Linda's Hard Candy

I have made my Aunt Kay's recipe for Cinnamon Candy, but now it is time to make my mom's. While I have not searched EVERY recipe on the web for old-fashioned hard candy, of the several that I have found, none of them match up, ingredient-wise, to my mom's.

Any old-fashioned candy is delicious, but my Mom's candy was legendary. The list of people who would get her candy every year was long. While mom made 100% Cinnamon flavor, I am trying a couple of others, which is why I am still making it in January.

For nostalgia's sake, I made a batch with cinnamon, but I am going to try my hand at blueberry and marshmallow.

Ingredients for Candy:

• Light Kayro Syrup
• Sugar
• Water
• Vanilla
• Salt
• Flavoring
• Food Coloring

How to Make Old-Fashioned Hard Candy

1. Add Kayro syrup, sugar, and water to a heavy-bottom pot.
2. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add your candy thermometer.
4. Boil until Hard Crack Stage, 300 degrees.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Add flavoring, vanilla, and food coloring.
7. Pour into buttered/sprayed molds or a cookie sheet.
8. If pouring on a cookie sheet, after the candy has cooled, you can score it to break into pieces. Or some people smash it into pieces once cooled. If you do the latter option, be prepared, they will not be uniform.
9. If using candy molds, make sure they can handle the temps. We spray them with Pam and pour in the mixture. Once it cools, we pop them out into a bowl and store the candy in a Ziploc until we are ready to bag the candy.

Make candy a family tradition.

There is no way I could count all the batches of candy I have made with my mom, but that time is something I am most thankful for. Not only was it just us in the kitchen, but it was that special something that brought the people we were giving it to joy, and, in turn, we loved being that something we could give could bring that much happiness.

Linda's Hard Candy Recipe

My mom's candy recipe is amazing, and I was so relieved when I thought we had lost it. I love the added flavor of vanilla and salt, two ingredients you don't find in most candy recipes. In fact, I have not found one like my mom's. This was a holiday tradition for years; there is even a list of recipients who would get a bag of it for Christmas. I hope your family and friends enjoy it as much as ours have.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course candy

Cuisine American

Equipment

• Heavy Saucepan
• Candy thermometer
• wooden spoon
• large measuring cup
• Candy molds or Cookie sheets

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups Sugar
• 1 cup Light Karo Syrup
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 tsp Flavoring Oil
• Food Coloring

Instructions

 

• Mix the first four ingredients. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then stop stirring.
• Add your candy thermometer, if using one.
• Allow mixture to come to Hard Crack stage, 300 degrees.
• Remove mixture from heat.
• Mix in vanilla, flavoring oil, and food coloring.
• Pour into prepared molds or cookie sheets.
• Once cooled, remove from molds, or break into pieces and store in a Ziploc or container.

Video

Notes

Please be cautious when making this recipe, especially if you have little kids around. This mixture is hot and can burn if it touches your skin, so it is important to be safe.

Keyword candy, holidays

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