Mimi's Hard Candy

We have made hard candy for years. It is a family tradition, on my mom's side. We used to make it at Mimi's with all the cousins and aunts. Now we do it at mom's house every year and it is definitely a day you don't want to miss out on! There are many different ways to go about making hard candy. This is the way we learned and the way we will always make it. It is a very fast paced process as the candy hardens pretty fast. I encourage everyone to try this at home! It's a time honored tradition that we will forever carry on!

3/4 cup corn syrup

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

Mix all 3 ingredients in saucepan. Using a candy thermometer, heat to 300F.

Remove from heat immediately, placing candy thermometer in a cup of very hot water.

(In the picture below, we kept 2 batches going at once so we simply just stuck the thermometer into the next pan. You have to make sure the liquid is hot so the thermometer does not bust.) 

Stir in candy flavoring of your choice.
(We like to mix 2 flavors together to make a stronger and more interesting flavor. However, 1 bottle does fine too! We always use 2 bottles of cinnamon to 1 batch of candy to make the cinnamon candy strong.)

Stir in food coloring of your choice.

Pour into a buttered jelly roll pan.

Using 2 knives, gather a clump of candy and drop it onto a mound of powdered sugar on towel.

It is best to wait until the candy starts to become tacky. The edges will be tacky first.

Toss the clump of candy around in the powdered sugar mound just enough to coat it and remove excess sugar.

(Make sure your hands are covered in powdered sugar! The candy is very hot!)

Drop clump of hard candy onto parchment paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Using your fingers, drag the candy out into a long line.

Once it starts to harden, use scissors to cut each strip into bite size pieces.

We cut ours into a colander and then sift of the excess powdered sugar.

Once cooled completely, transfer to baggies, containers, or jars.

ENJOY!!