Description
Create colorful, delicious homemade hard candies with simple pantry ingredients. This easy recipe guides you through making perfect hard candy with customizable flavors and colors, ideal for gifts and festive treats.
Ingredients
Scale
Basic Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup light corn syrup
- 3/4 cup water
Flavoring and Coloring
- 1 teaspoon flavor extract (mint, vanilla, fruit extracts, etc.)
- Food coloring (as desired)
Optional Ingredients
- 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or cream of tartar (to tweak texture and add tang)
Instructions
- Prepare Your Workspace: Gather all ingredients and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat to prevent sticking. Have your flavor extracts and food coloring ready to add once the sugar mixture reaches the correct temperature.
- Combine Ingredients: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely, ensuring no grains remain.
- Boil to the Hard Crack Stage: Using a candy thermometer, heat the mixture without stirring until it reaches 300°F (149°C). This stage creates firm, brittle candy.
- Add Flavors and Colors: Remove the pan from heat and quickly stir in your chosen flavor extract and food coloring. Work fast, as the mixture will begin to harden within seconds.
- Pour and Shape: Pour the hot candy onto your prepared surface. Allow it to cool about 30 seconds until safe to handle, then pull and shape into sticks or cut with scissors while still pliable.
- Let Candy Harden: Allow your candy pieces to cool completely on the counter until fully solid and glossy, about 20 minutes.
Notes
- Use a candy thermometer for accurate temperature control.
- Avoid stirring once boiling begins to prevent crystallization.
- Work quickly as candy cools and hardens fast.
- Clean tools immediately after use to prevent hardened sugar buildup.
- Test a small drop of syrup in cold water to check if it hardens properly before pouring.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Candy
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece (approximate)
- Calories: 60
- Sugar: 15g
- Sodium: 0mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg