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READY IN 45 mins

Hard Candy

Read Reviews (82)

"An easy recipe for hard candy. The hardest part is waiting for the sugar to reach the proper temperature. Be patient and use a candy thermometer for perfect candy. This recipe can easily be adjusted by using different flavored extracts and food colorings." — JUDITH SYNESAEL

Ingredients Edit and Save

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Sugar and Sweeteners

Original recipe makes 1 cookie sheet Change Servings

3 3/4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 cup water

1 tablespoon orange, or other flavored extract
1/2 teaspoon food coloring (optional)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

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Directions

In a medium saucepan, stir together the white sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.
Remove from heat and stir in flavored extract and food coloring, if desired. Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Let cool, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 5 mins
COOK 25 mins
READY IN 45 mins

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Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Dec 23, 2006

I'm just a beginner, so I thought this would be a good one to try. Its great! With food coloring, its very pretty. Instead of flavored extract, I added a tbl of water to a packet of kool aide (cherry) and put that in. Yummy!

—IDt8r

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Dec 20, 2010

i must be doing something wrong because it's been 18 hours and it is still in a stage between liquid and hard candy.

—Sugar Sugar Sweet!

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98 Ratings

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Jul 21, 2007

We are using this recipe to make our wedding favors. We were able to spray candy molds and use a candy funnel with stopper to put just the right amount of mixture into each mold. We now have beautiful, inexpensive, calla lily candies. I omitted the food coloring and chose almond flavoring. The candies are stunning and our guests will absolutely love them!

—soinlove

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Dec 22, 2007

I've made this recipe twice now and one time I thought I would make banana flavored candy with banana extract (have used this before in other recipes and is delish!). I put in even a little more than the recipe called for and it smelled great and everything. But come time to break the candy and try it, it tasted like nothing, just sweet. Not even a hint of flavor, no smell, nothing!!! Bleh! Now another time I took another reviewer's suggestion and used one and a half packets of Kool-Aid dissolved in just a bit of water and this was much better... unfortunately I ruined the batch by putting it in a glass pan thinking I could cut it into squares before it cooled... dumb idea. Anyhow, I will try this again using another flavor of some sort, I'm not sure if it was the recipe or just that banana is a bad flavor to make candy with!

—Amanda J.

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Jul 23, 2007

i made this but i used cherry jello mix,it tastes great

—dah1993

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Dec 22, 2006

Super easy! I make this every year and everyone loves it, although I usually double the flavoring.

—DANORDHORN

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Dec 16, 2003

This is a very Good Hard Candy Recipe!An very Easy! Thank You!!!

—RRL52365

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Nov 01, 2008

Great hard candy base recipe. I made several flavors. Favorite is cayenne ciannamon.

—richard99

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Nutrition

Calories
124 kcal
6%

Carbohydrates
32.2 g
10%

Cholesterol
0 mg
0%

Fat
0 g
< 1%

Fiber
0 g
0%

Protein
0 g
0%

Sodium
9 mg
< 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Hard Candy

Serving Size: 1/36 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 36
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 124
** Calories from Fat: < 1

% Daily Value *
** Total Fat 0g < 1 %
** Saturated Fat 0g < 1 %
** Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
** Sodium 9mg < 1 %
** Potassium < 1mg < 1 %
** Total Carbohydrates 32.2g 10 %
** Dietary Fiber 0g 0 %
** Protein 0g 0 %
** Sugars 25.3g
** Vitamin A 0 %
** Vitamin C 0 %
** Calcium < 1 %
** Iron < 1 %
** Thiamin < 1 %
** Niacin 0 %
** Vitamin B6 0 %
** Magnesium < 1 %
** Folate 0 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.