Hard candy can be made without corn syrup or dyes and artificial flavors with a little patience and time. If you or a loved one has sensitivities or allergies, read on. These candies are free of artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup and dyes! This particular recipe uses all natural ingredients and the peppermint is wonderful for anxiety, stomach upset, headaches and sensory overload. But feel free to substitute the peppermint for any type of flavoring.
Peppermint is always with me when I go out in public. I am extremely sensitive to smells and they can cause me severe sensory problems and even a migraine. By eating a piece of peppermint while in crowds, I’m able to tolerate a lot more stimulus than normal.
My friend has an autistic son with a love for hard candy but extreme dye and corn sensitivity. Since she can’t find any locally, she asked me if I could make her a recipe especially for him. I gladly started tinkering around applying all that I’ve learned when making sugared desserts.
This is so easy once you learn how to avoid the common mistakes that you’ll wonder why you didn’t start making candy years ago. If you have a digital thermometer with an alarm, even better! You can set it up, sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or a cheese danish while it bubbles away. It only takes about 20 – 30 minutes to have enough to last you for weeks.
Also, this video will go through the process of making hard candy and some tips to prevent crystalized sugar which is common for the beginner. Some people seem to have the knack for making candy, fudge and caramels. Others like myself take a little more time in the learning process. Don’t give up, just keep trying. It’s worth the trouble! And once you master this, it’s easy to make caramel sauce as it’s just a matter of cooking the sugar a little longer.
Hard Candy Without Corn Syrup or Artificial Dyes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (300g) sugar
- ½ cup (120mL) water
- 1 tsp (5mL) peppermint oil or extract
Instructions
- In a 3 quart pan, stir together the sugar and water.
- Line and grease a 8-9" (20-23cm) heat proof container with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray or parchment paper. I don't recommend using glass as it can crack with thermal shock.
- Place the pan on a stovetop and turn the heat to medium. Stir the sugar mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. If any sugar crystals are on the sides of the pan, brush them down into the mixture with a pastry brush dipped in water.
- Once all the sugar is dissolved, turn up heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil. Stop stirring once it begins to boil. Continue to cook on medium high heat until hard-crack stage is reached 310°F (154°C.)
- Remove from heat. Let it stop boiling and add in the peppermint oil. Stir carefully with a clean heat proof spoon or spatula to mix in the oil.
- Pour on baking sheet. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes and score the candy with a knife for more uniform pieces.
- Let cool completely before breaking apart at score lines and store in an airtight container.
Notes
- You can coat the candy with powdered sugar to prevent them from sticking if you live in a humid climate but be aware that powdered sugar often contains cornstarch.
- It’s best to make this candy on a dry day as it’s hygroscopic and can become sticky if the air is humid.
- If any sugar crystals begin to form on the sides or you see sugar on the sides of the pan at any time, you must wash them down with a wet pastry brush dipped in water or the sugar may crystalize and you’ll have to start over.
- If you do not have a thermometer, you are in luck since we didn’t use food coloring. The sugar will change from clear to a pale yellow.
- You can also check by dropping a small amount of the mixture into a container of cold water. Wait about 15-20 seconds or until cool before removing and checking. It should be brittle and crack between your fingers.
- You can use any flavor, not just peppermint. Simply replace with equal amounts. Never use essential oils in baking or cooking. Only use flavorings that are labeled as food safe.
- Some find adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to the sugar water helps with preventing crystallization. It can alter the taste slightly to those sensitive to bitter tastes.
- Non-stick pans are notorious for causing sugar to crystalize when making candy. A good stainless steel pan with a heavy bottom is ideal.
- The syrup is very hot. Never leave the pan unattended and take extreme care when working with heating sugar.
- Adjust the heat as necessary. Do not allow the mixture to boil over, especially on glass stovetops. Hot sugar syrup can damage glass surfaces. Electric glass stovetops are not recommended for making candies.
- Do not touch or taste hot sugar or candy. Use oven mitts and let the candy cool completely before handling or consuming. You will be burned if you fail to heed this advice.
I tried another recipe to make hard candy and it turned out flaky and came out as a wet sugar consistency and I was wondering if anyone had any idea where I went wrong?
It sounds like crystallization occurred. Sugar wants to stay in its most stable form which are sugar crystals. If the sugar doesn’t fully dissolve or just one stray sugar crystal gets left on a spoon or the side of the pan and it gets back into the mixture, it quickly forms a chain reaction and creates the flaky appearance you are seeing.
You can reheat the mixture with some more water and boil it back down until the sugar dissolves. However, some find it easier to start from scratch.
Is it possible to shape these into candy canes? If so how?
You could pour this candy into candy cane shaped molds, but to make candy canes the traditional way, you have to dye candy and then pull it and roll it together before creating the shape of the shepherd’s hook. This is beyond my skill level I’m afraid. There are some various videos on how to make candy canes on YouTube, but I haven’t tried any of them so I can’t recommend it.
YUM! i made this for myself and its so sweet it tastes like a divine sweetened peppermint tea
So glad you enjoyed the candy, Jordan! We all deserve a special treat! 🙂
Nice. Was searching for a recipe to make red hot type candy without corn syrup. Guessing maybe this will fit the bill.
I love red hot-icles (cucumber with red hot candies – that make a delicious pickle) and I also love canned candy apples using the red hots.
However, recently we’ve decided not to use corn syrup anymore and all the red hots I find have it. Thoughts on substituting this for a bag of red hots and using cinnamon oil?
Hello Charlene,
Lorann oil makes a great cinnamon flavor that could fit the bill. Add the oil carefully after making the sugar syrup right after you remove it from the heat, away from your face, especially your eyes and mouth as the oils from cinnamon can be very painful if you get the steam in your face. If you wanted it to be red, you’d add the food coloring prior to the oil. Do be mindful of crystallization when stirring in the oil. If there are any undissolved sugar on the sides of the pan on the spoon, it will crystallize. So use a clean spoon and take care to avoid scraping the sides of the pan when adding the flavoring and color. Hope this helps!
Wonderfully detailed recipe and I am so thrilled to see such active replies! I am soon planning on making this recipe with organic cane sugar and natural food dye powder that has been re-hydrated as well as flavouring. Would there need to be any adjustments made to measurements from two liquids – the re-hydrated dye and flavouring – being added or would it be unaffected? Also, I read in another comment that you recommended to heat organic sugars to only soft crack stage, but I’m looking to make a hard candy. Is there any advice that you would have to avoid burning the organic sugar? Thanks much in advance!
Hey Jude! Sorry for the delay in responding. I’ve been under the weather. To answer your questions: I can usually add up to another 50mL of liquid without affecting the mixture in the slightest. Above that, it will be more prone to crystallization because the sugar water will be boiling more vigorously at one stage and hitting the sides of the pan for a longer period of time. When adding natural dyes and flavouring, I would actually suggest carefully adding it at the very end stages when the water is no longer boiling vigorously. Shoot for around 275F (135C) to add it. Too early and some of the natural flavors can weaken. Too late and they make the candy sticky. When it comes to adding natural dyes to organic sugars, it can take on a muddy appearance due to the brownish tinge of the sugar itself. This will really impact colors like yellows, oranges and blues.
As for the organic sugar, you will likely still need to go to hard crack stage, but once you see the liquid turn vicious and the boiling slows, turn the heat down and do not stop watching it. If the sugar is brown already, you will not be able to rely on the amber or yellowish hue test. Rather, you will want to do the cold water test and carefully drop small amounts of the syrup into ice cold water until it hardens immediately. With organic sugar, I highly recommend a thermometer and to start checking at 300F (148C) instead of waiting until it gets higher. I hope this helps you be successful! Let me know if you need more help!
Thank you so much for the advice! I’ll have to let you know how it goes whenever I’m able to make it for the first time. Unfortunately we were right on the course of Hurricane Helene as I’d hoped to be able to get some practise in making candy. We’re still damp and rainy here so I’ll have to wait a while longer, but I am much more eased in my adventures in attempts to make some more flavourful & unique natural hard candy now that you’ve shared some more specific temperature and testing guidelines.
God Bless you for all the wonderful resources you’ve shared on your side, as well! I’ve taken a little look through and was quite inspired by all of the recipes you’ve shared and how thorough you are in presentation. Often I find myself skimming over forewords for recipes but I did not find it to be that way with yours! Much regard and well wishes for your continued endeavours.
I hope that this reply finds you well and you did not suffer damage from the Hurricane, Jude! I will pray that if you did, it was minimal and you rebuild better than ever. We lost some trees up this way and there was some flooding, but thankfully, we were spared this far north.
Thanks for the compliments. I really appreciate the feedback! If you see some of my earlier recipes, I was guilty of rambling on (this is one of them, ha!) but as I have evolved, I try to stick to the recipe details themselves and just a brief explanation about its creation where I allow myself to go on a tangent occasionally. 😉 Let me know if I can help with this or any other recipe in the future. Take care!
Thank you for the advice to practice heating,melting,using sugar just to get the hang of it.I actually,many years ago,had no experience with using a candy-thermometer to boil sugar,water,to proper heat.I had to do it twice I kept over cooking it! –And I was very good at many other cook skills.But candy making is HARDER than many people tell you,its a difficult medium.–It’s science(as taught here) has to be followed correctly. I am just beginning to HAVE FUN with it, find different ways,recipes,and understand just how it works. HONEY is great. 😉
I am glad you are having fun with making hard candies! It is a very difficult practice to learn, you are correct, but it is so satisfying once you learn the process. That is wonderful you tried so many years ago without much experience. That’s the first step to success, trying!
Can you use a candy mold for this recipe?
Hi Amanda, Yes you can use a candy mold with this recipe. Follow the directions given to you with the mold. Some of them require you to prepare them a special way.
Can I add sprinkles while it’s cooling. And if I were to add food coloring when should I add that
Absolutely, you can add sprinkles. I would give it a good 3 minutes or to cool before adding sprinkles so they don’t melt the color off them as they are usually sprayed with wax coating. As far as food coloring, you can add it at any time, but I usually add it at the end stages.
Do you have to put peppermint oil?
Hi Alyssa, No you do not need to use peppermint oil. You can use any flavor you like or leave it out entirely. If left out, it will just be super sweet tasting. A lot like cotton candy.
This didn’t work. I boiled it and used a thermometer and it was good when I poured it into the pan but it never hardened. I tried the freezer which did help to harden but didn’t last it was too soft. I think since I live in a high humidity area it just didn’t work.
Hi Shanna, I’m so sorry to hear that! Candy making is a bit tricky at times. It should have worked if the sugar reached 300 – 310°F (149 – 154°C.) This is known as the hard-crack stage in candy making. At these temperatures, almost all the water has been evaporated from the syrup and the mixture should harden as it cools.
Unfortunately, you are correct that humidity can play a role in making candy. If it is raining outside, it can impede the process as sugar naturally draws moisture out of the air. This is more likely to occur during a period of rainy days and not just a quick storm. That is often why hard candies are individually wrapped in wax paper or coated in sugar as it creates a barrier to the moisture. Unfortunately, placing the mixture into the fridge or freezer will not allow the candy to harden for the exact same reason. If you were to put hard candy into a fridge, it becomes liquid within a short amount of time.
One other thing that could have happened is the thermometer wasn’t calibrated. You can test the efficacy by carefully dropping a little of the syrup in cold water. When it is ready, it will form hard, brittle threads that break when bent. In the future, if this happens to you, you can reheat the syrup back on the stovetop and drive off more of the moisture in order for it to reach hard-crack or hard candy stage.
I love this for the low sugar due to no corn syrup. How will this work with adding natural juices for flavor?
Hello PeonyPuffs, Yes it will work with many natural juices. However, you will want to turn down the heat and cook it lower and slower to prevent scorching or burning the candy due to the type of sugars naturally found in fruit. Hope this helps!
Hi . Its my first time making itv. I had no idea visually when to take it off as i dont own a thermometers
Hi Olive! The mixture will often turn a light yellow and when a small amount is dropped into ver cold water, it should immediately harden. You can see what I mean by looking at this post (it’s a different recipe but the concept is the same): https://jacksonsjob.com/easily-make-hard-candy-without-a-thermometer/
It is a very good recipe I personally added blue food coloring to make it look like Blue Sky candy from breaking bad and it didn’t crystallize or anything thanks for the recipe.
Hi Don! We have a lot of Breaking Bad fans that do the same thing with this recipe. I actually tried it myself after I started getting comments and it looked great! 🙂 It was a fantastic show, wasn’t it?
I tried making candy as per this video but sugar syrup starts burning after boiling and turn brown and bitter in taste . Also candy becomes soft and sticky . Pls guide how to make perfect sugar candies which is hard and does not stick on tong while chewing. Pls revert Thanks – Vimal Jain
Hello Vimal Jain, I am sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work out for you the first try! Unfortunately, every stovetop is different and the temperatures can vary widely at each setting. Also, the type of pan plays a part as thinner pans can transmit heat faster and lead to burning rather quickly, especially with candy making. It sounds like the heat was up a little too high and your syrup burned. Once sugar burns, it takes on a brown or black color and tastes very bitter. Sadly, you have to start over as you can’t salvage burnt sugar.
If you want to try it again, I would suggest turning your temperature down as soon as the syrup starts to bubble very gently. You may need to turn it to medium or even lower. The candy should then cook at a slower pace and allow the color change happen more slowly and avoid burning altogether. Once it turns a yellow amber color and the syrup gets to the hard crack stage 300 – 310° F. (150 – 155° C) you need to remove it from the burner carefully but swiftly. Hope this helps!
I am going to try this recipe and use cinnamon flavoring for hard candy from LorAnn Oils . My granddaughter loves cinnamon candy but she cant eat it because of the red 40 food coloring . So I will not be adding the food coloring . I hope it comes out just as good .
Hello, Darlene! I have made this with cinnamon flavoring and other ones from LorAnn Oils. Your biggest enemy will be crystallization. If it does occur, just scrape the mixture back into the pot, add in some water and cook it again until all the sugar dissolves.
Im unclear if you start off by putting over heat to dissolve pr dissolve first? Thanks
Hi, Jayne! Sorry that my directions are unclear. Let me try to clarify. You can stir before you place the pan onto the heat to dissolve some of the sugar crystals.
However, because there is so little water to sugar, the mixture will need heat to further dissolve the sugar. This process can take quite a long time so be patient. More often than not, the mixture will begin to boil and the sugar will start to melt before the sugar can fully dissolved.
If the sugar is not fully dissolved when the water begins to boil, you will want to make sure to carefully brush down any sugar crystals with a pastry brush dipped in water. Be very careful doing this as you don’t want to get burned. Turning down or off the heat temporarily will help avoid an accident. You will need to brush down the crystals because the undissolved sugar will gather onto the sides of the pan as the boiling pushes the crystals around vigorously. If you skip this step, you may end up with crystallization as a result. I hope this clarifies things for you!
Great base recipe! So much could be done with this. Today I made a luscious lemon cream pie. I wanted it too have a stunning presentation, definitely didn’t want whipped cream or meringue. I used this to make lemon zest glass shards and I thinly sliced then grilled a lemon and used the same liquid glass to candy them.
Beth, lemon cream pie is one of my favorites and the way you described it sounds like a work of art! I love your creativity!
Hi !
Thank you so much for your sharing !
Do you have a recipe or guidance for making hard candy with no corn syrup and using Monk Fruit or a lower sugar ingredient?
Hi Halie,
You are very welcome for the recipe. I am glad it was well received. I haven’t created many candy recipes using sugar alternatives but I do like to personally eat little to no sugar.
One of my favorite monk fruit candy recipes to share with others asking is from this website: https://betterthanbreadketo.com/keto-butterscotch-candy/ They have some really good recipes in general if you are looking for sugar alternatives. I don’t know who runs it, but it’s a solid recipe. Make sure to read their instructions carefully as it does give a lot of helpful tips along the way. I hope that helps!
Hi I tried to make this and it turned into a liquid. Can you tell me what’s wrong with it?
Thank you (sorry for my bad English)
Hi Max,
Did it turn into a liquid after it had hardened or did the candy ever harden? If it had hardened and turned into a liquid, I would first ask was it stored in the fridge or a really cold area? Hard candy will turn into syrup if it becomes too cold, especially when refrigerated. If it never hardened, then it means either your thermometer is off by a few degrees or if you didn’t have a thermometer, that you needed to cook it a little longer. I hope this helps.
Thank you
You’re welcome!
What’s wrong with crystallization? Does it change the flavor?
Hi Loren!
Crystallization is basically sugar turning back into it’s desired state: a sugar crystal. It doesn’t change the flavor as it is simply sugar, but it changes the texture. It will be gritty and will not become completely solid like it should. Think of how you find an old bag of cough drops or hard candy and it has that weird texture to them. Eventually all hard candies will start to crystallize if kept long enough or if they become too cold.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I know it’s been awhile, but I found my way back to your site and revisited your reply and your recipe! I appreciate your skill, and your time! I still haven’t mastered a recipe without sugar, or Erythriitol, but it’s been fun trying different things! Thanks again! Have happy days !
Hello again, Halie! I hope you are doing quite well! I’m afraid I’m with you. I have family members that are diabetic. Most sugar-free dessert recipes are just lacking taste, depth and dimension overall. Sugar is needed for more than just sweetness and so far, non of the sweeteners we have tried have even come close to replacing the texture and structure of most baked goods. This is one area that I have to admit the store bought candies and sweets are often superior to homemade.
cAN YOU ADD “sPLENDA”,artificial sugar,after it is all cooked?then the Splenda won’t have to cook.–its wonderful fake sugar,it saves me from over-weight-I have a sweet tooth.–Any way it can be added after cooking,might not hurt the candy.–pLUS,this person teaches,better than any other on the web with candy–knowing the science behind FOOD helps a lot. (Unfortunately, much of “food science”and baking science is hidden from the public.I personally tried to get basic books on “food science”and “baking science”and cannot get or find them.–This is taught in very expensive cooking schools–nothing is online.sigh.)
Hello Doreet, I am not sure if you could add splenda after the fact as I haven’t tried it. The one way to find out is to just try it and see, but expect the worst and hope for the best. I personally would pour just a small amount onto a separate pan and just carefully mix in a little splenda very very carefully to not get burned and let it cool and see what happens. That way, you’d have most of the candy on a separate pan and it would be okay if the splenda experiment didn’t work. At worst, the splenda will crystallize the sugar and you will have to start over. At best it will do great and you’ll be proud of yourself for trying something new! One other suggestion is to look for a product called isomalt. It is a sugar free substitute that makes excellent hard candies. One word of caution with isomalt is too much of it can upset your stomach as it tends to have a laxative effect in larger amounts like many of the sugar substitutes out there. Hope this helps!
What happens if you don’t have a thermometer how do you check it when it’s done?
Hello Valerie,
Sorry for the delay, Valerie. I’ve been under the weather. I hope this answer doesn’t come too late, but if you do not have a thermometer, you can do the ice water test. Using a heat proof spoon, you drop a small amount of the syrup carefully into ice water and see if it hardens. You have to wait several seconds before handling it in order not to get burned. I just recently burned myself with hot sugar syrup and it’s very painful. I have another video on how to make candy without a thermometer. It’s a different recipe, but it’s the same concept. I’ll link you to it here: https://jacksonsjob.com/easily-make-hard-candy-without-a-thermometer/ Hope that helps. Happy baking!
You got me started with very simple things and with vanilla and it fogging up: it still hardened and is delicious. My daughter is an instant fan. Great for the first time!
That is great, Breanna. I love that you are involving your daughter in learning how to make candy! You’ll all enjoy all the fun colors and flavors you can make once you really get the hang of it.
I used fermented corn water, sugar and water.
And Followed your instructions.
It came out golden brown glass like .
It’s wow.
Thumb up 👍
It came out clean and clear in 10 seconds.
That sounds really delicious! Enjoy your candy!
Hi,
Great recipe, thank you! How long would you say it usually lasts if stored correctly?
Thanks
Hi, Kirstie. I’m glad you liked the recipe. When it comes to hard candy, especially ones made with just sugar like this one, they all vary on the humidity levels in the environment, especially the day you are making them. If you coat them generously in powdered sugar and store in an airtight container in a cool dry place, they can last several weeks. We live in a super humid climate with humidity often above 90% and I found they start to become more sticky the 5th day or so and a bit chewy or want to turn chalky around the 10th day even when properly stored during the rainy seasons. When it’s dry out, they can last 3 – 4 weeks. Hope that helps!
Mine turned out bubbly and foggy white what did I do wrong?
Hello Weston, I’m sorry this happened to you. It is called “crystallization” and it happens when some of the sugar doesn’t fully dissolve. One stray sugar granule is all it takes. This often happens if the sugar collects on the sides of the pan and doesn’t melt, or you stir the candy with the original spoon and it had sugar on it. The best way to prevent this is to wash down the sides constantly until all the sugar is melted and not to stir the mixture once it begins to boil. You can also add in 1 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice to help prevent this from happening. This is honestly a common thing to happen when learning how to make hard candy. On rainy or humid days, it can be more difficult to melt sugar because it is hygroscopic (attracts water) and it can interfere with the process of getting the sugar heated properly. Hope that helps.
Don’t you mean hygroscopic rather than hydroscopic?
Hi Mona, yes I did mean hygroscopic and not hydroscopic. Good catch! I have since corrected it. Thank you for pointing it out. 🙂
How do you keep the sugar free recipe from sticking the the pan? I use powdered sugar for the regular hard candy but what do I use for sugar free as powdered sugar would defeat the purpose.
Ordinarily, I would say to use corn starch, but that would defeat the purpose of not having corn as an ingredient. What I have personally done was lightly oiled with canola oil or cooking spray. You do have to read the ingredients on cooking sprays for any allergens. Hope that helps!
Fantastic recipe, 1st time aced it. Thank you so much
So glad to hear you had success on the first try, Juanita! You are a natural candy maker. Most people struggle learning to make candy, so great job! 😁👏🏻
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! It’s not too often I find a recipe that turns out perfect the first time. I do not have a cooking thermometer. I added a little vinegar and it is perfect! I hope the rest of my daughters birthday cake turns out so well.
You are very welcome, Beth! I hope that your daughter has a fabulous day and you find the perfect cake recipe for her. There is a baker on youtube called “cupcake Jemma” from the UK that teaches you how to make some fabulously beautiful cakes and cupcakes.
It worked perfectly! I did find that it takes a while to set but other than that it was perfect!! Thank you!
So glad it worked for you, Buggy! The setting can take a long time unfortunately depending on the temperature of the house and humidity levels. It’s the one downfall of candy making.
Thank you, this is great! First time I’ve ever got it right thanks to this recipe. And with no candy thermometer. I added a dash of lemon juice as suggested. Thank you!!
Tarryn, so glad it worked well for you! Enjoy the candy and be quite proud of yourself. Hard candy was really difficult for me to learn many eons ago. 🙂
I’m about to try this recipe and it sounds like it will be great! I recently made candied ginger, which leaves behind a pot of fresh ginger infused syrup. After a while of not knowing what to do with this tasty byproduct, I’m now going to tweak the sugar concentration to match your recipe. I hope it turns out in candy form!
CCh, that sounds absolutely wonderful! Let me know how it turns out for you. I love the taste of candied ginger. You could likely just continue to cook the ginger syrup down until it turns into hard candy without adding additional sugar.
Yes, it turned out beautifully! Thanks!
Csh, That is wonderful news! Enjoy your ginger candy.
If I made this and wanted to pour it into the center of letter “O” shaped sugar cookies could I? Also can the candy be reheated to liquid form if I don’t use it all in one go?
Yes you can, Jaden. And you can also reheat it to liquid state. You don’t have to get it too hot, either the second time. However, there is an easier way to get candy in the center without risking burning yourself. You make the candy, pour it out on a thin layer, let it cool. Then you crush it into very fine crumbs. You can then sprinkle some of that into the center of the cookie while it is raw and bake it at the same time.
Okey thx for the help. 🙂
You’re welcome. Good luck!
I just tried to make it and I think I cooked it too long LOL 😂 it’s a really dark amber color. 🤦♀️
Jaded, Oops! Sounds like it was a bit too long. I’ve done it several times myself over the years. 🤦🏻♀️ Sugar heats up really fast at the end and can burn easily within seconds. You can often turn down the heat a few minutes before it’s ready to help control it. Try again, you’ll get the hang of candy making soon enough. 🤞🏻☺️
I tried again and I think I either under cooked it or ruined it maybe because it came out frosty almost like a slushy and not see through (still turned out delicious) lol I’ll keep trying 😅😂
Hello again, Jaden! Glad to see you are sticking with it. What you are describing is “crystallized” sugar. This happens when not all the sugar dissolves and it only takes one tiny speck to start a chain reaction. A lot of times, a few pieces of sugar sticks to the sides of the pan and if you don’t wash it down in to the mixture, when you go to pour it out, it will do this. You can combat it by putting in a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice with the mixture, but it’s a natural process of learning how to melt sugar. You are almost there! And you are right, it’s still delicious! ☺️😋 Keep trying, you’ll get the hang of it soon!
Will you be able to fast the lemon juice or vinegar because I don’t want to put it in and be able to taste either. That would not be very pleasant in my opinion.
Hello Jaden! Truthfully, some are very sensitive to the taste of lemon and vinegar and will be able to pick up slight sour flavor. Others don’t notice it at all. I am super sensitive to taste and can pick it up. So if you are worried, then I would definitely skip this step entirely and just really focus on washing down the sugar crystals with some water on the sides of the pan.
I am trying to make some clear glass for My project. I am trying to make some clear glass windows?
This recipe will be translucent and have a slight yellowish tint to it as you are cooking the sugar syrup to a hard crack stage. If you want a clearer glass, many use a product called Isomalt for that application. Hope this helps!
What would cause it to crystalize day later? It looked fine and broke fine but when opened it later it had started to crystalize.
Hi Thomas,
The reason crystallization occurs is because melted sugar crystals prefer to be in their dry and stable form. So they will take every opportunity to change back. When you make hard candy with just sugar (sucrose) it’s more prone to crystallizing. That is the downfall of this recipe. Adding an acid like lemon juice or a fructose or glucose syrup like honey or corn will delay the process for much longer. However, eventually even those candies will return to a crystallized form.
This process of crystallization is sped up in humid conditions as it allows the candy to take on more moisture from the air as sugar is hygroscopic. This excess moisture will make the candy unstable enough to allow any stray sugar crystals that didn’t fully dissolve in the melting process to take over the whole batch rather quickly. This is common in bad weather conditions like much of the east coast is currently having. It’s always best to make candy when the forecast is expected to be dry for several days.
You can often return the crystallized candy to the stovetop in a pan and gently reheat it on a low heat until it melts. Then you let it simmer until the crystals are dissolved once more.
Hope that helps explain what could have happened. Next time, try a splash of lemon juice or vinegar and see if it helps your candy last longer.
Thanks for this recipe and the video tips! I’m hoping to make this using a turmeric-ginger-lemon decoction in place of plain water, do you think that will work?
Basically, it’s fresh turmeric, ginger and lemon slices boiled for 15 minutes. It’s a stomach discomfort remedy I rely on a lot but I thought making candy would make it more convenient as I sometimes need it in a pinch and don’t always have the ingredients to make a fresh drink. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
It should work well. The lemon will also help keep the candy from crystallizing. I frequently make a lemon and honey candy with this recipe. Hopefully it will help soothe your stomach!
I’m sorry Hazel I didn’t mean to reply to your comment I just couldn’t figure out how to comment without replying to someone.
Anyway I had a question for anyone who can give me a good answer if I made this could I pour it into the middle of a sugar cookie that looks like the letter “O”? Also can the candy be reheated if it hardens in the pot before I finish using it all up for my potential sugar candy cookies?
In case you don’t see the above answer, yes you can do both things. You only have to reheat until it gets to a liquid state, just do it slowly to avoid burning it. I will also look into why commenting is hard to do! It should be easier to reply than that. Oops.
Thank you for such clear instructions and the video, I followed it to the letter and I’m so excited that it worked first time!
That is fabulous news, Rika! You are a natural. A lot of people struggle with learning how to make hard candy. Congratulations getting it on your first try. 🙂
What do I do with my under cooked concoction? Can I reheat it?
Jessie, yes you can reheat it and bring it up to the correct temperature. I’ve done this with candy and caramel many times when the thermometer failed. It’s why I now double check candies by using the water test rather than relying on temperature alone.
Hi, thank you for this recipe! I’m excited to try it. I’m curious about making hard candy flavored with cinnamon and turmeric, but I only have them as powders. Do you know if that will cause the sugar to crystallize? Should I try to find these as extracts?
Hi Tracy, hard candy wants to crystallize if you look at it too long so it’s a possibility it will try with the powdered versions. I haven’t personally used either version in the powdered form, however I have successfully used powdered ginger, powdered chipotle, dried herbs from my garden and tonight I made some with chili sauce. What I do is I add it with the mixture to cook together. But I have added powdered koolaid in the end without any issues. Give it a try. Worst case scenario is it crystallizes. You can simply add water to crystallized sugar/candy and start over.
Has anyone used Coconut sugar?
You can use coconut sugar, however you will want to add a couple tablespoons of honey with the coconut sugar and heat to 300F or 149C. Other types of sugar will crystallize within a day or so without the addition of honey or corn syrup.
Hi! I just turned 13. and got a candy thermometer for my birthday! so I tried this recipe and I worked on the first try!!
I used peppermint oil. Thank you!!
What a great birthday present, Olivia! Happy sweet 13! Great job on getting this right on the first try. Most struggle learning how to make candy. You are a natural! 🥳🎉🍭🍬
Thank you so much for the great and easy to understand recipe, I have been looking for one that doesn’t use corn syrup! I got it on the second try using vinegar and it came out awesome, and I also made spice candy by boiling cinnamon cloves and pepper in the water and then draining them out before starting!! Thank you again!!
Sylvie, that spice candy sounds absolutely amazing! I am going to give it a try next time I make a batch. Have a great weekend!
Hi,i would like to try this recipe, but i am a little inexperienced. Could I add lime at the beginning to help stop crystallisation? If so, how much? I cant wait to try this recipe! Many thanks,
Ish
Hi Ish,
Yes you can add a little lime juice to help stop crystallized sugar. I would add 1 tsp or 5 mL to the water. Good luck and let me know if you need further help!
Sounds great. Will try it thanks!
ONE THING: HOW ABOUT NOT USING ALUFOIL AT ALL BECAUSE ALUMIUM IS HARMFUL ESPECIALLY WHEN
SCRATCHED.. HOW ABUUT USING STAINLESS PANS INSTEAD? I FOUND TON OF them cheap on a mazona.
I think that maybe would make it EVEN healthier!
Great idea for using stainless steel pans!
I am wanting to make sugar free. What is the best stuff to use where you don’t use corn syrup. Just been experimenting with hard rock candies. Thanks!
Hi Karen, This particular recipe has only been tested with sugar. However, if you look up “isomalt” through loranoils website you can make similar candy that is sugar-free. I personally don’t have anything sugar-free on this website as I have an allergic reaction to most of them so I can’t create recipes. Hope that helps.
can i use cane sugar and vanilla extract?
Yes, you can use cane sugar and vanilla extract. It’s a wonderful combination.
Uhh mine did not want to cool down. I have been waiting for four hours. Btw the recipe is perfect:)))))))
That happened to me one time when I used a silicone mold. They take forever to cool down. I have since started using an aluminum pan on top of a wire rack to speed up cooling and depending on thickness, it usually takes about an hour.
Thanks so much for the recipe I can’t wait to try it.
Can I ask what you mean by ‘Peppermint oil’ please?
Would this be essential oil, or Peppermint essence from the supermarket?
Hi Lara, it is called several things. It will be listed as either peppermint essence, extract or oil and is in the baking section of the supermarket. The label will indicate it is food safe. Essential oils that you find in the cosmetic or home area should never be consumed. They can seriously harm you.
Even the ones made from food we should be able to consume such as mints, fruits and edible flowers can and have caused severe poisoning or toxicity, especially in small children and pets. I will make a note in the recipe to reflect to not use essential oils. Hope this helps! 🙂
Can I use peppermint spirits from a local all natural store? I thank you in advance!
Yes you can, use 1/4 cup (60mL) in the sugar mixture. Then after you take it off the heat, add 1 tbs (15mL) more for additional flavor.
thankyou ! so, much this was delicious i love it.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Aisya! It’s one of my favorites. 🙂
Got it on the 2nd try! First try crystallized as I poured the flavoring in and gently stirred. I probably had a granule of sugar on the spatula. I tried vanilla extract and it is absolutely delicious!
Mandy, that is absolutely fabulous news! Congratulations on learning how to make this so quickly as quite a few struggle with the art of making hard candy. The spatula is likely the culprit. I’ve done that myself a few times. I am going to have to try vanilla extract as it sounds delicious.
Hello Jackson,
Thank you for the great recipe! I am hoping to make it without using white sugar; but from what you wrote, apart from maybe trying the honey version you listed, I may be risking crystallization by using another type of sugar? (I am hoping to use fine, though not granulated, organic sugar.) I’d appreciate your advice! Wishing you a happy new year!
I’ve made it in the past with that type of sugar and I remember that if you use a teaspoon or two (5 – 10 mL) of vinegar to the water, it helps prevent crystallization quite well. Also, you only want to cook to 270-290F (132-143C) which is soft crack stage. Higher than that, the brown, natural and organic sugars can burn easily. If it does crystalize, you can put it back in the pan and cover with water and start again. Hope this helps!
Thank you. We can’t eat artificial stuff. I can’t wait to try this.
You are very welcome! Let me know if you need any help as it can a bit tricky in the beginning. I highly recommend you try it without any flavoring until you get the knack of it. The flavor has a pleasant light caramel taste without any additives.
Everything was perfect until I poured it onto the baking sheet to cool. Then it began to crystalize. What did I do wrong?
Oh no, I’m so sorry this happened to you. This can happen to everyone when learning how to make candy. Even the top chefs crystalize sugar. When this has happened to me it always comes down to one of these reasons: not brushing down the sides if I saw sugar sneaking up on the walls of the pan, when I prepping getting a bit of sugar on the baking tray, the sugar not fully dissolving when heating the syrup because of heating to fast, stirring the mixture after it started to boil, I scrapped the sides and there was undissolved sugar, there were sugar crystals on the thermometer and they knocked into the mixture when removing it. Most of the time it came from the thermometer. Another reason that can cause this to happen is trying to make candy on a super humid or rainy days as moisture in the air promotes crystallization because it reduces the viscosity, allowing sugar molecules to arrange themselves into crystalline form while cooling. The other main reason is using a non-stick pan to cook the sugar in. Non-stick pans are notorious for causing sugar to crystalize. The good news is you can reuse the sugar that crystallized. Just pop it back in the pan and add a little more water. You could always try putting either 1/2 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar in with the candy to help prevent crystallization. You add it with the water. Practice making it without any flavoring and see if that helps you. Let me know if you are still having trouble and we will keep looking for reasons.
Thanks for the tips! I’ll keep trying
You’re welcome. Let me know the outcome. If it helps at all, it took me about a dozen tries when I first learned how to make hard candies years ago.
This was my first time making hard candy, and it turned out great! I wanted to learn how to make these candies because I want to start a candy business. It’s going well, and it was pretty easy to make. Thanks!
Hello, Meriel! I am very happy it turned out great for you and on the first try! Most have a little trouble when learning how to make candy without corn syrup, so you are going to be great at making all kinds of candy. I wish you a lot of success in your new candy making business!
Im 11 years old I tried it. It crystllized but im glad I tried it and I will do it agian and learn from my mistakes but it was very fun thanks for the recipe.btw I aded vanila very good !!!
Hi Christy! I’m so glad you tried the recipe. Vanilla sounds wonderful! It took me several tries to get the candy not to crystalize. Once you learn how, you’ll be able to make caramel! Keep trying. 🙂
What temperature would you go to if you’re using caster sugar?
Tried to go to 154, barely made it to 100 and burnt it 😬
Hi, AmoB! I double checked on some uk sights and you should be able to go up to 200C before it starts to burn. Temps between 148-154C should be perfect for this candy. My thought is your thermometer might be inconsistent at higher temperatures. I have a really nice digital one that works really well until it hits about 110C and then it stops working correctly. Instead, watch for visible signs. Look for the boiling to slow down considerably, the smell of the sugar will start to smell a lot like cotton candy and you’ll see it turn light yellow. If you drop it in cool water, it will turn into a hard ball instantly. You’ll want to pull it before it goes passed amber in color. Try backing the heat down a notch as well. Hope that helps!
Will the Citric acid not prevent the candy from hardening?
If you wait until the candy hits 310F, it doesn’t seem to affect it. The citric acid will also help keep the sugar from crystalizing.
Can you substitute sugar for xylitol in this?
Hi Tasha, I do not work with xylitol due to how toxic it is to pets, especially dogs. So I honestly don’t know.
However, I did a bit of research and here is a link to a recipe for hard candies that uses this sugar substitute. https://www.instructables.com/id/Xylitol-Crystal-Candy-tooth-friendly/ Hope this helps!
Thanks. Yes it is extremely toxic to dogs, you’re right. I’m trying to make hard crack candy without refined sugars or corn syrup (the latter is illegal over here in the U.K. anyway). Maybe I’ll try coconut sugar?
Totally understand as I tend to use natural sugar for myself all the time. If you aren’t opposed to honey, it works really well. It’s how I personally make it ever since they debunked the heated honey myth.
You have to heat it slowly to avoid scorching it, but it is very pleasant and you don’t even need to flavor it. But you have to like the taste of honey. I used raw honey last time and it worked really well but it tends to stay a bit sticky. Coating it with powdered sugar helps.
Maple syrup works but tends to crystalize easily. I could see coconut sugar working, but I’ve never used it in candy recipes as it is very expensive over here. Natural unrefined sugars work in general, you just have to heat really slow. I’d start with a small amount if you’ve never worked with it since the natural sugars tend to be more expensive.
Hi there,
I’m looking for a recipe using honey. I tried your link to the orange honey candy, which sounds delicious! However it is not working. Do you have any recipes or tips on making hard candy with honey? Thanks!
Hi there, Kalani! I will have to see what happened and fix the link. In the meantime, I have used this person’s recipe and had a lot of success for honey candy: https://www.manusmenu.com/honey-hard-candy?cn-reloaded=1 If you want it to be orange flavored, I would substitute the lemon for orange instead.
How I personally make honey candy is by heating 1/2 – 1 cup of honey and adding 1/2 tsp (2.5mL) of orange zest, orange extract or a tbs (15mL) of orange juice until it hit 300F (149C.) You then carefully poured it into molds or on a metal baking sheet lined parchment paper and allowed it to cool. If you put it on parchment, you would need to score the candy while it was still pliable as shown above. But be careful as you can be burned easily until it cools. I also make this all the time with chili paste to taste (try it before heating up!) It’s a lovely spicy candy! Honey candy will remain a little tacky on the outside, so I would then coat it in fine or powdered sugar. I hope this helps!
Would this be able to make orange flavored candy if i add orange flavoring?
Absolutely. You can make it any flavor you like. If you are making a tart flavor like lemon, you’d want to add 1 tsp of citric acid when you add the flavoring to bring out the sourness.
It workedl!!! I added some yellow and red food coloring at the end to give it the appearance of fire. It’s going to work perfectly for my son’s How to Train Your Dragon birthday cake! I also did not have a candy thermometer so I just used the cold water dip test to tell when the mixture was hot enough.
That is fantastic that it worked for you! Keep it in an airtight container until you need to use it so it doesn’t get sticky from the humidity in the air. That red and yellow food coloring to look like fire and the train your dragon cake sounds amazing. I would love to see that! Hope your son has a wonderful birthday!