Homemade Candy Corn

 

Ah candy corn.  The quintessential fall treat.  People seem to fall into the “love it” or “hate it” camp with very little middle ground.  Me? I’m good for a handful, then the rest of the bag goes to waste and my kids won’t even eat them.

Nevertheless, I find myself drawn to them.  Candy corns are fun to decorate with and put in festive mixes.  Then, this year, I found out that it is possible to make your own candy corns!  Say WHAT?!?

I knew I had to give them a try!

So what’s the verdict?  Well, it took me two tries to get the consistency just right.  The first time I overheated the mixture and it was too hard and brittle (candy making has always been my weakest area when it comes to desserts). Thankfully, the second try went beautifully.

The consistency was spot on.  Flavorwise, I noticed more of a vanilla note to this homemade version and I liked it.  They were still ridiculously sweet, just like the store-bought version.

Will I make these every year?  Probably not, but it sure was a fun (and tasty) experiment!

Homemade Candy Corn

Recipe from The Kitchn’

1 cup powdered sugar

2 ½ tablespoons nonfat dry milk

⅛ teaspoon salt

½ cup granulated white sugar

⅓ cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ tablespoon vanilla extract

Yellow & orange gel food coloring

Place the powdered sugar, dry milk, and salt into a sift.  Sift into a bowl to remove any lumps.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Place the sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until the butter and sugar have melted.  

Place a candy thermometer into the pan and boil, undisturbed, until it reaches 240 degrees F (soft ball stage).

Remove immediately from heat and stir in the vanilla with a stiff, heatproof spatula.  Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined (It will be thick and dough-like, similar to fondant).

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and allow it to cool until just cool enough to handle (the dough gets stiffer and harder to handle the cooler it gets).

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts.  Add yellow food coloring to one section and orange to another and knead until evenly tinted. 

Roll the colored dough out into long ropes.  Place side by side and roll gently with a rolling pin to squish them together.  Finally, use a knife to cut the candies into triangle shapes.

I like to use my fingers to round the edges a bit to look like commercial candy corn.

Store in an airtight container.