Fork and Beans

Making food fun for the family

Homemade Lemon Drop Candies

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I have a special soft spot for Lemon Drops.  theme

There are few memories I have of my grandmother but one that sticks out the most in my mind is how she always had Lemon Drops candies waiting for my sister and I whenever we came to visit. Now it is of no surprise to all of you that as a kid I loved candy and showed no partiality to anything sweet so again, no surprise that I would eat drop after drop until my tongue was battered from the rough sugar.

lemondrops

This homemade version makes me feel like I am 6 again with my sister, reaching my hand into the candy dish… (Happy Birthday, Sissy!)

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Homemade Lemon Drop Candies

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1/4 c. corn syrup
  • 3–4 Tb water
  • 2 tsp citric acid
  • 2–3 drops all-natural yellow food coloring
  • Lemon flavoring

Instructions

  1. Place parchment paper into a small pan (I used my 7″x5″ one)
  2. Place sugar, corn syrup, and water into a saucepan. Bring to soft boil, stirring constantly.
  3. Place candy thermometer into saucepan. Do not stir anymore at this point. Once it reaches 310 degrees, remove from heat.
  4. Allow the mix to sit for 30 seconds-1 minute. Place a couple of drops of coloring, flavoring, and citric acid and stir.
  5. Pour into parchment-lined pan. Let it cool briefly for 4 minutes (you want the candy harden a little but still soft so you can cut through it).
  6. Using kitchen scissors, cut into desired shapes. Dust with powdered or fine-textured sugar (this keeps from the candy from sticking together).

 

 

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About Cara

Based in Chicago with her husband and son, Cara is the creator behind the site Fork and Beans: A place where kids can have fun with their food.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melanie

    I wish to make these as puckery as possible. Got any suggestion for the sucking in the cheeks motion?

    ★★★★★

    • Yana

      Hi, I love it them to be sour as well. I add double the amount of citric acid to make it more sour.Add more each batch until you have reached your desire.

  2. Janie

    Any idea if a lollypop stick could be pushed into the freshly cut candy to form small suckers similar to Dum-Dums?

    ★★★★★

    • Debbie

      Hi Rachel, I couldn’t find any non-gmo organic citric acid, so I searched online and found on ehow.com it says to replace each teaspoon of citric acid in the recipe with 4 tbsp.of lemon juice. Hope that helps.

  5. Lee

    Substitute the sugar for coconut sugar and the cornsyrop for either pure maple syrop or stevia+water…for an extra punch, add a bit of fresh lemon zest instead of sugar crystals to coat the drops. Then you’ll have a yummy healthy treat!

  6. Kirsten

    I will definitively give this one a try- I have made candy before, successfully. It’s just hard to find cornsyrup here in switzerland- could you recommend a substitute? And I also take it you mean 310° Farenheit (can’t be Celcius, I guess that would produce lava-like chacoral ;-p ). Thanks for sharing!

    • Dave

      Kirsten, I know it’s been a while but one thing you could do to get the same smooth texture is to up the water to 1/2 cup or so and add 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar.

  12. Sharon Delamore

    I don’t really care about candy, Vegan or not, but I would REALLY like to find a vegan cookbook for one (or maybe 2: left overs! ).
    Can you help? I have a half can of Cannellini beans in my kitchen right now.

    Thanks
    SharonDelamore

  18. Bobbie {the vegan crew}

    I was never super big on candy (I liked it, but it was one of those things where I could always take it or leave it), but…I could eat lemon drops like crazy. I adore *anything* lemon and can’t wait to try these!

  19. Your Biggest Fan!

    Oh, what a sweet (no pun intended) memory! I too remember her lemon drops. MY grandmother also had lemon drops when I was a kid. Your post just conjured up so many wonderful memories!
    These lemon drops look great! I want to pop one in my mouth right now.:-)
    P.S. I already sang happy birthday to your Sissy.
    XOXOXOX

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