Through the years, one of my favorite fall treats has been candy corn and peanuts. There is just something so good about that combination! So when that craving struck recently, I tried and tried to find a store-bought candy corn without artificial dyes. These days it is getting easier to find alternatives to just about anything, but unfortunately in this case, I did not have success. Therefore, I decided to make some!
Before we dive into the process, I’d like to share a few fun facts I learned about candy corn. Did you know it was invented all the way back in the 1880’s in Philadelphia by an employee at The Wunderle Candy Company? He originally named it “Chicken Feed,” since it resembled kernels of corn that were tossed to chickens. In 1898, The Goetz Candy Company (now Jelly Belly), began making the candy. Below is a picture of the packaging.
It is unknown when the name officially changed to “candy corn.” Originally, this sweet confection was marketed to rural America, as a delicious and inexpensive treat to be enjoyed year-round. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that candy corn began to be more associated with Halloween, with increased advertising during that time of year and the fall themed colors. Although Jelly Belly still produces candy corn, the largest manufacturer these days is Brach’s. But I just can’t get behind these ingredients.
Searching online, I found this recipe from “the kitchn” that I decided to use (but with natural dyes).
Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons nonfat powdered milk
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Red and yellow liquid food coloring
Instructions
Place 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons nonfat powdered milk in a sifter or fine-mesh strainer and sift into a large bowl. Add 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt.
You definitely don’t want to skip this step! To test, I did one batch sifted and one batch not sifted, and the one where I skipped it had little white chunks of powdered sugar in the dough that did not mix in well and got pretty hard. I find that using a whisk helps speed up the process!
2. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and set it near the stove. Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in a 2-quart or larger saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the butter is melted, swirling the pan gently once or twice, 6 to 8 minutes. **This only took a couple of minutes for me!
3. Clip a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer to the side of the pan. Bring the syrup to a full boil. Continue boiling without stirring until the syrup is 245°F to 250°F, 1 to 5 minutes. If you go over the temperature, remove the pan from the heat and quickly add a few tablespoons of water to the pan to reduce the temperature, and monitor the temperature carefully as it reheats. Remove from the heat immediately once the syrup reaches temperature.
4. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Be very careful since the syrup will bubble up and sputter quite a bit when you add the vanilla.
5. Add the powdered sugar mixture and stir with a stiff heatproof spatula until you’ve formed a thick paste-like dough and very little dry mixture remains. (I’ve found that it smells quite bad at this point — have faith!)
6. Pour all the dough onto the baking sheet, scraping the pan as well as you can.
7. Let the dough cool until you are able to handle it, 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t wait too long, though; the dough will stiffen as it cools and become harder to roll out.
8. Cut the dough into 3 pieces using a bench scraper or chef’s knife. Make a well in the center of one piece and add 10 drops of yellow food coloring. Make a well in the center of a second piece of dough and add 10 drops of yellow food coloring and 5 drops of red food coloring (to make orange).
9. Knead both pieces of dough until uniform in color. Be sure to leave the remaining white piece of dough well away from the kneading area so it doesn’t get any color. Knead against the baking mat so you don’t dye your countertop or work surface. You can also knead more dye into the dough if the color doesn’t seem quite right to you.
10. Pinch off a piece of dough from each color roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. Roll each one into a thin 1/4-inch-thick rope. If a rope gets too long and hard to roll, you can break off the end and smash it back into the remaining dough.
11. Arrange the ropes side by side in whatever order you like (yellow-orange-white is classic!), and then gently pinch them together so they stick to each other.
12. Gently roll over the ropes with a rolling pin just to flatten out the curved edges.
13. Use the bench scraper or chef’s knife to cut out triangles of candy. Angle your scraper at a forward-slash angle and then at a back-slash angle as you work down the length of the ropes.
14. Continue rolling and cutting the dough until it’s all used up. If the dough becomes too stiff to work with, microwave individual pieces in 5-second increments until it becomes pliable again.
**I definitely had to do this multiple times. Also, make sure you don’t overheat the dough or it will get super hard and you will not be able to roll it out or soften it…I know from experience!
15. Spread the candies out in a single layer on a baking sheet to dry for a few hours. Separate any candies that are sticking together. Once dry, the candies can be stored in an airtight container for several weeks. Like commercial candy corn, these candies are good until they become too dry to chew! Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
My husband and I lead a young professional’s small group with out church, which met last night. I always do some kind of treat, and I was excited to serve them a fall snack mix with these candy corns in it. Let me tell you, it was a hit! They all said they liked them better than store-bought. Corey even approved, and he supposedly doesn’t like candy corn. I’d call that a success!
In the snack mix I put pretzels, kettle corn, dye-free peanut butter dark chocolate pieces (in place of Reese’s pieces), roasted and salted peanuts, and my candy corn. It totally satisfied my craving! It is definitely a splurge and not healthy, but I feel better about the natural colors and higher quality ingredients.
Have a happy candy corn day (October 30), because apparently that’s a thing! I wish I could share a few pieces with you to celebrate!
