Old-Fashioned Hard Candy (Christmas Candy)
Old-fashioned hard candy is a colorful homemade Christmas candy made with sugar, corn syrup, concentrated flavoring oils, and food coloring. Cook it to the hard-crack stage, then break it into jewel-like pieces for holiday gifts and candy dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup corn syrup
- 3.7 ml spearmint oil (use other oils for each flavored batch)
- food coloring as needed
Instructions
- Place powdered sugar in baking tray with side and make long troughs with a thick plastic clothes hanger. These are usually about 18 inches long depending on the tray and ¾ inch deep and ¾ inch wide. Each batch will use about three sheets prepared.
- In a heavy pan, mix sugar, water and corn syrup. When the syrup reaches about 260°F, add 3–4 drops of food coloring. Continue cooking until the syrup reaches 300°F, the hard-crack stage.
- Remove from heat, and stir in the flavored oil. Use 1 bottle of flavor oil per batch. (1 dram, 3.7 ml or .125 oz.)
- Transfer contents to glass heat proof container that has been sprayed with canola oil.
- Slowly pour contents into the troughs.
- Allow the strips to cool, then break apart and place in containers. I like to place different flavors in different containers.
Notes
Tips for success
- Organize all the flavors and batches you want to make ahead of time.
- Have a large pot of water simmering on the stove to help rinse off the syrup from the pots and pyrex
you use. This is incredibly helpful since hardened syrup is almost impossible to remove from a pot.
- To transfer flavored syrup to the sugar troughs, pour syrup in a 4-cup heat-proof glass container that has been sprayed with canola oil.
- To form the candy strips, place a good amount of powdered sugar on a cookie sheet, then make troughs using a thick plastic hanger. This helps you make somewhat even-sized pieces.
- For one batch, you should have 3 cookie sheets prepared. I use a baking sheet
with 15.25" x 10.5" x .75" as shown below.
- As soon as you empty the syrup onto the troughs, place the glass container in the simmering pot. This will dissolve the residual candy and get the glass container ready for the next batch.
- Organize all the flavors and batches you want to make ahead of time.
- After the candy cools, pull it from the troughs and break it into pieces. Smooth out the powdered sugar and make new troughs for the next batch with the plastic hanger.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do I store my hard candy? You should store it in an airtight container at room temperature. Never store it in the refrigerator.
- How long can I store the candy? If properly stored it will last 12 months in a sealed container. If you have a large amount to store, you can place it in a 32 oz. mason jar or larger. Take a small zip top snack bag and put ¼ cup rice in the bag, seal and poke some small holes in it. Toss this in the bottom of the jar before adding the candy. This will absorb any moisture and keep the candy fresh longer.
Nutrition
Serving: 100gCalories: 11kcalCarbohydrates: 3gFat: 0.01gSodium: 1mgPotassium: 0.1mgSugar: 3gCalcium: 0.2mgIron: 0.001mg
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