Easy Homemade Candy
Ranked #13,992 in Food & Cooking, #246,138 overall
Homemade Candy - a treat that brings family together.
It's funny how making candy at home draws the family together. Cooking in general will do it to a certain extent, but in years to come your kids and even Grandpa or Grandma will remember making candy with the family most fondly. I love making candy with my family because we have such fun doing it.
All these recipes for candy, when packaged in a gift bag or basket make an impressive gift, especially if you include a pretty little recipe card with the ingredients and directions. Candy can also be made fairly cheaply if you buy the ingredients in bulk. The majority of your cost will then stay low, enabling you to gift many people with these delicious candies.
A word of caution here: Check first to make sure the person who will be the recipient of these candies is not allergic to nuts. If they are, just leave out the nuts. This allergy is dangerous and can potentially be life threatening.
All Photos courtesy Judy Schweitzer
This work by http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/nancycarol is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Eezy-peezy Rocky Road Candy
- Serves: 16 2-inch squares
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes, including chill time
Yummy stuff! If you are one of those people who used to love the Rocky Road candy bars from the store when you were a kid, you don't have to search for them...you can make your own!! Each piece of Rocky Road should be wrapped individually. There is no need to refrigerate, room temperature will do just fine.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (12-ounce package) Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 Tablespoons shortening
- 6 cups (10 & 1/2 ounce bag) miniature marshmallows
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (any kind you like)
Instructions
Place chocolate chips, butter and shortening in a large micro-wave proof bowl.
Microwave at medium for 3 to 4 minutes, stir, replace and microwave 2 more minutes or until chips are softened and mixture
is melted and smooth when stirred.
Add marshmallows and nuts and blend well.
Spread evenly in buttered 8-inch square pan. Cover, chill until firm and cut into 2-inch square pieces.
Old-fashioned Cocoa Fudge
The kind Grandma used to make.
- Serves: Makes about 3 dozen candies
Remember the days when you went to Grandma's and she had a pan of homemade cocoa fudge cooling on the screened in back porch? Remember how you could hardly wait for it to cool (and sometimes you didn't) to taste that chocolatey goodness? And once it cooled, how the texture was just perfect...without adding anything else...a fudge miracle out of Grandma's candy saucepan? You can still have it...here's how to do it.
This candy recipe is more labor intensive, but ohhh, the pleasure is totally worth it!
Ingredients
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 & 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Instructions
Butter an 8 or 9-inch square pan; set aside.
Combine sugar, cocoa and salt in a heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk.
Place over medium heat and stir constantly, until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Stop stirring.
Boil, without stirring, to soft-ball stage, or 234 degrees on a candy thermometer. do not allow candy thermometer to rest on bottom of saucepan. If you do not have a candy thermometer, drop a small amount of the mixture into very icy cold water. If it forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from water, it's ready.
Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla, but DO NOT stir. Cool at room temperature to between 110 to 120 degrees, then beat with large spoon until mixture loses some of its glossy appearance and begins to thicken. Add nuts if used. Quickly spread into prepared pan and cool completely before cutting into 1 to 1& 1/2-inch squares. If you are gifting, make sure to put this into a plastic bag before wrapping, so that it does not dry out.
Candy thermometers are helpful in making homemade candy
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This lens has been blessed by SquidAngels WhiteOak50, Kab, Janiece, Tipi and Annmackiemiller. Thank you so much!
Buttery, Caramel-ly Buttermilk Fudge
- Serves: 4 dozen 1-inch pieces
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20-30 minutes, not counting cooling
A change from chocolate fudge, or for the caramel lovers you know, this fudge has a buttery, caramel-ly taste. Even if you don't like buttermilk, believe me, this has no flavor of buttermilk when you finish making it. It is a moist, golden fudge, with a rich caramel flavor that can't be beat.
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 Tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
Butter sides and bottom of a square 8-inch pan.
Butter sides of a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven.
Combine first 5 ingredients in pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and sugar dissolves.
Using a pastry brush dipped in hot water, wash down any sugar crystals on sides of pan.
Attach candy thermometer to pan, making sure the thermometer does not touch bottom of pan.
Increase heat to medium and bring to a boil. DO NOT stir while syrup is boiling. Continue to cook until candy thermometer reaches 234 to 240 degrees, or until about 1/2 teaspoon of syrup dropped in ice water forms a soft ball. Syrup soft ball should flatten when held in your hand after removal from water.
Remove pan from heat, add vanilla, but DO NOT stir until syrup cools to approximately 200 degrees.
Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until fudge is thickened and no longer glossy. Stir in chopped nuts.
Pour into prepared buttered 8-inch square pan and cool completely. Cut into 1-inch squares. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.
Bourbon or Rum Balls
- Serves: Approximately 30 candies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
A favorite style of candy for adults are Bourbon or Rum Balls. These candies can be dusted with confectioner's sugar, or cocoa powder, or rolled in crushed nuts, to make a beautiful varied display. They're rich, chocolatey and simple to make.
Ingredients
- 1 10-ounce box finely crushed vanilla wafers
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tablespoons of light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup bourbon or rum
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- divided
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (optional)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional for rolling balls in)
Instructions
Crush the wafers in a blender, food processor, or put them in a large plastic bag, squeeze out excess air, seal bag and crush cookies with a rolling pin. Make sure they are finely crushed and there are no large chunks.
Put the semi-sweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds, stir, replace and microwave about 20 seconds, repeat process until chocolate is melted.
Add corn syrup and your choice of rum or bourbon to the melted chocolate, stir until well combined.
Stir in crushed vanilla wafers, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 1 cup chopped nuts. Place bowl in refrigerator for about one hour, until mixture is firm enough to shape.
Roll a teaspoon-sized amount of the mixture in your palm. Continue until all balls are rolled. Place your choice of confectioner's sugar, cocoa and chopped nuts into separate small bowls, and roll a few of the candies in each bowl, making a varied mixture of appearance. Or you can simply make them all the same, with just confectioner's sugar, just cocoa, or just nuts.
Peanut Brittle
- Serves: Varied
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50-60 minutes
Here's another old-time family favorite, peanut brittle. The trick with making peanut brittle is not to leave out the baking soda, because if you do, it's impossible to chew. Baking soda aerates the candy, giving it that crispy, light crunch. Believe me, I know this, because the first time I made it years ago, I didn't think it needed the soda, and we were unable to eat it! My family has never let me forget that one!
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 cups salted
- roasted peanuts
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 & 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
Fit a piece of parchment paper to a baking sheet, and butter it well.
Combine peanuts and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
Using a pastry brush, brush the inside of a heavy saucepan with the teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Add sugar and water to the saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a full boil.
Immediately stop stirring, cover saucepan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until sugar mixture is a light amber color. Stir in peanuts and cinnamon and baking soda. Mixture will foam.
Now, you will need to work quickly to mix well, and pour onto the prepared parchment lined baking sheet. Spread as thin as possible with a spatula, as the candy will cool rapidly. Allow to cool completely and then break into serving size pieces.
Candy Cook Books and Recipes to buy here.
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Making candy
Homemade Chocolate Fudge...a little different from my recipe.
Basic instructions are still the same.
Links for and about Homemade Candy
- Cooks.com
- Many other candy recipes at Cooks.
- Taste of Home
- More candy recipes from Taste of Home.
Chocolate Fudge, Rocky Road, Buttermilk Fudge....
...Bourbon or Rum Balls, Peanut Brittle
Thanks for visiting. Hope you found a homemade candy recipe you like.
Thanks for visiting, please leave a note.
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Inkhand
Jan 22, 2012 @ 8:02 am | delete
- These homemade candies look delicious, I can't wait to try your the Peanut Brittle recipe.
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annmackiemiller Jan 21, 2012 @ 7:30 am | delete
- oh boy these look good - good job virtual candy isn't fattening
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gottaloveit
Dec 13, 2011 @ 1:12 pm | delete
- Onto my second batch of rocky road fudge. The first batch disappeared pretty quickly. This is, by far, the best and easiest fudge recipe ever. Pictures will follow.
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gottaloveit
Dec 10, 2011 @ 10:44 am | delete
- I love the rocky road idea. I'm putting together cookie baskets for 10 people who work at Asbury where Mom is in rehab. I'm going to make this tomorrow for inclusion into the baskets. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the great idea!
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pheonix76
Dec 4, 2011 @ 1:49 pm | delete
- I just HAVE to try the homemade rocky road! This is such a delicious looking lens, I will be sending it to my mom who loves making sweets as much as I do! :))
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About Me
by nancycarol
Hi, I'm Nancy Hardin, retired from the newspaper industry and now a freelance writer. I love reading true crime stories and the technology that helps... more »
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