These kool aid lollipops are so fun and delicious! I made this recipe at the request of my 4 year old. She said that if she could do anything she wanted for a full day, a “yes day” if you will, she would have a giant lollipop. So I decided we needed to make her dream a reality and make our own giant lollipops. I personally think these taste better than any giant lollipop I have ever eaten because they use kool aid as the flavoring. The flavoring has the perfect amounts of citric acid and flavor for these suckers. So these are not just really cool to look at, especially when you hold them up against the sun but they are really tasty too.
These kool aid lollipops only require a few ingredients but are a little technical to make, so be prepared with a few tools and helpful equipment.
First, a candy thermometer or glass of ice water to test your sugar stage. (If you want to learn about candy making HERE is my candy making 101 page)
*The ice water test: This is done if you are trying to figure out what stage your sugar mixture is at without a candy thermometer. You place a glass of ice water next to your pot and when the mixture begins to thicken and the rapid boil slows to a low bubble, spoon out some of the mixture into a glass of ice water and then pull out the sugar mixture and feel in your hands what texture you are at, the stages are thread – it falls through your hands, soft ball – it form a soft ball that falls flat, hard ball – forms a firm ball that keeps it’s shape, soft crack, it cracks but is still chewy a little, hard crack, it snaps with a firm snap and no bend.
Second, you will need a heavy bottomed pot to cook this in, any stainless steel or copper pot will work, copper conducts heat the best but if you don’t have one, don’t sweat it. I use stainless steel but I make sure the bottom is heavy so the heat is regulated evenly, this prevents your sugar from burning and helps the whole pot of sugar get to the same temperature together.
Third, you will need parchment paper or a silpat silicone baking sheet, you will need something that the sugar won’t stick to.
Fourth, you will need a heat tolerant surface, I have a granite counter top so it can handle the heat from the hot sugar, a marble slab is also great for working with the sugar on, cookie sheets will work for this if you don’t have heat resistant countertops but be sure to use a towel underneath your cookie sheet to prevent any damage to the counter tops.
You will need a few more things like a rubber spatula or sturdy mixing spoon and access to an oven to help keep everything warm to help with the lollipop making process. You can also use a microwave in a pinch too to reheat your sugar.
You will also need all of the ingredients and popsicle sticks or large sucker sticks, I personally prefer popsicle sticks more for these larger lollypops but if you are making smaller suckers or smaller lollipops sucker sticks will work great.
The cream of tartar is an important ingredient in this recipe because it will make your lollipop breakable and your sugar mixture a little brittle, so that you could bite or crunch the sugar from the sucker if you wanted to without the sugar sticking to or hurting your teeth super bad. It’s a small ingredient but important in these suckers.
You can add white food or candy additive to these to make them opaque if you want. This ingredient can be found in most lollipops and gives them that white color instead of being translucent. If you don’t care what they look like then it’s not a necessary ingredient.
What you need to make Kool Aid Lollipops:
Makes 5-6 large lollipops
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar – this makes your lollipop breakable so you can chew it and it will shatter instead of breaking your teeth.
- 3 packets of kool aid – this can be all one flavor or 3 different flavors (I used berry cherry, pina-colada and grape for my suckers pictured)
- 1 teaspoon water – add with kool aid to help it dissolve into the sugar mixture
- Optional – food coloring or white candy food coloring for opaque colors
Equipment needed:
- Heavy bottomed pan
- Candy thermometer or use the ice water test
- Rubber spatula or sturdy spoon for stirring
- 2 additional heat resistant bowls or pots if making multiple flavors
- Parchment paper
- Heat proof surface, like stone or cookie sheets with towels placed underneath so the heat doesn’t damage your counter
- Knife for cutting the sugar
- Popsicle sticks or sucker sticks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F., you will use it to keep the sugar mixture warm so you can mold it into lollipops. If you are using candy molds or doing small, non – spiraled lollipops then you can skip this step.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, add sugar, corn syrup, water and cream of tartar.
- Attach a candy thermometer to the side of your pot and bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- When sugar mixture’s temperature gets to 300 F. or hard crack stage (see ice water test below if working without a candy thermometer) add in your kool aid all at once if using the same color and flavor for the whole lollipop, along with a teaspoon of water, or if using different colors and flavors, divide mixture into 3 pots or heat proof bowls and quickly stir in your kool aid packet with a 1/2 teaspoon of water, this water should steam out quickly and candy should stay at hard crack stage, stir until the kool aid is mixed in then pour your hot sugar onto a parchment paper lined heat proof counter or cookie sheet or if using candy or sucker molds then pour into them now and skip the remaining steps.
- If using molds, place sucker sticks in the designated space and pour the hot sugar into molds. If doing non-spiraled suckers then spoon out about 1-2 tablespoons hot sugar mixture onto a piece of parchment paper then insert and bury the sucker stick in the hot sugar mixture. When sugar is cooled , enjoy. (If doing this, skip the remaining steps, those steps are for rolling up a spiraled lollipop).
- Let mixture cool until you can pick up the side of the parchment paper and the sugar peels away naturally but it is still warm and moldable. The sugar will still be hot so be careful, use heat proof gloves if you have them or try to maneuver the hot candy with the help of the parchment papers edge.
- Roll or form the sugar mixture into a cylinder the best you can.
- Once you have done this with all pieces of sugar, lay them side by side.
- If sugar mixture has started to cool too much, place into the warmed oven until it becomes pliable again.
- When the sugars are side my side and sugar is moldable, pull and stretch the sugar cylinder out so it’s a long rope, you can cut this rope into a few pieces when it gets too long, I ended up with 5 separate ropes.
- If sugar gets too hard to handle, place back into the oven again then repeat until you get about a 1 inch thick rope.
- Roll rope pieces into a spiral, you can make these lollipops any size you want so you can roll the whole rope for one or cut the sugar rope with a knife when you feel you have enough, we will press these lollipops down so don’t worry about them being too thick at this point.
- Once lollipops are rolled, place back into the oven to make the sugar soft again.
- Remove from oven and insert your popsicle stick into the bottom center and about half way up through the sucker.
- Next we will press the lollipop so it’s not too thick, reheat the lollipop in the oven if it’s too cold to press, then remove from oven and use a piece of parchment paper over the top of the lollipop. Then use a pot or pan or anything with a smooth bottom and press down hard on the warm sugar to press out the lollipop to your desired thinness, Mine are around 1/2 an inch thick.
- If you want a smooth surface on your lollipop, place in the oven again for a minute and it will get a shine to it, if you don’t mind then just allow it to cool and enjoy when it’s cooled and firm.
The ice water test: This is done if you are trying to figure out what stage your sugar mixture is at without a candy thermometer. You place a glass of ice water next to your pot and when the mixture begins to thicken and the rapid boil slows to a low bubble, spoon out some of the mixture into a glass of ice water and then pull out the sugar mixture and feel in your hands what texture you are at, the stages are thread – it falls through your hands, soft ball – it form a soft ball that falls flat, hard ball – forms a firm ball that keeps it’s shape, soft crack, it cracks but is still chewy a little, hard crack, it snaps with a firm snap and no bend.
Here are a few other candy recipes you may love:
Caramel Pecan Pralines
“Poison” Cinnamon Candy Apples
Triple Chocolate Almond Cherry Truffles
Homemade Toffee
White Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut Truffles
Dark Chocolate & Banana White Chocolate Truffle & Rum Spiced Caramel Candies
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
Homemade Tootsie Rolls
Kool Aid Lollipops
Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar this makes your lollipop shatter if you bite it instead of having it break your teeth
- 3 packets of kool aid this can all any flavor or flavors you want to use
- Optional – food coloring or white candy food coloring for opaque colors
- Equipment:
- Heavy bottomed pan
- Candy thermometer or use the ice water test
- Rubber spatula or sturdy spoon for stirring
- 2 additional heat resistant bowls or pots if making multiple flavors
- Parchment paper
- Heat proof surface like stone or cookie sheets with towels placed underneath so the heat doesn’t damage your counter
- Knife for cutting the sugar
- Popsicle sticks or sucker sticks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F., you will use it to keep the sugar mixture warm so you can mold it into lollipops. If you are using candy molds or doing small, non – spiraled lollipops then you can skip this step.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, add sugar, corn syrup, water and cream of tartar.
- Attach a candy thermometer to the side of your pot and bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- When sugar mixture’s temperature gets to 300 F. or hard crack stage (see ice water test below if working without a candy thermometer) add in your kool aid all at once if using the same color and flavor for the whole lollipop, along with a teaspoon of water, or if using different colors and flavors, divide mixture into 3 pots or heat proof bowls and quickly stir in your kool aid packet with a 1/2 teaspoon of water, this water should steam out quickly and candy should stay at hard crack stage, stir until the kool aid is mixed in then pour your hot sugar onto a parchment paper lined heat proof counter or cookie sheet or if using candy or sucker molds then pour into them now and skip the remaining steps.
- If using molds, place sucker sticks in the designated space and pour the hot sugar into molds. If doing non-spiraled suckers then spoon out about 1-2 tablespoons hot sugar mixture onto a piece of parchment paper then insert and bury the sucker stick in the hot sugar mixture. When sugar is cooled , enjoy. (If doing this, skip the remaining steps, those steps are for rolling up a spiraled lollipop).
- Let mixture cool until you can pick up the side of the parchment paper and the sugar peels away naturally but it is still warm and moldable. The sugar will still be hot so be careful, use heat proof gloves if you have them or try to maneuver the hot candy with the help of the parchment papers edge.
- Roll or form the sugar mixture into a cylinder the best you can.
- Once you have done this with all pieces of sugar, lay them side by side.
- If sugar mixture has started to cool too much, place into the warmed oven until it becomes pliable again.
- When the sugars are side my side and sugar is moldable, pull and stretch the sugar cylinder out so it’s a long rope, you can cut this rope into a few pieces when it gets too long, I ended up with 5 separate ropes.
- If sugar gets too hard to handle, place back into the oven again then repeat until you get about a 1 inch thick rope.
- Roll rope pieces into a spiral, you can make these lollipops any size you want so you can roll the whole rope for one or cut the sugar rope with a knife when you feel you have enough, we will press these lollipops down so don’t worry about them being too thick at this point.
- Once lollipops are rolled, place back into the oven to make the sugar soft again.
- Remove from oven and insert your popsicle stick into the bottom center and about half way up through the sucker.
- Next we will press the lollipop so it’s not too thick, reheat the lollipop in the oven if it’s too cold to press, then remove from oven and use a piece of parchment paper over the top of the lollipop. Then use a pot or pan or anything with a smooth bottom and press down hard on the warm sugar to press out the lollipop to your desired thinness, Mine are around 1/2 an inch thick.
- If you want a smooth surface on your lollipop, place in the oven again for a minute and it will get a shine to it, if you don’t mind then just allow it to cool and enjoy when it’s cooled and firm.