Requiring just a touch more special equipment than my hard candy recipe, if you’re looking to jump into the world of candy making without using an invert sugar like corn syrup, then this recipe for lollipops is a great choice.
Beyond the need for a thermometer, lollipop molds and sticks, this recipe only requires three ingredients before you can have traditional, candy-shop-perfect lollipops to serve to your friends and family.
So whatever your reasons for not using corn syrup, making lollipops is not difficult so long as you’re patient and control a few variables.
How to Make Lollipops Without Corn Syrup
Make sure you have everything set up ahead of starting as once the syrup is cooked and ready, you’re going to need to move quickly. Simply add sticks to your lollipop molds and put a dish of cool water and a pastry brush next to your stove.
It can also be a good idea to have either an instant-read thermometer or a candy thermometer at the ready for when you start cooking.
This isn’t entirely necessary as you can periodically add drops of hot syrup into cold water to gauge is state of doneness, it is much easier to simply cook the syrup to 150°C (300°F) without all of the testing.
Once you’ve got everything set up, simply add your sugar to a small saucepan along with a bit of water. Set the pan over medium heat and begin stirring to completely dissolve the sugar.
This is the singular most important step to ensure success in making these lollipops, along with literally any of the other candy recipes that I’ve developed without corn syrup – such as chewy caramels, peanut brittle, candy apples, candy strawberries, etc.
Over medium heat, continue stirring the sugar and water mixture until all of the sugar granules are completely dissolved but ensure that the mixture doesn’t come to a boil during this time.
It’s important to be patient during this step and if you feel that the mixture is coming to a boil more quickly than you can get the sugar crystals dissolved, then periodically remove it from the heat to prevent this from happening.
Once your sugar is completely dissolved, dip the pastry brush in some water and use this to wash down the sides of the pan to dissolve any stray sugar granules that have collected there.
Allow the mixture to come up to a boil and once it has, ensure that you stop stirring completely. This is also very important to prevent seizing and crystallisation.
Continue boiling the sugar syrup until it reaches a temperature of 150°C (300°F). At this point, remove the pan from the heat and stir in some flavor extract and a few drops of a corresponding food coloring. I am making strawberry lollipops here but you can use any combination that you like!
Use a skewer to gently incorporate this into the mixture – too much agitation can cause the mixture to crystallise.
Then, quickly pour the sugar syrup into your prepared lollipop moulds and allow the mixture to cool and completely set. How long this takes will generally depend on the size of your moulds – but it expect it to be about 10-30 minutes.
After that, your lollipops are ready to eat!
Homemade Lollipops Without Corn Syrup
Ingredients
- 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar (see notes)
- ½ tsp flavor extract
- ¼ tsp food colouring
Instructions
- Before cooking, set up the lollipop molds with sticks. Set a glass of cool water and a pastry brush next to the stovetop.
- Add the sugar to a small saucepan and pour over 2 tbsp of cool water. Set over medium heat and, stirring constantly, completely dissolve the sugar. It is imperative that the sugar is fully dissolved ahead of the syrup coming to a boil to prevent crystallisation. Periodically remove the pan from the heat if you are concerned the mixture is heating up too quickly.
- Once the sugar is completely dissolved, allow the mixture to come up to a boil and stop stirring entirely. Use the pastry brush dipped in water to wash down the sides of the pan to dissolve any sugar crystals that have collected there.
- Allow the sugar syrup to boil, without stirring at all, until it reaches a temperature of 150°C (300°F). Remove from the heat as soon as it reaches this temperature and add the flavor extract and food colouring. Stir very gently to combine with a skewer – but work quickly.
- Pour the hot syrup into the prepared molds and allow the lollipops to set until cooled completely and solid – around 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your molds.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
As you can see, it is fundamentally very simple to make lollipops without using corn syrup so long as you control for a few variables and are patient and precise.
Are you looking for a recipe for homemade lollipops? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments!
