Soft Candy Recipes
Easy to Make, and OH So Delicious! Soft candy recipes are easier than most other types of candy, especially for beginners. While they are still very, very hot and can cause burns if you're not careful, they are finished at lower temperatures than hard candy, and taste just as good. Everyone has heard of the old-fashioned taffy pull. Yep!! There is a recipe here for some of the best taffy I've ever had! Of all the soft candy recipes, this is the most requested. Don't ask my husband, the flavor was lost in the work for him... But, kids are great helpers with this, and it is lots of fun for most of us! Other soft candy recipes are the types you'd find in the store as well. There are soft candy recipes for gummies and jellies, after-dinner-mints and so on. There's something for just about everyone! Chocolate Truffles
This is one of the all-time great chocolate soft candy recipes. It doesn't require a candy thermometer, and you can add all sorts of flavors to it to make it really special. Try adding about 2 teaspoons of rum, brandy or bourbon to make a great gift for the adults on your list. Do the same with some fruit flavors, and anyone would be happy to sample! You don't have to use the almonds, either - you can roll these in cocoa powder, powdered sugar, or any sort of nuts you wish. 6 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips Melt the chips in a double boiler, add the cream, and stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and beaten egg yolks. Chill mixture until firm, about 3 to 4 hours at least. Overnight is better. Form into small balls, and roll in ground almonds. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Soft candy recipes that must go over heat don't come any easier. We've all made jello before - this is just a much thicker version! If you can't find the jello flavor you want, simply use 9 envelopes plain gelatin instead, and add about 10 drops of any flavoring extract. 1 box Jello with sugar (any flavor) Mix the ingredients together in a saucepan until well blended. Put the pan over low heat and stir until melted. Pour mixture into candy molds of your choice, and put in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Unmold and serve.
Opera mints are one of the perfect soft-candy recipes for the holidays. They are fast and easy, don't require cooking, and can be any color and/or flavor you wish! Make several flavors, toss some of each into a canning jar, wrap with a ribbon and you have a perfect small gift! 4 cups powdered sugar Blend all ingredients in a mixer. Roll into small balls. Chill. If the mixture is still liquid, add a bit more powdered sugar at a time until it forms a soft, but not sticky dough. If you want to do several flavors, separate the dough into bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring, and about 4 to 6 drops of whatever flavor you wish to each bowl. If you want to make them super festive, press the balls into candy molds, and let harden in there.
Oh, another of those change-up soft candy recipes - you can do this just about any way you would like... Try it with milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white, or a combination! Take out the peppermint candy and try it with nuts, seeds or other types of candies. Makes a perfect gift for any candy lover on your Christmas list! 2 bags white chocolate chips Melt the white chips in a double boiler. Stir in the crushed peppermints. Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and let cool. Melt the semi-sweet chips, put into a baggie, cut the corner out, and drizzle over the top in thin lines. Break into pieces to serve or store.
My husband found this treat in an old book of home-made soft candy recipes his mother gave us. It spawned the idea for creating our own candy company, but it hasn't gotten off the ground so far. This is an Amish version of the soft candy recipes our parents grew up with, and everyone we've served it to loves it. Try some for yourself - you won't believe it! ½ cup plain mashed potatoes I make mashed potatoes from the flakes you get in a box. Use half the salt called for on the box, and reverse the amount of milk and water. For a super-rich candy, use heavy cream instead of the water. Mix all of the ingredients except the coconut in a bowl until smooth and very thick - like a thick cookie dough. If the dough isn't of a dry and non-sticky consistency, add more sugar, a bit at a time, until it is relatively dry, dull in appearance, and doesn't stick to your fingers. Roll the dough into balls, and then roll in the coconut. You can use any flavoring you wish - don't limit yourself to vanilla! (Rum and brandy make great candy, but not for the kiddies - lol!) If you want to get really fancy, eliminate the cocoa, and add a bit of food coloring, then roll in crystal sugar color of your choice. You can also roll these in chopped nuts.
Of the soft candy recipes, this one requires the most work. You'll need to commandeer some help with this one - you can do it alone, but it's much easier (and more fun) if you get the kids to help. This is not one of the soft candy recipes I would double - make a single batch and then decide if you want to do more... And, I would not try making several different flavors by splitting the batch. I have done that, and it's very hard to get it all pulled and wrapped that way. Better to do single batches - even if you have several pairs of helpers to do the pulling! You can split the batch of the same color/flavor among several helpers easier than you can flavor and color them to hand them out. 2 cups sugar Mix together sugar and cornstarch in the saucepan. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the corn syrup, glycerin, water, butter, and salt. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Continue stirring constantly until mixture begins to boil, then let cook, undisturbed, until it reaches about 270° F or the soft-crack stage. Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water while the syrup cooks. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add food coloring and flavoring. Stir gently, then pour onto a GREASED cookie sheet to cool. When the taffy is cool enough to handle, grease your hands with oil or butter and pull the taffy until it's light in color and has a satiny gloss. You can have a friend help with this step, which should take at least 10 minutes. Roll the pulled taffy into a long rope, about ½ inch in diameter, and cut it with greased scissors or a butter knife into 1-inch-long pieces. Let the pieces sit for about half an hour before wrapping them in waxed paper Twist the ends of the wrapper.
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