Cover countertop or work surface with a silicone baking mat.

Spray kitchen shears with vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray.

Place the confectioners sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine granulated sugar, water, and cream of tartar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

Once sugar has dissolved, stop stirring* and add a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature (or keep a hand-held digital thermometer nearby!)

Continue cooking the sugar mixture until it reaches 300° F / 149° C on a candy thermometer, periodically brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallization. Cooking the sugar will take about 15 minutes, so be patient!

Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in lemon oil, yellow food coloring, and citric acid if using.

Pour hot sugar mixture onto prepared silicone mat. Put on your cotton gloves, then add a pair of rubber gloves over top.

Allow the sugar syrup to rest on the mat, periodically folding the mat over itself. As you do this, you’ll start to see the sugar sticking to itself and forming a mass, rather than immediately running back into a puddle.

You’ll know the sugar is ready to pull when it comes together into a ball, and does not lose its shape. It will still be hot and easily pliable, but no longer “gooey” or runny.

With gloved hands, fold the sugar over itself several times (it will start to feel thicker and slightly less pliable, and you’ll see fine white streaks in the sugar). Do this 4-5 times, then pull it into a short, thick tube.

With your hands, pull a section of the tube into a long rope, about 1/2-inch in diameter. Use kitchen shears to cut the rope into 3/4-inch pieces.

Note: Work in small sections rather than pulling all of the sugar at once. Otherwise, the sugar will cool and become difficult to cut (or might even shatter when you try to cut it!) Pull the ropes in 12-inch increments, and keep the remaining sugar in a large mass/tube until ready to pull.

Add the lemon drop candy pieces to the bowl confectioner’s sugar, and toss to coat.

Store lemon drop candy in an airtight container at room temperature for up to six weeks.