Classic Hard Candy Chews

What's your favorite candy? Whether if it's chocolate-y goodness or fruity explosions, everyone loves candy. I always wanted to try to make my own. I mean what better than picking your own flavors and colors and sharing it with everyone you know. I love gummies  but hard candy also holds a special place in my heart. Classic Hard Candy Chews are the perfect blend of the two. They're hard at first, giving you a flavor you can suck on for a while. Then they turn chewy, giving your mouth some exercise :) They're easy to make and hard to mess up. The special part...it even allows you to play with your food. Like taffy, these chews have to be pulled and stretched giving you a pretty good exercise ;) Different flavors and colors can be combined to create the perfect candy for anyone.

Please vote for this instructable in the Candy Contest! :)

Step 1: Ingredients

Some things you need to make this delicious candy are:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup
• 3 ounces of water
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of flavoring- try extracts, natural juices, and any other flavors you want to try
• 2 drops food coloring (this is optional)
• extra butter is necessary for greasing the cookie sheet later

Some other things you need:

• a saucepan
• a wooden spoon
• a candy thermometer (remember when I won CHOW's Thanksgiving contest? Well, I finally got a chance to use that thermometer and it works great)
• waxed paper or plastic wrap- this it for storage (warning: these candy pieces stick to the most inconvenient things, especially each other)
• a cookie sheet
• kitchen shears for cutting the candy

Comments

[Geoffers]

these are amazing:-) :-) .!!!!!:)

[jen7714]

Thanks!

[Geoffers]

Is corn starch the same as corn flour and is corn syrup the same as normal syrup

[jen7714]

In Europe and other nations beside the US, I believe corn starch is the same as corn flour. Corn syrup is not the same as regular pancake syrup though.

[AussieAnglerGal]

i was given a candy thermometer for my birthday a few months ago and hadn't yet used it. i have drooled over these for months since i first saw them and today i finally made them!!! mine were blue (only food color i had..that or green :P) and orange flavored
these are the first candies i have ever made that have worked, their just finishing the last stage right now :) it was VERY fun pulling and twisting the cooled candy, a great activity for a bored teen like me....

although...me being able to make candy in 15 minutes (not counting cooling/shaping time) could be dangerous knowledge hahaha

thank you very much for this recipe :D

[sweetashoney]

Wow sounds so easy thanks for sharing your recipe must try this wth my family and
friends

[jen7714]

You're welcome! Please do :)

[AussieAnglerGal]

umm can someone help me???
i'm Australian and cant get corn syrup and so many of these wonderful creations need some
what is a substitute?

[RubyindaRough]

Corn syrup is bad for us. Make the sugar syrup like the other person said - just as fun and less likely to aggravate organs.

[VadimS]

I think you're confusing 'High-fructose corn syrup' with regular corn syrup.

[bowow0807]

make your own it is very simple check google it is a very simple recipe

[AussieAnglerGal]

Thanks Bowow0807

[bowow0807]

your welcome! i make my own from time to time if i dont want to got to the store its just water, sugar, salt, and cream of tar tar. just be sure to avoid stirring and getting crystals and when it gets to temperature add water again and hit your temperature again(for more liquid syrup boil it close to the thread stage but for thicker syrup boil it closer to the soft ball) to convert more sugar from sucrose to fructose and etc. so its less likely to crystalize, made some two days ago and I better use it soon since its already crystalizing.
ps. it should last about 2 months.

[jen7714]

I agree. Corn syrup is very easy to make although it does slightly vary in the results. I've heard that golden syrup will work as well.

[Popopopper]

what does it feel like? does it feel like mentos?

[jen7714]

Not quite like mentos. It seems like hard candy at first, but after a while, it becomes sort of chewy candy.

[kevamy1107]

Not sure what I did wrong. Followed the recipe and it's been cool now for about an hour but still hasn't set up. I didn't have a candy thermometer. Could this have resulted from the mix not being to temp?

[RubyindaRough]

OK, my Mom taught me to do this without a thermometer; you are looking at your candy mush in a slow rolling boil, and you don't know if it's ready yet. First look at the way less steam is now coming off the surface - you're getting to the stages.
Drop a simple drip or two into a clear short (that your fingers can reach to the bottom) glass 3/4 full of cool water. when you first start the boil, a drop will simply dissolve in the water.
Soft ball stage (good for taffy) - it keeps it's shape, but you can squish it into oblivion.
Hard ball stage (ideal for this recipe) is when the drop falls straight to the bottom, and keeps its shape but feels soft when you squish it.
Hard crack ( for actual hard candy) is when it falls fast, clatters against the bottom, and doesn't squish when you press it.
Don't cook it past hard crack - you'll screw up the recipe and your sauce pan. Have some fun.

[kevamy1107]

Thank you so much!

[jen7714]

The mixture probably did not reach a high enough temperature. If you do not have a candy thermometer, you can scoop small amounts out as you heat the mixture to see when to take it off the heat.

[kevamy1107]

Good call! Thanks.

[ashbegash]

Yum! These look FAB!! :)
Great job.

[jen7714]

Thank you!

[AussieAnglerGal]

i have to make this some day :)

[aleonard5]

Im gonna try mine with imitation rum extract!

[jen7714]

Awesome! Tell me how it turns out!

[mitch and sean]

Thanks so much for this

I need this for my assignment with ITA at school and this is perfect for it. And Ive always neede an excuse to make these awesome lollies ;)

[jen7714]

No problem!

What's ITA? I'm glad you tried the recipe! Aren't they delicious?

Thanks for the nice comment!

[imsohappy]

i think you confused the corn starch and the corn syrup

[jen7714]

No there's cornstarch (1 tablespoon) and corn syrup to be added.

[imsohappy]

I think one of us is confused, there is cornstarch and in your third picture you labeled what is cleary corns syrup as corn starch, I can see you were working very hard at this ans you just made a simple mistake, but, as it did t me, that mistake could confuse some one to the Nth degree.

[jen7714]

Oh! I see it now. In the image notes right? I'll fix it straight away :)

[Flying_MashedPotatoes]

Tried this with regular corn syrup (all i had) and it didn't turn out that great... turned in to peanut brittle though :D (before i put any flavouring in)

[lil larry]

"1/2 of cornsyrup" We don't know how much cornsyrup to use. Please tell us.

[jen7714]

Oh gosh I'm sorry! I usually don't make all these mistakes :) It was meant to be "1/2 cup of corn syrup" Thanks for seeing the error :)

[lil larry]

It's ok. Your welcome! By the way, awesome instructable! I love hard candy and chewy candy! :D

[jen7714]

Me too! :D It was awesome to combine the two together! Thank you for the nice comment! (and I hope I got a vote ;)

[lil larry]

ooh shoot! I forgot the voting was today and now I don't have time! ugh! sorry. hope you win though.
(\_/)/
( ".")
(")(")

[jen7714]

Well voting is still open actually :) But I understand if you have other things going on. And thanks :) There's so many great entries though. (Nice bunny :)

[lil larry]

Thanx! I'll vote for your(s). I like bunnies!