This year, give your Valentine a a gift made from the heart and the hands. Old fashioned salt water taffy is one of my favorite treats. This year we made taffy as a family. We had so much fun stretching, pulling and getting our hands sticky with taffy. In the end, it was all worth it. It turned out beautiful!
We made three kinds of taffy--cinnamon, peppermint and vanilla bean. The taffy naturally flavored and contains organic corn syrup. We also used natural dyes instead of artificial.
Homemade taffy is the perfect Valentine's Day treat!
Ingredients
- ⅛ cup butter, softened (2 tbsp)
- 1 cup organic or homemade corn syrup (we used Wholly Wholesome)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 ½ tsp extract (see notes)
- ¼ tsp salt
- Food Coloring (we used India Tree and Nature's Flavors)
Instructions
- Lightly grease one 8x8 inch pan. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, stir together the organic corn syrup and sugar over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring frequently. Add in the butter, continuing to stir frequently while mixture continues to boil. Continue cooking and stirring until candy thermometer reaches 225 degrees (between soft and hard ball stage). Remove mixture from heat, stir in the oils or extract, the salt and the food coloring.
- Pour the taffy into the 8x8 inch pan and allow to set up for 5-10 minutes. Taffy is ready to begin pulling when it has cooled enough to handle.
- To pull taffy option #1: Place taffy in a lightly greased mixing bowl and allow to mix for 5-6 minutes on low (use the dough hook or paddle attachment but not the whisk). The taffy will begin to lighten in color.
- To pull taffy option #2: Divide the taffy in two parts. With lightly greased hands pull and stretch the taffy (approximately 15 minutes) until lightened in color.
- Roll the taffy into a ½ inch wide rope. Cut taffy with scissors into one inch pieces and wrap in waxed paper.
Notes
To Make Peppermint Taffy: Use 1 ½ tsp peppermint extract or drops of peppermint essential oils To Make Vanilla Bean: Use 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 vanilla bean, scraped To Make Cinnamon: Use 1 ½ tsp cinnamon extract or drops of cinnamon essential oil.
How fun! We love saltwater taffy, but have never tried making it. Thank you! Would love for you to share at Fridays Unfolded!
Alison
Nancherrow
How many drops of essential oil would you use per recipe? We'd like to make the following flavors:
1) Anise
2) Lemon
3) Cinnamon (would you use cinnamon leaf or bark essential oil?)
4) Grapefruit
5) Vanilla
6) Orange
7) Ginger
8) Lime
9) Peppermint
10) Spearmint
11) Wintergreen
12) Tangerine
Thanks so much for any help you can lend! 🙂
I would use a few drops (start with 3-4) for each of these and adjust for flavor if needed. The cinnamon I would use essential oil. Hope that helps!