Old-Fashioned Hard Candy Recipe

An old-fashioned hard candy recipe based on an old family recipe. With endless color and flavor options, this sugar-coated homemade hard candy keeps and ships well, making it ideal for Christmas gifting.

Why Do I Love This Old-Fashioned Hard Candy Recipe?

This old-fashioned hard candy recipe is a family favorite.

I’m not sure how long the recipe has been in the family, but growing up I can remember my mom making it every year for Christmas. There were different varieties, one of which was always cinnamon. (And for some reason, in our family the cinnamon flavor was traditionally yellow rather than red!) We would give some of our homemade sweets away as gifts, and enjoy the rest ourselves during the holiday season.

This recipe is easy to make and requires just a handful of ingredients. You will need a candy thermometer, plus a few additional tools and some fun flavors and colors. Read on to learn exactly what you’ll need to make old-fashioned hard candy at home.

Ingredients for Making Old-Fashioned Hard Candy

To make this recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Granulated Sugar – Granulated sugar forms the base for this recipe. You can substitute caster sugar, but be sure to measure by weight rather than volume.
• Corn Syrup – In the US, I prefer the Golden Barrel brand. You can also use light Karo syrup, or liquid glucose.
• Flavorings – I chose fruit flavors in rainbow colors, but this recipe also works quite well with non-fruity flavors such as licorice, cinnamon, chocolate, root beer, or coconut. I prefer the LorAnn Oils brand because they’re ultra-concentrated and designed for applications like candymaking. Avoid supermarket extracts. Extracts are much weaker, so you’ll need a lot more product to produce a flavorful piece of candy.
• Gel Food Coloring – Again, you can choose any color you’d like, or omit the gell food coloring for a natural, off-white candy.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – Also known as icing sugar, or powdered sugar, for coating the cooled candy.

Helpful Candymaking Tools and Equipment

To make this old-fashioned hard candy recipe, I recommend gathering the following tools and equipment:

• Silicone mat –If you don’t already own one, a silicone baking mat comes in handy for candy (ha!) Silicone baking mats perform well at high temperatures, make cleanup easy, and prevent molten sugar from sticking to your countertops.
• Digital thermometer – My go-to is this Taylor Instant Read Digital Thermometer. but any good-quality candy thermometer will work. Because precise temperatures are important, I do not suggest making this recipe without a thermometer.
• Heavy-bottomed saucepan – For cooking the hot sugar. Opt for a metal pan, not one with nonstick coating.
• Pastry brush – To brush down the sides of the pan, helping to prevent crystallization.

How Much Does This Homemade Hard Candy Recipe Make?

For this batch I made five colors and flavors of old-fashioned hard candy:  Red (cherry flavor), orange (orange flavor), yellow (banana flavor), green (pear flavor), and blue (blueberry flavor).

For each flavor shown I made 1/4 batch of candy, resulting in about 2 cups of candy pieces per flavor. So, if you make one full batch of this recipe in a single flavor, you’ll end up with about 8 total cups of hard candy.

Tips and Tricks for Making Hard Candy at Home

For best results, pour the hot sugar mixture directly onto a silicone baking mat. Do not use wax paper; your candy mixture will stick to the paper and be very difficult to remove!

To break the cooled candy apart, I like to put the slab in a large Ziploc bag and use a kitchen mallet to crack it into smaller pieces. This is so much easier than breaking it with your hands, and it prevents candy pieces from flying everywhere. Just be sure to place a folded towel underneath the plastic bag, to avoid damaging your countertops.

Shipping and Packaging Homemade Hard Candy

These candies ship well and stay fresh for a long time, so they’re ideal for holiday gift-gifting. They work nicely for care packages, too, since there are no ingredients which will melt or spoil. (Plus the candy is already “broken,” so no worries about it being damaged in transit!) If you are gifting locally, try packaging your homemade sweets in a cello bag or a pretty mason jar.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

Store homemade hard candy in an airtight container at room temperature, or in a large sealed food storag bag. This old-fashioned hard candy will keep well at room temperature for up to three months.

Other homemade hard candy recipes you might enjoy:

Chocolate Peppermint Lollipops
Lemon Drops
Caramel Apple Lollipops
Root Beer Hard Candy

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

Old-Fashioned Hard Candy

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• Author: becky
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 8 cups 1x

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Description

An old-fashioned hard candy recipe based on an old family tradition. With endless color and flavor options, this old fashioned hard candy with powdered sugar keeps and ships well, and is perfect for holiday gifting.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

400 grams granulated sugar (2 cups)
320 grams corn syrup (1 cup)
80 milliliters water (1/3 cup)
1/2 –1 teaspoon good-quality flavoring (I use the LorAnn Oils brand)
1–2 drops gel food coloring
135 grams confectioner’s sugar (1 cup), for coating the candies

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Instructions

Cover countertop or work surface with a silicone baking mat.

In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, stir together granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

Once sugar dissolves, stop stirring and add a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature (or keep a hand-held digital thermometer nearby!) Cook the sugar mixture until it reaches 300° F / 149° C on a candy thermometer, periodically swirling the pan as needed, and brushing down the sides with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallization. (Cooking the sugar will take about 15-20 minutes, so be patient!)

Remove from heat. Stir in flavoring and gel food coloring.

Immediately pour hot sugar mixture onto prepared baking mat, and allow to cool completely. (This will happen very quickly, about 15-20 minutes.)

Once cool, use your hands or a kitchen mallet to break the slab into small pieces. Toss in confectioner’s sugar to coat.

Store old-fashioned hard candy in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three months.

 

Equipment

corn syrup

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gel food coloring

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silicone baking mat

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stock pot

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Notes

Choose a stainless steel pan for this recipe. Avoid pans with nonstick coating.

To break the candy apart, I put it in a large, sealed food storage bag and use a mallet to crack it into smaller pieces. This is easier than breaking it with your hands, and it prevents candy pieces from flying everywhere! Just be sure to place a folded towel under the bag to avoid damaging the countertop.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cooling Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Category: Candy and Confectionery
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Sweets