How to Make Salt Water Taffy

If you are looking for a different way to have family fun together, and have an exercise workout at the same time, make salt water taffy. This chewy candy treat is an enjoyable cooking project for the whole family, and the results will be delicious and fun to eat.

Things You'll Need

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tbs. cornstarch
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 t tbs. butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. food grade glycerin (optional)
• 3 drops food coloring
• 1/4 to 1 tsp. flavoring, such as vanilla, maple, mint or lemon
• Large 3 to 4 qt. saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Candy thermometer
• Pastry brush
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Cookie sheet or marble slab
• Butter or oil for your hands
• Greased scissors or greased butter knife
• Plastic wrap or waxed paper

Instructions

Cook the Salt Water Taffy

1. Place the sugar and the cornstarch together in a saucepan.

2. Blend in the corn syrup, water, glycerin, salt and butter using a wooden spoon.

3. Put the pan on the stove over medium heat and stir the ingredients until all of the sugar dissolves.

4. Stir the mixture continuously until it comes to a boil. Once it begins to boil, allow it cook without stirring, until the temperature reaches 270 degrees F, which is the soft crack stage in candy making.

5. Dip a pastry brush in warm water and wash down pan sides while the syrup is cooking to ensure that a single, undissolved crystal of sugar, called a seed crystal, doesn't fall into the hot mixture. If this happens, it can cause the recrystallization of all the sugar crystals.

6. Remove the pan from the stove and add any flavorings or food colorings that you desire and gently stir them into the hot syrup.

7. Pour the mixture onto a greased, shallow cookie sheet or onto a greased marble slab, then allow time for the syrupy mixture to become cool enough to handle.

Pull the Salt Water Taffy

1. Grease your hands with butter or oil once the taffy has become cool enough to handle.

2. Pull the taffy for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until it has a satiny gloss and becomes light in color. It is fun to have help with this step.

3. Roll the taffy, after you have finished pulling it, into a rope that is approximately ½ inch in diameter.

4. Cut the taffy roll into 1 inch-long pieces with a greased butter knife or scissors.

5. Allow the taffy pieces to rest for about ½ hour.

6. Wrap the taffy pieces in plastic wrap or wax paper and twist the ends closed.

Tips & Warnings

• When you pull the taffy you are incorporating air into the mixture.

• Adding glycerin to the taffy recipe gives the candy a consistency that is soft and creamy. Glycerin is available at most supermarkets, craft stores and drug stores.

• Adding 1/8 tsp. baking soda just before you pour the syrup out onto the greased cookie sheet, will cause a lot of tiny bubbles to form. The texture of the candy will be chewier and lighter.

• If you omit the corn syrup from the recipe, the result is candy that is crystallized, with a texture that melts in your mouth.

• It is fun to twist together taffy ropes using different combinations of colors and flavors.

• Make sure that you use food grade glycerin in your taffy.

Resources

• Go here for great recipes and candy making tips.
• Visit this site for more candy recipes.