Saltwater Taffy

Saltwater taffy may be one of the most versatile candies in that you can really make it whatever flavor you like from banana to cinnamon. Today I went for strawberry banana. Growing up, my parents would let us kids try to make taffy. However, we didn't have the patience for the whole pulling process, and it seemed the only flavoring we had on hand was vanilla. So, our final product resembled a red vanilla flavored rock that we would have to suck on for 20 minutes to get a lack luster sugar high. 


Today, I'm proud to say that my taffy turned out much better! Here's my adapted recipe:

Saltwater Taffy


2 cups sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp salt
3 tsp flavoring of choice (any kind of candy flavoring or extract)
food coloring

Almost to hard ball stage!

1. Coat a baking pan with cooking spray or butter. Lightly spray a pair of kitchen shears. Cut plenty of wax paper into 3-inch squares so you'll be ready to wrap the pieces later.


2. Combine sugar and cornstarch in large saucepan. Add corn syrup, water, butter, and salt and stir to combine.


3. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking to 260 (hard ball stage), without stirring, be patient!

Pulling the taffy.
Don't mind my Saturday get-up!

4. Remove from heat. Add flavoring & 3-4 drops food coloring. Split mixture into separate containers if you want multiple flavors. 


5. Pour into prepared buttered pan(s) and let cool enough so you can touch and handle without burning yourself.

Matt's strawberry half.
He didn't want his "Saturday hair"
on here :)

6. Lightly butter your hands and start folding the taffy onto itself by folding the corners into the center until the candy can be gathered into a ball. The taffy can now be pulled (you may want to separate into 2-3 pieces so it's easier to handle)


7. Holding the taffy ball in both hands, pull it into a long rope. Bring the ends of the rope together, creating a shorter rope. Pull this rope into another long rope, twisting the rope as you pull it apart again. Repeat this process until the taffy becomes cloudy and hard to pull, about 10 minutes.

loooonng taffy ropes!

8. Divide the taffy into 4 pieces. Roll or pull each piece into a rope about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut each rope into bite-sized pieces with the buttered scissors.


9. Wrap the cooled taffy pieces individually (about 50) in wax paper and store them all in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. Enjoy!


Saltwater taffy got it's name not from the ingredients in it like one would think, but from the area where it became most popular-the boardwalks along the New Jersey coast. It was invented in Britain in the 1800s and is now popular summertime treat on boardwalks everywhere in America.

Strawberry Banana Snake

I have to admit that it took me two tries to get this one right. The first time, I used too small of a saucepan, the mixture ran over, and I ran out of patience waiting for the taffy to reach the hard ball stage. Brought back memories of my childhood attempts at taffy. That first attempt went down the toilet, my makeshift garbage disposal (sorry City of Vermillion!)


Matt volunteered to help me with the pulling process-and it was really quite fun! We each tackled half and it was done in no time. We did a rope each of strawberry and banana, then twisted together the remaining two ropes for a flavor combo.


Like I said, I'm pretty proud of this one, my first colorful, sugary, fruity, chewy candy that turned out! Hope there are many more to come!

I love candy!