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I’ve been making homemade lollipops since the early days of Sugar & Charm! They’re one of those recipes that look impressive. This version is especially fun because it’s made without corn syrup: I use sugar and a little honey instead.
The best part is making them your own. I add different extracts for flavor and love putting tiny dried edible flowers in the molds. I’ve always loved using edible flowers in recipes, and they make these lollipops SO pretty for parties, favors, and homemade gifts.
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Pin ItIf you love the floral look, you have to see my homemade rose lollipops, too. I make those with dried rose petals and little flecks of edible gold.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love These Homemade Lollipops
No corn syrup: My recipe uses a small amount of honey along with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.
Only four main ingredients: Sugar, water, honey, and your favorite extract are all you need for the basic recipe.
Choose your own flavor: Change the extract to make different flavors without changing the basic recipe.
So pretty for gifting: Dried edible flowers make these beautiful for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, showers, party favors, or homemade gifts.
Homemade Lollipop Ingredients
Cane Sugar: This is the base of the candy and what gives the lollipops their classic hard crunch.
Water: Dissolves the sugar so it can cook evenly into a smooth candy syrup.
Honey: A little honey adds flavor and helps prevent the sugar from crystallizing, so this recipe doesn’t need corn syrup.
Flavor Extract: This is where you can have fun. Use a flavor you love, and choose a clear extract if you want to keep that pretty translucent amber color.
Dried Edible Flowers: Optional, but they’re my favorite way to decorate these. Make sure you’re using flowers specifically sold or grown for eating. I grow many of my own in my edible flower garden.
Optional Decorations: A drop of food coloring, sprinkles, or food-safe edible glitter can be added if you want to change the look.
How to Make Homemade Lollipops
1. Prepare the molds: Set out your lollipop molds and insert the sticks. If you’re decorating with small dried edible flowers, arrange them in the molds now. Have everything ready before you start cooking the sugar because you’ll need to work quickly once it reaches temperature.
2. Make the candy syrup: Add 1 cup cane sugar, ¼ cup water, and ⅛ cup honey to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
3. Cook to hard-crack stage: Attach a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to a boil. Once it’s boiling, stop stirring and cook until it reaches 300°F.
4. Add the flavor: As soon as the mixture reaches 300°F, remove it from the heat. Carefully stir in 2 teaspoons flavor extract and a drop of food coloring, if using.
5. Fill the molds: Working quickly and carefully, spoon the hot candy mixture into the prepared molds, making sure it covers the end of each lollipop stick.
6. Let them harden: Leave the lollipops undisturbed at room temperature until completely cool and hard.
7. Unmold: Once they’re completely set, gently remove the lollipops from the molds and wrap them individually.
Important: Cooked sugar at 300°F can cause serious burns. Keep children away from the saucepan and hot candy mixture, and be especially careful when pouring it into the molds.
Eden’s Recipe Tips
Get everything ready first: This is the biggest thing with homemade candy. Once the syrup reaches 300°F, you don’t have time to search for sticks, flowers, extract, or molds. I have everything completely ready before I turn on the stove.
Use a candy thermometer: You really want the syrup to reach 300°F. That’s the hard-crack stage that gives the lollipops their hard, glassy texture.
Stop stirring once it boils: Stir while the sugar is dissolving, then leave it alone once the mixture comes to a boil. Stirring the boiling syrup can encourage crystallization.
Why Does This Recipe Use Honey Instead of Corn Syrup?
Traditional homemade lollipops usually contain corn syrup because it helps keep the sugar from crystallizing as the candy cooks. My recipe uses honey instead.
Honey contains different sugars that also interfere with sucrose crystallization, which is helpful when making hard candy. It also gives these lollipops a subtle honey flavor and naturally warm golden color.
This is still candy made primarily with sugar, so I don’t think of honey as making the lollipops “healthier.” I simply love that this recipe gives you a way to make beautiful homemade lollipops without corn syrup.
Lollipop Flavors
One of my favorite things about homemade lollipops is changing the flavor. Keep the basic candy recipe the same and use different food-safe flavor extracts.
For a bright flavor, try lemon, orange, or raspberry. Peppermint is perfect around the holidays, and floral flavors are especially pretty with the dried flowers.
If you love rose, make my homemade rose lollipops. They’re made with dried rose petals and edible gold and are gorgeous for Valentine’s Day or party favors.
How to Store Homemade Lollipops
Once the lollipops are completely cool, wrap them individually and store them in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool, dry place.
The biggest enemy of homemade hard candy is humidity. Moisture in the air can make the surface sticky, so don’t leave the lollipops sitting uncovered once they’ve hardened.
Homemade Lollipop FAQs
Yes. This recipe uses honey instead of corn syrup along with cane sugar and water. Cook the mixture to 300°F, or hard-crack stage, so the lollipops set properly.
I strongly recommend one. Hard candy depends on reaching the correct temperature, and a thermometer is much more precise than trying to judge the syrup visually.
Humidity is usually the culprit. Hard candy absorbs moisture from the air, which can make the surface sticky. Let the lollipops cool completely, wrap them individually, and store them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Graininess usually means the sugar crystallized. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved before the syrup boils, then stop stirring once it reaches a boil.
Cook the candy syrup to 300°F, which is the hard-crack stage. This is what gives the finished lollipops their hard, crisp texture.
More Homemade Candy Recipes
If you make these homemade lollipops, leave a star rating and comment below. I’d love to hear which flavor you made!
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Homemade Lollipops
Ingredients
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/8 cup honey
- 2 tsp extract, Clear if you don't want it to change the color. Use any flavor you like!
Instructions
- Prepare the lollipop molds with sticks. If using dried edible flowers, arrange a few small food-safe petals in each mold. Have the extract and any food coloring measured and ready.
- Add 1 cup cane sugar, ¼ cup water, and ⅛ cup honey to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Attach a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, stop stirring and cook until the syrup reaches 300°F, or hard-crack stage.
- Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat. Carefully stir in 2 teaspoons flavor extract and 1 drop food coloring, if using.
- Let the lollipops cool completely at room temperature until hard, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Gently remove them from the molds. Wrap individually and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Video
Notes
- Prep first: Have the molds, sticks, flowers, flavoring, and coloring ready before you begin.
- 300°F matters: The syrup needs to reach hard-crack stage for hard, crisp lollipops.
- Don’t stir while boiling: Once the syrup boils, stop stirring to reduce the chance of crystallization.
- Work quickly: The candy begins to harden soon after it comes off the heat.
- Edible flowers: Use only small, dried flowers or petals that are specifically food-safe.
- Humidity: Wrap cooled lollipops individually and keep them airtight because moisture can make hard candy sticky.
- Safety: The candy syrup reaches 300°F and can cause serious burns. Use caution while cooking and pouring it.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
this recipe is overly simplified. Cooking sugar is complicated and temperature sensitive in order to have “clear” lollies. It is often the honey, regardless of color, and/or the sugar will carmelize leaving the lollies not clear but dark.
One must know how to keep the cooking temperature low enough to avoid and this is the key. Which isn’t discussed at all.
After many batches of dark lollies doing research and much much practice, it can be done, but I’ve still never had such clear lollies as the pictures above with honey added – ever. Would love to know her “secret”.
thx
I never thought about making my own lollipops, but now I would love to try it! The addition of edible flowers and honey is not only beautiful, but it also sounds so tasty and fun. The flexibility of this recipe is great, too, as one can have fun experimenting with different flavors. My sisters would love these for a special treat!