Description
This Homemade Hard Candy recipe guides you through making clear, colorful, and flavorful hard candies from scratch using simple ingredients like sugar, corn syrup, and oil flavorings. Perfect for candy lovers who want a customizable treat, the recipe includes tips on flavoring, coloring, and breaking the cooled candy into bite-sized pieces.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 3 ¾ cups granulated white sugar
- 1 ⅓ cups light corn syrup (Karo syrup)
- 1 cup water
Flavoring and Finishing
- 1 teaspoon oil flavoring (or up to 1 teaspoon, depending on strength)
- 7–10 drops food coloring, depending on desired hue
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Prep the Baking Sheets: Line cookie sheets (preferably ones with a lip) with silicone liners, parchment paper, or aluminum foil. Sprinkle a generous amount of powdered sugar on the surface and set aside to prevent sticking.
- Combine Ingredients: In a medium saucepan, combine the granulated white sugar, light corn syrup, and water. Stir continuously over medium heat until the sugar completely dissolves, ensuring a smooth syrup base.
- Cook to Hard Crack Stage: Attach a candy thermometer to the pan so that the sensor is about an inch from the bottom. Cook the syrup without stirring until it reaches 295°F (hard crack stage). This typically takes 35-45 minutes and ensures the candy sets properly.
- Add Flavor and Color: Remove the pan from heat carefully. Add the oil flavoring and 7-10 drops of food coloring to achieve your desired flavor and color. Be cautious not to lean over the pot due to steam intensity.
- Pour and Cool: Pour the hot candy mixture onto your prepared cookie sheet. Allow the candy to cool completely at room temperature, which takes approximately 30 minutes. Do not disturb during cooling to ensure a smooth finish.
- Break Into Pieces: Once cooled and hardened, cover the candy with parchment or wax paper and gently tap with a hammer, meat tenderizer, or mallet to break into small pieces or desired shapes.
- Coat with Powdered Sugar: Sprinkle the broken candy pieces with powdered sugar and gently toss to coat, preventing them from sticking together.
- Repeat for Additional Flavors: If making multiple flavors or colors, repeat the process with separate batches using different oil flavorings and food colorings.
Notes
- One batch fills one cookie sheet and yields about 20 servings, depending on the size of the candy pieces.
- Oil flavorings are more potent than extracts, requiring less quantity.
- Exercise caution not to lean over the pot when adding oil flavorings to avoid steam burns.
- The recipe can be adapted to candy molds or sucker sticks for shaped candies.
- Flavor and color combos: Strawberry oil with red coloring, lemon oil with yellow, orange oil with orange, and spearmint or wintergreen oil with green are recommended pairings.
- Up to 1 teaspoon of oil flavoring can be used for stronger flavors; extracts will require more (about 1 tablespoon) to achieve similar intensity.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece (approximately 10 grams)
- Calories: 60
- Sugar: 15g
- Sodium: 5mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
