Easy Homemade Suckers

Since so many people have asked via email for the recipe to make homemade lollipops, or suckers as I call them, I thought I'd post the recipe. The flavor combinations are endless. For our recent autumn open house, we made orange cream suckers with red and yellow food coloring. We also made root beer suckers. The root beer essential oil/extract naturally turns the candy brown. You don't need to add any food coloring.

Homemade Suckers

1 C sugar
1/2 C water
1/3 C corn syrup
1/4 tsp essential oil flavoring
Food coloring

Combine sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook to hard crack (300°F.). Check your thermometer first, to make sure it is accurate with water boiling at your altitude, as this burns easily after 300°F. I use a Taylor candy thermometer and it always turns out perfectly.

Remove from heat. Add flavoring and food coloring. Stir and pour into greased sucker molds arranged on a greased cookie sheet or a marble slab. This recipe makes approximately 10-12 suckers.

For fruit flavored lollipops, double the amount of essential oil used. Recipe can be easily doubled.