half to two minutes, or until they're mostly melted — and if they're not all the way there, just stir until the mixture is smooth. Once you coat balls of melted gummy bears with Nerds on all sides, toss your sheet in the fridge for a couple hours. You'll end up with tons of little clusters that will stretch and taste just like the real thing.

There are two ways you can distribute your melted gummy bears here, depending on how much effort you want to put in. The easiest method is to roll bits of the goopy mixture into balls with your hands, then coat them in the Nerds on your sheet pan until they're completely covered. A more precise method, however, involves pouring the melted bears into a plastic bag (which is made easier when you insert the bag in a big jar first), then sealing it and cutting off the tip. From there, you can pipe rounds of the gummies right onto your layer of Nerds and sprinkle loose candy over the top.

There's even more room to get creative here, as Nerds and gummy bears both come in plenty of flavors. For the former, you can choose from boxes like Grape & Strawberry, Watermelon & Cherry, and Rainbow, although plenty of seasonal options (like Strawberry and Punch for Valentine's Day) pop up as well. Feel free to combine or separate these to your heart's content, or make two different flavors of clusters on the same tray. When it comes to gummy bears, you can opt for flavors like Happy-Cola, sweet and sour, cherry, and specific fruity mixtures, or check out our ranking of popular Haribo gummy candies. In fact, you may even discover a combination you love more than the branded Nerds Gummy Clusters themselves.