Get ready to welcome your taste buds to these sweet treats that will make you miss being a kid. One is never too old to be eating candy and these recipes give you a chance to be creative in the kitchen. Grab some sugar and prepare to have your kitchen looking like a candy store!
Broken Glass
These hard pieces of candy will feel like you are biting into shards of broken glass, but one bite into them you will have the all-too-familiar feeling of a lollipop in your mouth. The spiky edges and the shape of the candy is what makes it unique from other hard candy. The options are endless as to what flavor and color you want to make, so have fun with the recipe and do not be afraid to mix up some colors!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup of water
- ¾ cup light corn syrup
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 to 4 teaspoons flavoring extract
- ½ teaspoon gel food coloring
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with a nonstick silicone mat or aluminum foil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. If you are making more than one flavor and color of candy, grease an additional pan for each.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine water, corn syrup and granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. This helps to prevent the finished product from being grainy and will make the candy crystal clear.
- When the sugar syrup starts to boil, insert a candy thermometer and continue to cook the syrup, stirring occasionally, until the thermometer reads 250 degrees Fahrenheit, or for about 15 minutes.
Tip: Stick a toothpick into the sugar and put in a cup with water and ice. If it hardens, the candy is ready!
- Remove the pan from heat. If you want to make two or more different colors and flavors of candy from a single batch, pour parts of the syrup into separate pans before adding the extracts and food coloring. Working quickly to avoid the candy setting in the pans, add different colors and flavors to the syrups.
- Pour the candy out onto the prepared baking sheets and let it spread into a thin layer
- Cool the candy completely at room temperature; this can take up to two hours. Once set, pull the candy up from the sheet and crack it into small pieces by shattering it with a knife handle.
- Place powdered sugar in a plastic bag and add the shards of each flavored candy. Shake the bag until the candy is coated with the sugar. Remove from the bag and repeat with other colors.
Fruity Gummy Bears
For most of our childhood, we grew up eating Haribo gummy bears, picking out the red ones to eat first and leaving behind the yellow and clear ones that no one likes. These fruit juice infused gummy bears will leave you wanting more, just like Haribo bears. Pick your favorite juice and go back to the simpler times!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of Simply Juice’s Fruit Punch, Simply Tropical, Simply Mixed Berry or Simply Raspberry Lemonade
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- ¼ tsp Liquid Stevia
- 3 packets of Unflavored Gelatin
- Gummy Bear Bolds
Instructions
- Place mold on a cookie sheet tray so they can easily be transferred to the fridge later.
- In a saucepan bring the juice to a boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in the stevia and lemon juice.
- Gradually whisk in gelatin. Sprink gelatin in quickly but gradually, while continuously wicking, dumping an entire packet at once will cause it to clump.
- Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before pouring into the gummy bear molds. Refrigerate for two hours then remove from the fridge. Pop them out of the molds and they are ready to eat!
