20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (2024)

This complete list of over 20 candy recipes will convince you just how easy it is to make your favorite candies from the comfort of your kitchen. Each one is easy to make and comes together with wholesome ingredients.

20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (2)

We eat a lot of candy in my house, so any chance we get to make our own version of our favorite candies, I’m all for it. Not only is it better for my wallet, but it’s better for my waistline.

Now, I’ve developed plenty of dessert recipes, but not all of them qualify as “candy.” So, to make sense of all the sweet recipes I’ve come up with, I made a roundup of my (and your) favorite candy recipes.

Table of Contents
  1. Why make homemade candy
  2. Chocolate candy
  3. Copycat candy bars
  4. Fruity candy
  5. 20+ Candy Recipes (Recipe Card)

Why make homemade candy

  • Easier to enjoy in moderation. Just like any time of home cooking, making your own candy from scratch encourages you to be more thoughtful and savor each bite.
  • Healthier. Most store-bought candies have high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and other unnecessary ingredients. Making your own candy means you have the final say over your ingredients.
  • It’s fun! Who doesn’t enjoy making candy? Most of these recipes come together with just a few simple steps so you can get the whole family involved.

Chocolate candy

Chocolate is my go-to candy of choice, so any chance I get to make my own, I’m all about it! Especially when it’s this easy. Each of these recipes is full of chocolate flavor, and most double as being no-bake and lower carb.

  • English toffee– You don’t need to wait for the holidays to enjoy this crispy, sweet, chocolatey treat. Made with 4 ingredients and paleo, gluten-free, vegan, and keto-approved!
  • Coconut clusters– Refreshing 2-ingredient coconut clusters made with no added sugar and ready in 5 minutes.
  • Peppermint bark– If you’ve ever had the bark from William Sonoma, you’re going to love this easy no-bake version.
  • White chocolate peanut butter cups– Satisfy the white chocolate lover in your life with these easy no-bake white chocolate cups, plus endless flavor combinations.
  • Chocolate coconut cups– Rich dark chocolate with a creamy coconut filling. You won’t be able to stop with one!
20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (3)

Copycat candy bars

I’ve been making my own homemade candy bars for years, ever since I learned just how easy it is. I started off with Twix, and now as you can see, I’m hooked!

  • Kit Kat bars– These are seriously addictive and taste even better than traditional Kit Kats.
  • Healthy Snickers– Layers of chewy nougat with melted caramel and chopped nuts, all covered in melted chocolate.
  • Reese’s hearts– Loaded with peanut butter and ready in 5 minutes, these vegan chocolate peanut butter hearts taste exactly like Reese’s. Paleo and nut-free options included.
  • Crunch bars– This easy no-bake version of classic crunch bars pulls triple duty as dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.
  • Peppermint Patties– Just 5 minutes and 3 ingredients are all you’ll need to make these refreshingly minty chocolate bites. They’re seriously addictive.
  • Creme eggs– If you wait all year for Easter just to get your hands on Cadbury creme eggs, consider this your lucky day.
  • Junior Mints– You won’t find any corn syrup, modified food starch, or artificial flavors in these bad boys. Just refreshing mint candies covered in melted dark chocolate.
  • Butterfinger bites– Turn your favorite peanut butter candy bars into no-bake bites, ready in minutes with just a handful of ingredients.
  • Almond Roca– I grew up eating Almond Rocas over the holidays, and when I found out just how simple they are, I was all too eager to create a copycat recipe.
  • Ferrero Rocher– Combine your love of chocolate and hazelnuts with these addictive bites. They’re crunchy on the outside, fudgy on the inside, and guaranteed to be a hit.
20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (4)

Fruity candy

Fruity candies are great for sharing since they’re light, refreshing, and often full of nostalgic flavors. Plus, they adhere to a variety of diets, so you never have to worry about bringing them to a big get-together.

  • Turkish delight– Delicate rosewater-infused gummies covered in powdered sugar. These Turkish delights are almost as fun to make as they are to eat.
  • Tanghulu– Inspired by my childhood travels through China, these irresistible fruit candies are simple yet elegant and truly delicious.
  • Candy grapes– Embrace the viral TikTok trend with these sweet and sour sugar-coated grapes. A healthy treat adults and kids alike will love.
  • Low-calorie candy– These creative little gummy candies are fun to make and endlessly customizable.
  • Gummies– Once you learn how easy it is to make those classic gummy bears (without the sugar), you’ll probably become obsessed. I know I did!
20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (5)

20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (6)

20+ Candy Recipes

This complete list of over 20 candy recipes will convince you just how easy it is to make your favorite candies from the comfort of your kitchen. This simple peanut butter fudge is a great one to start!

Servings: 24 servings

Prep: 1 minute min

Cook: 1 minute min

Total: 2 minutes mins

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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Line a 24-count mini muffin tin with muffin liners.

  • In a microwave-safe bowl, add the white chocolate chips and peanut butter and microwave in 20-second spurts until the white chocolate melts. Whisk together.

  • Evenly distribute the fudge mixture amongst the muffin liners. Place in the freezer.

  • Add the chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 20-second increments until melted. Drizzle over the top of each muffin liner and freeze for another 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 146kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 3gFat: 9gSodium: 50mgPotassium: 78mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 20IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 0.3mgNET CARBS: 13g

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Arman Liew

Tried this recipe?Give us a shout at @thebigmansworld or tag #thebigmansworld!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsem*nt, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

20+ Homemade Candy Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What to do with too much candy? ›

Freeze it.

Thaw it out when you need snacks for a car trip or movie night or treats for birthday party goodie bags. You can also “recycle” it by saving it for Christmas stockings, Easter baskets or birthday piñatas — or even keep it in the deep freeze until next Halloween.

What ingredient do candies all have in common how do you know? ›

Sucrose, made from either sugarcane or sugar beets, is the main ingredient for making candy. It is composed of two simple sugars called glucose (the main ingredient in corn syrup) and fructose (the sweetest of all sugars).

Can you freeze bags of candy? ›

Freezing is a popular method for keeping candy over long periods of time. However, not all sweets are suited for the freezer. While toffee and truffles can be frozen for up to two months, avoid freezing candy with fruits and nuts.

Is it OK to eat a lot of candy? ›

The Bottom Line. Eating too much added sugar can have many negative health effects. An excess of sweetened foods and beverages can lead to weight gain, blood sugar problems, and an increased risk of heart disease, among other dangerous conditions.

How many candies a day is OK? ›

Sugar should not constitute more than 10% of your daily energy intake. Assuming an adult's caloric intake is 2000 calories, we should not consume more than 200 calories per day from sugar, which equates to 10 teaspoons of sugar, 4 marshmallows, 4 bonbons, or 4 candies.

What ingredients should I avoid in candy? ›

Artificial Colors, Flavors, and Sweeteners. Preservatives – including: sodium benzoate, sulfites (sulfur dioxide), polysorbate 60, 65 or 80, nitrites, TBHQ, and BHT/BHA.

How does vinegar affect candy? ›

But acetic acid reacts only with certain kinds of substances—and sugar isn't one of them. In fact, candy might dissolve more slowly in vinegar, since the acetic acid molecules don't dissolve sugar as well as water does.

What is the most commonly bought candy? ›

Here are the top 10 most popular candies in America, according to CandyStore.com:
  • Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
  • M&Ms.
  • Hot tamales.
  • Skittles.
  • Sour Patch Kids.
  • Starburst.
  • Hershey Kisses.
  • Candy Corn.
Oct 10, 2023

How is fairy floss made? ›

It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool and re-solidify into fine strands. It is often sold at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and festivals, served in a plastic bag, on a stick, or on a paper cone.

What candy Cannot be freeze-dried? ›

Candies with low moisture that don't seem to freeze-dry well include jelly beans, peppermint patties, and Oreos. Interestingly, Oreos are well-known in some circles to be better when left out for about a week to stale.

How long will homemade candy last? ›

Most candies will keep 2 to 3 weeks (if not longer) if stored tightly covered in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator. It's best to avoid storing different types of candy together in the same container because hard candies will become soft and sticky, and soft candies will dry out.

Why does candy puff up when freeze-dried? ›

To break it down in layman's terms, it expands due to the pressure in the machine. Because most candy is considered semi-solid, when the sublimation occurs and the moisture gasifies, there is nothing to keep it from blowing up like a balloon as the water dissipates.

What to do after eating a ton of candy? ›

What to do after a sugar binge
  1. First Things First— Don't Beat Yourself Up. First and most important – don't beat yourself up. ...
  2. Focus on Satiety from Meals. ...
  3. Drink a lot of Water. ...
  4. Remove the Sugary Foods from your House. ...
  5. Explore Your Feelings.
Oct 19, 2021

How do you break up hard candy? ›

Coarsely crush the peppermint candies in a resealable plastic bag using the smooth side of a meat mallet. Since the candies are so hard, the heftiness of the mallet is the best thing for breaking them up quickly.

What happens to your body when you eat a lot of candy? ›

But if you're eating way too much sugar and your body stops responding properly to insulin, your pancreas starts pumping out even more insulin. Eventually, your overworked pancreas will break down and your blood sugar levels will rise, setting you up for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

How do you get rid of sugar candy? ›

Steps to take to break a sugar addiction
  1. Focus on eating a balanced diet. Sometimes, the best advice is also the most obvious. ...
  2. Don't skip meals. ...
  3. Plan and prep. ...
  4. Make time for movement. ...
  5. Get plenty of sleep. ...
  6. Drink Lots of water. ...
  7. Journal your food intake. ...
  8. Don't eliminate food groups that aren't harming you.
Mar 16, 2023

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