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Homemade Candy Corn Recipe

This Halloween treat recipe is adapted from a recipe that's been based on the original and has been widely published.

candy corn recipe picture 1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup (2-1/2 oz) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups powdered icing sugar
1/3 cup powdered milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Red and yellow food coloring

In a large saucepan combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Bring to a boil over high heat while stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium and continue boiling for 5 minutes while stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from heat and add vanilla extract.

Combine the icing sugar, powdered milk, and salt in a separate bowl and add to the mixture in the saucepan, mixing thoroughly. Allow the dough mixture to sit until it's cool enough to handle.

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and place each part in a small mixing bowl. Add orange food coloring to one part (a combination of yellow and red) and yellow food coloring to another part, leaving the remaining part uncolored or white.

Knead the dough in each bowl until smooth and stiff enough to hold its shape, and the colors are even. Wearing plastic gloves can help prevent your hands from being stained by the food coloring.

Still using your hands, roll each part into a long, thin rope, making each rope of equal length. You may need to use a long countertop or tabletop covered with a strip of waxed paper for this. You'll also need to be careful when rolling as the ropes can easily break if you form them too thin.

When you're done, lay the three ropes of dough along side each other with the orange dough in the middle and carefully press them together to make a long, narrow rectangle. A gentle, light rolling with a rolling pin along the length of the rectangle helps to press the rope edges together, but be careful not to flatten the dough so the rectangle stays as narrow as possible, plus you'll also want the kernels plump looking and not flat.

Finally, cut the dough into triangles or "kernels" using a sharp knife and gently shape the kernels with your fingers, if needed. Allow the kernels to sit for a while and become firm.

You'll end up with over a pound of homemade candy corn, some with yellow tips and some with the traditional white tips. There's no getting around it, kneading the dough and forming the ropes IS time-consuming, hard work, but the results are worth it.

Traditionally, each piece of Halloween Candy Corn is about the size of a kernel of dried corn, but yours made with this homemade candy corn recipe will be about the size of today's giant candy corn.

Holiday Candy Corn Colors

Halloween Candy Corn is traditionally colored with a white tip, orange center, and yellow base. However, over the years, different colors were added for different holidays:

  • Indian Corn for Fall and Thanksgiving is colored with a white tip, orange center, and brown base, with chocolate flavoring added to the brown.

  • Reindeer Corn for Christmas is colored with a white tip, green center, and red base.

  • Cupid Corn for Valentines Day is colored with a white tip, pink center, and red base.

  • Bunny Corn for Easter is colored with a white tip and pastel shades of pink, purple, yellow, or green for the center and base.
You can develop your own color combinations for birthdays and special parties.

Pumpkin Candy

This candy corn recipe is versatile. The fondant-like dough when colored orange is great for molding into tiny Halloween pumpkin candies for decorating cakes, cupcakes, desserts, or for eating on their own. Save a bit of the dough and color it green for the stems. The tiny pumpkins would also look great decorating a Thanksgiving cake.
http://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/candy-corn-recipe.html

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Comments:

Crash...
Oct. 3, 2009 at 12:06 AM

Thanks my son is drooling over here :)

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salty...
Oct. 3, 2009 at 12:20 AM

LOL my kids would probably love to make their own shapes. Thanks.

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babym...
Oct. 3, 2009 at 12:26 AM

My boys love to help me cook (won't they make some woman really happy one day LOL) so I'll have to try this with them.

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Lb128f
Oct. 3, 2009 at 12:47 AM

YUM!! Thanks!

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burkemom
Oct. 3, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Thank yo so much for posting this recipe.  My childeren have food allergies and cany corn  is hard to find that is not processed with peanuts or nuts.  You made my day. Thanks.

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PinkS...
Oct. 3, 2009 at 10:30 AM

Cool recipes! - *Smiles*

Thanks for sharing!   angel mini

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Rhond...
Oct. 3, 2009 at 7:21 PM

I made candy corn last year.  I won't be doing it again.  The recipe makes about 500 fairly big candy corn which means rolling out yards of dough and making hundreds of cuts and smoothing hundreds of edges.  It took hours and after all that the kids didn't even like it much.  So not worth the effort IMO.

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aries...
Oct. 3, 2009 at 9:06 PM

This looks great!!  Thanks so much for posting.  My girls and I can't wait to try this!!

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Dixie...
Oct. 5, 2009 at 6:28 PM

Thank You for sharing this reciepe with us....I will have to try it...I love making HomeMade candy..

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silve...
Dec. 7, 2009 at 8:41 PM

thanks for sharing my 9 yr old  granddaughter wants to try her hand at this

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