Ah. Tis’ the season for sweets! I am such a sucker for those novelty candy canes. I love the strawberry Starburst ones, and the Jolly Rancher ones, but I will always have a special place in my heart for old fashioned cherry. I decided to try making my own chunky candy canes. They turned out okay. I definitely pictured a more perfect looking cane. Meh.

Make your won Chunky Candy Canes with Kool-Aid

These are pretty easy. It’s basically just homemade pulled taffy, cooked a bit longer!

Chunky Candy Canes

1 C sugar
1/3 C Karo Syrup or Honey
1/2 Water
Flavoring
Candy Thermometer
Parchment Paper
Butter

Mix all your ingredient in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Then let it boil until it reaches 260-265 degrees F. Don’t stir it.
Remove from heat, let it cool slightly and stir in desired color and flavor. (these were flavored with strawberry Kool-Aid, click HERE for more detailed instructions on flavoring hard candy with Kool-Aid).
Pour out your mixture onto a plate lined with parchment paper, or a plate greased with butter. Move it around the plate with a knife, pulling it up and stretching it out. Once it is cool enough to handle (it will still be kinda hot, be careful!), start pulling it until it becomes opaque and pearly. Divide into your desired sizes. (I did two large, or 4 medium sized candy canes with this recipe). Pull and shape into candy cane crook shapes.

Get your Holiday creative juices flowing, and check out these other amazing projects!

9 awesome Christmas Creations


What’s your favorite flavor of candy canes?

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12 Comments

  1. Wow, that’s impressive! I pretty much run screaming from any recipe that involves a candy thermometer (caramel gone wrong…twice! Ha), but the the idea of making any flavor candy cane you want is pretty tempting!