Family Taffy Night

By Monica Painter

This project involves making taffy as a family. Parents mix ingredients and preschoolers can help with pulling the taffy after ingredients are mixed. The more pulling, the softer the taffy! Preschoolers experience the thrill of being a part of the candy making process!

What You Will Need

2 cups of granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1 and 1/4 cups of corn syrup
2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
Preschooler's preference of coloring and flavoring
Wax paper - colored or white (for wrapping the taffy)

How To Make It

Stir sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt in a saucepan

Stir continuously on low heat until sugar has dissolved

Once sugar has dissolved, increase to medium heat and cease stirring

When corn syrup boils, or candy thermometer reads 265 degrees, remove saucepan from heat

Add butter and gently stir

Break taffy into parts - one part per different flavor

Have preschoolers wash hands and grease hands with butter (*hint* butter contributes to the flavor of the taffy more than margarine or oil)

When taffy is cool enough to handle, preschoolers pull taffy repeatedly

Pull taffy apart, approximately 12 inches tall, fold over, and pull again

Add one or two drops of coloring and flavoring in between pulls to taste

When taffy is hard and holds its shape, you're ready to wrap it in wax paper!

Cut wax paper into rectangles, just big enough to wrap around a piece of taffy - twist the ends!