Enjoy making this simple recipe for old fashioned hard tack candy. You're kids will love making and eating it!

Growing up, we made old-fashioned hard tack candy.

My two favorite flavors were cinnamon and wintergreen. Mmmm, mmmm good!


Easy Hard Tack Candy

  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon flavoring oil
  • food coloring
Here are the ingredients that you'll need.

Put the water, sugar, and corn syrup into a heavy sauce pan. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally.

When it comes to a full rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium high. You do not need to stir the it while it is cooking.

Boil until it reaches 295-310 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. (Hard crack stage.)

Boil to the hard crack stage.

Remove from heat. Add 3-4 drops food coloring. Stir till the color is well-mixed in.

Add the flavoring oil. Stir.

Pour into a pan lined with tin foil. Let cool for several minutes.

Pour in a foil lined pan.

Use a butter knife to score lines into the candy.

When the it has cooled, remove it from pan. Pull off the foil and use the handle of the butter knife to tap to to break into small pieces.   (this is the easier way)

This is the fun way...We  used to roll it into long pretzel rod shape, and cut off the pieces with scissors.  

Enjoy making this simple recipe for old fashioned hard tack candy. You're kids will love making and eating it!

If so desired, place in a baggy with some powdered sugar. Shake to coat candy pieces. This will keep the candy from sticking together.

Enjoy making this simple recipe for old fashioned hard tack candy. You're kids will love making and eating it!

From start to finish, this takes only about 30 minutes to make.

One word about the flavoring. Make sure it is an oil flavoring. If you use the extract flavoring, the flavor won’t be very strong. (I guess that is okay — if you like anemic-flavored candy.)

A word of caution. Do not breath in the steam that rises up after putting in your flavoring oil. Do. Not. It will burn your nasal passages! Don’t ask me how I know that.