Cover countertop or work surface with a silicone baking mat. Spray kitchen shears with vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, combine granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup. 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 saucepan from heat. Stir in root beer flavoring and brown food coloring.

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, until it starts to feel thicker and slightly less pliable. Do this 20 times, or until streaky and lighter in color. (The longer you pull, the more opaque your candy will be, but it will also be harder to cut.)

Pull hot sugar into a short, thick tube.

Working in small sections*, pull the tube into a long rope, about 1/2-inch in diameter. Use kitchen shears to cut the rope into 3/4-inch pieces. Repeat until you’ve used all of the hot sugar mixture.

Allow candy pieces to cool on the silicone mat.

Store root beer hard candy in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three months.

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.