
Everyone loves to eat colorful candies. For people who want to enjoy these candies but are worried about sugar levels, there are sugar-free candies available too. These candies can also be made at home and are similar in taste to regular candies.
Candies have been eaten for nearly 350 years, although earlier they did not have hooks or sticks at the end. They were more like a simple and single-colored sugar stick. People diagnosed with diabetes and others on special sugar-free diets always feel guilty about munching on these yummies. But with the following delicious sugar-free recipes, one can eat them endlessly!
Sugar-free Candy
Ingredients:
- Maltitol, 1 cup
- Sugar-free syrup, 1½ cups
- Candy flavoring oil, ½ tsp.
- Food coloring, few drops
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the Maltitol and sugar-free syrup, and bring to a boil. Insert a candy thermometer into the boiling syrup until it reaches 300 °C. While doing so, make sure the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the saucepan. Once it reaches the right temperature, remove the saucepan from the heat immediately. When the syrup stops bubbling, add the flavoring oil and food coloring to it, and immediately pour the candy syrup into the greased candy molds. Use a funnel for small molds. Let the candies cool completely before removing them from the molds. Wrap each one individually in a foil or plastic wrappers, and store in airtight containers.
Peppermint Brittle Candy
Ingredients:
- Low-cal milk chocolate, 1 lb
- Nuts (chopped), 1 cup
- Broken bite-sized peppermint hard candy, 1 package
In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and add the broken peppermint pieces along with the nuts. Line a cookie sheet with a piece of foil, and grease it. Pour the candy mixture into the foil sheet. Once the mixture has cooled, remove the foil, and cut break the candy into pieces in the desired shape.
Hard Candy Cane
Ingredients:
- Maltitol, 2 cups
- Light corn syrup, ½ cup
- Cream of tartar, ¼ tsp.
- Water, ½ cup
- Peppermint extract, ¾ tsp.
- Food coloring, 10 drops
Mix the Maltitol, corn syrup, tartar cream, and water in a large, heavy-bottomed kettle, and stir well. Insert a candy thermometer into the mixture and continue cooking until the solution reaches 265 °C. Once the solution reaches the correct temperature, add the peppermint extract and divide the contents into two equal halves. Add the food coloring to one pot only and allow both the pots to cool.
Grease your hands with butter, and using a rubber spatula, remove enough mixture to form one colored and one white coil, until you have a thin, four-inch strip of glossy coil. Place the two colors side by side and inter-coil them, twisting three or four times. One can design the candy with the symbolic hook on the end of the candy cane or leave it straight.
Eating colorful and different shaped candies can bring loads of happiness to children and adults alike. These sugar-free candy recipes will let you enjoy the candies without the ill effects of consuming too much sugar.