Apple Cinnamon Rock Candy
This old-fashioned Apple Cinnamon Rock Candy recipe makes perfect Christmas gifts. Simple to make and a treat that lasts!
AN OLD-FASHIONED CHILDHOOD FAVORITE
This recipe for rock candy is a lot easier to make than the kind on a stick. I think it’s easier to eat too! Plus, this rock candy has more flavor than just plain old sugar because it’s made with apple juice with a touch of cinnamon!
TIPS FOR MAKING THIS HARD CANDY:
- Most grocery stores carry cinnamon flavoring in the baking aisle by the vanilla extract. They are usually sold in a one ounce bottle.
- Soft chewy candies like caramels are cooked to a lower temperature, but for a hard candy like this one, 300°F is the hard ball stage where candy gets hard.
- It is important to use liquid food coloring for this recipe and not gel. You won’t be mixing in the coloring, instead the boiling will mix the color. Gel won’t mix in as easily.
- You can use just one color, if you prefer, for this rock candy.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- apple juice
- sugar
- light corn syrup
- red and green food coloring (liquid not gel)
- cinnamon flavoring
- powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE APPLE CINNAMON ROCK CANDY:
Line a 10″x 5″x 1″ cookie sheet or two 9″x13” cake pans with tin foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium saucepan, cook the apple juice, sugar and corn syrup stirring until sugar is dissolved. Hook a candy thermometer to the side to watch the temperature.
Once the sugar has dissolved, quit stirring and allow to boil until temperature reaches 250°F. Pour half the syrup into a separate pan. Add the green food coloring to the first pan, do not stir, the boiling will mix the color. Add the red to the second pan without stirring and continue to boil. Keep checking the temperature.
When the temperature reaches 300°F, add half the bottle of cinnamon flavoring to each of the pans. Stir to mix and pour into separate pans.
Allow to cool completely, then break the candy with a metal mallet (I usually just use the flat side of my meat tenderizer).
Place powdered sugar in a large bag and add the candy. Shake to coat.
Remove candy and store in an airtight container.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!
Apple Cinnamon Rock Candy
Ingredients
- 1 cup apple juice
- 3 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups light corn syrup
- red and green food coloring (liquid not gel)
- 1 ounce cinnamon flavoring
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Line a 10"x 5"x 1" cookie sheet or two 9"x13” cake pans with tin foil and spray with non stick cooking spray.
- In a medium saucepan, cook the apple juice, sugar and corn syrup stirring until sugar is dissolved. Hook a candy thermometer to the side to watch the temperature.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, quit stirring and allow to boil until temperature reaches 250°F.
- Pour half the syrup into a separate pan. Add the green food coloring to the first pan, do not stir, the boiling will mix the color. Add the red to the second pan without stirring and continue to boil. Keep checking the temperature.
- When the temperature reaches 300°F, add half the bottle of cinnamon flavoring to each of the pans. Stir to mix and pour into separate pans.
- Allow to cool completely, then break the candy with a metal mallet.
- Place powdered sugar in a large bag and add the candy. Shake to coat. Remove candy and store in an airtight container.
Notes
- Most grocery stores carry cinnamon flavoring in the baking aisle by the vanilla extract. They are usually sold in a one ounce bottle.
- It is important to use liquid food coloring for this recipe and not gel. You won’t be mixing in the coloring, instead the boiling will mix the color. Gel won’t mix in as easily.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
How much corn syrup
The full recipe is just above the comments here. You can print it out too.
It only states 1 1/2 light corn syrup..
Thanks for catching that! I fixed it!
Eager to try this recipe! My mom always made a plethora of different flavored rock candies every Christmas and I haven’t made it in a couple of years, but I found that my mom’s way of prepping the pans prior to pouring on the hot mixture works better. We generously dust the pan with powdered (confectioner’s or icing) sugar and the top of the molten candy as well.
Looking forward to trying this with the apple juice. Made it many times but never added apple juice
Hope you love it!
Hi, Brandie! You are my FAVORITE food blogger!! I’ve used so many of your recipes, and they’re always keepers! I just want to clarify the cinnamon flavoring for this recipe… do you use half of the bottle in one pan, and the other half in the other pan, resulting in an empty bottle? I can’t wait to try this! My grown daughter and I enjoy baking together, especially during the holidays, and I know she’ll want to make this. Thanks for sharing all of your great recipes! Merry Christmas!
Stacy
Since the recipe calls for a 1 oz bottle, I’m sure you would end up using the whole bottle as it would only be 1/2 oz of the flavoring to each pan and that’s really not a lot! I’ve never seen a recipe using apple juice so it’ll be interesting to see how this one turns out!
Hi Stacy! Yep! So basically half a fluid ounce will go into each pan 🙂