Ever wonder how to make those adorable little suckers that can be found in almost every shape and color under the rainbow? Today I'm going to show you how you can make these fun suckers at home!!
As a child, I loved when my grandma would visit us in California from Iowa. She always brought a bunch of homemade suckers with her in multiple colors and flavors... root beer, watermelon, pink lemonade, cherry...
What child could resist those?! I was enchanted.
When my grandma was through making suckers, she passed ALL of her sucker molds, bags, sticks, oil flavors, etc. on to me!! I was thrilled!! My best friend and I earned money for our Disneyland trip in middle school by mass producing these babies and selling them at school. Then the VP shut us down. So we had to sell them underground, haha... Nothing was going to stop me from my new favorite hobby and money-making venture ;)
NOTE: Candy making can be very dangerous, because the liquid candy gets very very hot! I would advise not letting your kids make this unless they are older and mature and you are
right there supervising. One spill could really cause some damage to skin. Please be very careful when making these! It's also a good idea to do this when kids are in bed, at school, or outside, because you don't want any distractions.
Fast forward to now- these suckers are STILL a favorite for me to make. I use the same recipe sheet my grandma used... yes, it's a little stained, but I just can't bear to throw it away!
Would you like to make your own sweet suckers for birthday parties, holidays, fundraisers, or just for fun? Most of the ingredients are ones you already have at home... sugar, water, and Karo syrup (corn syrup).
You will need sucker molds, which can be ordered online, or found at many craft stores. My molds are by Sweet Creations. Whenever I go to Utah I like to buy new sets of sucker molds, because I always seem to find them there. You'll also need oil flavoring. Some craft stores sell these, and so do many bakery supply stores. You can also buy them from
Amazon- I like
LorAnn flavoring oils, because the taste is more "realistic" than other brands, but you can buy any that you like.
Supplies:
- Sucker molds
- Sucker sticks (Michaels, Joanns, Amazon)
- Sucker bags (Michaels, Joanns, Amazon)
- Candy Thermometer
- Pourable glass container (optional)
Ingredients:
(For one batch- you can double the batch, just be sure to work quickly when pouring!)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1 tsp oil flavor (if using LorAnn's oil, it will be the whole small bottle, 1 dram)
- food color (regular food coloring or gel food coloring both work great)
Directions:
1. Spray a light coat of Pam or other cooking spray onto a cutting board, cookie sheet, or marble slab. I always use my big white cutting board. Seal up your molds with the little clamps (that came with the molds), and add your stick. Arrange the molds on the cutting board (or whatever you are using), so that they are close to each other.
2. Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Continue stirring, and cook to hard crack (300 degrees F). When my thermometer is almost to 300 degrees, I go on to the next step, because the mixture will continue heating...
3. Remove from heat- add flavor and food color. When you add the flavor, it's a good idea to turn your head. These oils are very strong, and when they hit the hot candy mixture there is a little smoke that puffs up that is very strong- best not to sniff it! Stir approximately 2 minutes, to ensure that the color and the flavor are evenly mixed.
4. Pour into molds that you arranged on a cutting board, cookie sheet, or marble slab. Let cool for a little while, remove the molds, and package the suckers inside the sucker bags. You can use ribbon, twist ties, washi tape, etc. to seal these up.
This recipe makes about 20 suckers, doubled makes about 40. I always prep a few extra molds, because sometimes it will make more than this.
See, wasn't that easy? From start to finish it will take about an hour, which isn't too bad to make 40 suckers (if you double), perfect for a party or holiday or giving away to friends!
Aren't they pretty? I stuck with pink for these batches because I'm currently making about 250 of these suckers (in different batches) in a light pink color to give away to fellow SNAP! attendees, a creative bloggers conference I'm headed to next week. I've been having flashbacks to my middle school sucker mass producing days, lol. Wish me luck!! Pardon the quality of this photo, it's from
my Instagram... and if you're not following me on
Instagram yet, I'd love for you to
follow along!
I really hope you give these a try! They are really easy, and once you buy the molds, you can make as many batches as you want out of them. I love that you can personalize the colors and flavors and shapes based on the theme of the party, holiday, etc.
Be sure to come back tomorrow, when I'll show you how to make an easy sucker/cakepop/any kind of pop stand... so easy and fun!!
Happy sucker making!!!
xo, Laura
