I need a good hard candy recipe to make with my kids. Anybody have one handy?

Answer 1

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/dessert/sweets/microhardcandy.html

Answer 2

Rock Candy Recipe

Ingredients
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
Food coloring
Clean glass jar
String, cut into 6-inch lengths
Pencil

Instructions
In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of the sugar and the water. Do not boil! Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Gradually add a few drops of the food coloring of your choice and the additional sugar, stirring continuously until all the sugar is dissolved.

Pour the solution into a clean glass jar and tie the pieces of string to the pencil and suspend them across the mouth of the jar so that the ends hang into the sugar water.

Crystals suitable to eat will form in an hour and continue for several days to a week. Pieces can be broken off and eaten after the first hour. (But, try to hold out for big crystals!)

Although you may see quick results in small measure, the larger rock candy crystals you're accustomed to seeing in the candy store will take some time to form.

Yield: 12 ounces

Answer 3

Peanut Brittle
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats

Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 cups

1 1/2 cups lightly salted, roasted peanuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Vegetable oil, for coating the saucepan
Softened butter for spatula

In a small bowl combine peanuts, cinnamon, and cayenne. Set aside.
Brush the inside of a medium sized heavy saucepan with vegetable oil. Add the sugar and water to the saucepan, cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a boil. Stop stirring, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the sugar is a light amber color. Stir in peanuts. This will greatly reduce the temperature of the sugar so work quickly. Once evenly mixed, pour mixture onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or buttered parchment paper. Using a buttered spatula, spread thin. You will have to work quickly when pouring out and spreading the mixture in the pan. If necessary, in order to achieve single layer of peanuts, top with second sheet pan whose underside has been buttered. Cool completely and then break into pieces.

Answer 4

Cinnamon Rock Candy
1 cup water
3 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1 teaspoon red liquid food coloring
1 teaspoon cinnamon oil
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Line a 15 x 10-inch baking pan with foil and butter the foil; set aside.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine water, sugar, corn syrup and food coloring. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cover and cook for 3 minutes to dissolve sugar crystals. Uncover; cook on medium-high heat, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300 degrees F (hard crack stage), about 25 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in cinnamon oil. Immediately pour into prepared pan. Cool completely, about 45 minutes. Break into pieces using the edge of a metal mallet. Sprinkle both sides of candy with confectioners' sugar. Store in airtight containers.

Yields about 2 pounds.

Answer 5

Hard Candy

Ingredients
3 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
few drops of oil of cinnamon or oil of
peppermint
food coloring (your choice of color)

Directions
Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in large saucepan. Cook on medium heat until sugar dissolves; stirring constantly. Stop stirring once sugar dissolves. Insert candy thermometer and bring to a boil until temperature reaches 310 degrees. Remove from heat, stir in oil and food coloring (to desired shade). Pour onto cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil and powdered sugar. Let cool completely, break and enjoy!

Answer 6

Almond Buttercrunch Candy
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 cups crushed almonds
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with butter. Spread the crushed nuts evenly in the greased pan.
In a medium saucepan melt the butter and sugar. Let it cook, stirring constantly, for five minutes until it is brown and almost smoking. Pour the mixture into the pan over the nuts. Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture so they will melt and spread the melted chocolate over the mixture. Sprinkle additional ground nuts on top if you wish. Let the candy cool before cutting it into bars.
-------------------------------------
Chocolate Covered Cherries
INGREDIENTS:
8 tablespoons melted butter
6 tablespoons corn syrup
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 pounds confectioners' sugar
3 (10 ounce) jars maraschino cherries, drained
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tablespoon shortening
DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and sugar. Knead dough, and form it into balls with a cherry wrapped in the middle. The balls should be approximately the size of walnuts. Place balls in the freezer to chill.
In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and shortening together. Dip the cooled balls in the chocolate, let cool on parchment paper.