Maple Sugar Candy is pure maple syrup boiled down with a little half and half, salt and sugar resulting in a wonderful candy recipe! Very similar to fudge in texture this candy is an awesome special treat to enjoy. This boiled candy is an old-fashioned recipe that you will want to keep on hand for holidays, to make as gifts, or just because!
Nostalgic Summer Recipes is the theme for this week's Sunday Supper event. I realize Maple Syrup is made in the spring, but you reap the benefits of it all year long! This particular recipe brings back memories of Dad (who used to produce maple syrup) and
Mom would make us treats with the syrup or treats to use the syrup on! It especially evokes those memories of mom making popcorn and fudge for us kids on Saturday night while we watched tv and were allowed to stay up late waiting for dad to get home from his night shift!
I have always been fortunate enough to enjoy pure maple syrup. If my family wasn't making it, someone we knew was a producer, and back in the day, it wasn't nearly as costly as it is today. Did you know that Northern New York was a big producer of maple syrup?
This area of NY is almost forgotten about when it comes to NY State and what it has to offer, but growing up, I had plenty of maple syrup and cheese curd - all made right by local suppliers!
Candy making is probably one of the hardest things to do. I have failed at it so many times and will never forget the time that I hid some fudge from my ex-husband because it failed - only for him to find it later in the bedroom closet shelf when we were moving out of our house! I'm almost ashamed to admit that, but hey, we have all done some crazy stuff!
Patience really is a virtue when it comes to boiling fudge, or candy of any kind really. You have to get to that soft ball stage for it to work. I swear it took forever for me to get there and this photo was so close!
You have to watch it carefully because if you don't before you know it, it will be over the soft ball stage and you will be doomed for fudge and have more of a brittle. I can't trust my mom's way, which was dropping some syrup in cold water to form a soft ball. I am no good at that whatsoever!
Stirring the candy is also pretty important. You want it to get creamy and just to begin to lose the shine. Once it starts to look like the photo above, you need to get it into your prepared pan!
The candy needs to flow out easily, but not too easily. By the time you are getting to what is left in the cooking pan, the fudge will already be starting to firm up.
I highly suggest you do not refrigerate this type of candy. Any kind of boiled sugar candy in the refrigerator will tend to seep and get wet, which in turn causes it to melt.
This type of candy will not cut perfectly, so I don't even try. I break it up into small pieces and store it in an airtight container. This should be good for up to a week, maybe more (if it lasts that long!).
If you have maple syrup, and you have patience, then I highly recommend you try this candy at least once! Make some memories with your kids and have them watch you as you make this and then pop up some buttery salted popcorn and serve it up with some of this delicious Maple Sugar Candy!
Beverages
- Blueberry Lavender Lemonade by Beauty and the Beets
- Natural Pink Pineapple Lemonade by Food Lust People Love
Breakfast
- Rhubarb Muffins by Wholistic Woman
- Strawberry Cream Cheese French Toast by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Appetizers
- Gazpacho Shooters by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Grilled BLT Kebabs by Eat, Drink and be Tracy
- Strawberry Fruit Dip by Books n’ Cooks
Main Dishes
- Classic Shrimp Roll Sliders by Crazed Mom
- How to Cook Hot Dogs by Life Tastes Good
- Wiener Schnitzel by Caroline's Cooking
Side Dishes
- Baked Beans by Magnolia Days
- Creamy Ranch Potato Salad by Dash of Evans
- Grilled Zucchini Salad by Sunday Supper Movement
- Seven-Layer Salad with Bacon and Peas by The Hungry Goddess
- Southern Fried Squash by Peaceful Cooking
- Spätzlesalat (German Spaetzle Pasta Salad) by Tara's Multicultural Table
- Summer's Best Tomato Cucumber Salad by Delaware Girl Eats
Desserts
- Ambrosia Salad by Angels Home Sweet Homestead
- Bavarian Almonds by Palatable Pastime
- Blueberry Cobbler by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
- Boardwalk Funnel Cake by The Redhead Baker
- Buttermilk Pound Cake by Renee's Kitchen Adventures
- DIY Drumsticks by A Mind Full Mom
- Double Corn Buttermilk Cake by What Smells So Good?
- Frosted Grapes by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Gluten Free S'mores Magic Bars by Cupcakes and Kale Chips
- Homemade Banana Pudding by Cooking with Carlee
- Homemade Drumsticks by Pies and Plots
- Japanese Melon Ice Cream by Ninja Baker
- Lemon Coconut Bars by The Finer Cookie
- Lemonade Pie with Sugar Cone Crust by Dizzy, Busy and Hungry
- Poke Cake by Our Good Life
- Maple Sugar Candy by Grumpy's Honeybunch
- Mom's Rhubarb Cake by Monica's Table
- Nana’s No-Bake Cheesecake Squares by The Crumby Cupcake
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake by The Freshman Cook
- Pudding Pops by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Root Beer Float Ice Cream Sandwiches by My Imperfect Kitchen
- Sherbet Float by Cookin' Mimi
- Strawberry Jello Angel Food Cake by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Strawberry Jello Pie by Tramplingrose
- Tita’s Fruit Dessert by Basic N Delicious
- Toasted Coconut Puppy Chow by Helpful Homemade
- Watergate Salad by Flavor Mosaic
Maple Sugar Candy
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups pure maple syrup
- ⅔ cups half and half
- ½ cup walnuts , chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the butter, sugar, salt, maple syrup, and half and half in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook until the mixture reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage).
- Remove the fudge from the heat and let set to cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the walnuts and continue to stir until candy begins to thicken and lose it's gloss.
- Pour the fudge mixture into a well greased pan 8 x 8 pan and cool. Cut into 24 equal pieces. Store in an airtight container on the counter.
Valerie
have made this 3 times at least. always comes out great. the less you let it rest after bringing it to temp, the grainier it will be. i love grainy fudge/candy. reminds me of my grandma.
Nancy Freymond
I just made this candy and it is wonderful. Figuring out the 'softball' takes a bit of practice but once you get it, your candy will be perfect. I used salted peanuts instead of walnuts. This candy has a complex flavour. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
P.S. For those of you who make maple syrup, I'd recommend using a darker syrup - perhaps from sap later in the season.
Shelby Law Ruttan
Hi Nancy, Thank you so much for sharing and for leaving a review. It is greatly appreciated! Shelby
Sarah Reid, CNP (@jo_jo_ba)
I love maple syrup... so darn expensive but worth every drop!
Kristen
Super funny story about maple candy. My father in law bought some for me when I visited Ohio a decade ago and it was confiscated by TSA as a potential weapon of mass destruction. I haven't eaten any since?? Needless to say, I didn't fight them to keep it.
Marion
This sounds wonderful, Shelby! How lucky you are to always have such amazing resources for the syrup. I bet that makes the candy even sweeter! Candy making is really tough down here in FL especially in the summer because of the humidity. I have been known to turn the a/c real cold to try to make caramels for my mom, but I can still only do that in the winter when there is less humidity. I think I need to move haha
Cindys Recipes and Writings
Great photos Shelby! I want to bite my screen!
Carlee
I love melt in your mouth candies and I have been really into maple lately. These look delicious!
Laura Dembowski
I love maple syrup and always buy the real thing. It is so complex in flavor. I would devour this candy.
Stacy
I love that you eat salty buttery popcorn together with the maple syrup candy, Shelby. Sounds like the perfect combination to me!
Nicole @ Crazed Mom
This candy sounds so good and your photos make me drool. Perfect summer candy!
Kimberlie Robert
I would be your devoted friend if you served me a plate of these maple sugar candies. I too was fortunate to grow up with lots of maple syrup. My grandmother kept her a huge mason jar full on her attic steps and whenever I slept over, it was my job to fetch it for the pancakes. I was so careful not to drop it. Like all kids will do, I poured way too much on my plate. Love your post.
Constance Smith | Cosmopolitan Cornbread
Oh my! This takes me back to my childhood!!!