Make-Your-Own Lollipops

We made these yummy lollipops at my daughter's recent Tie-Dye Birthday party.  They were a fun little treat for the girls, but they were so easy, they'd be a fun little treat to make anytime.

Check them out...

Now look at how easy they are to make!

Here's what you need...

* Hard candy (photo shows Jolly Ranchers and Lifesavers, but I found that the Jolly Ranchers "melted" the best)

* parchment paper (affiliate link) - found in the baking aisle

* a hard object (to smash the candies)

* sturdy plastic bags (small freezer bags worked great)

* lollipop sticks (affiliate link) - found in                                                   the cake decorating section of most craft stores




Here's what to do...

1. Unwrap your candies and separate by colors in your plastic bags.  Close up your bags then use a hard object to smash your candies into smaller pieces.  ( I used a large wrench ).  You don't want to pulverize them into candy dust, but a variety of smaller-sized chunks.  

2.  For our party, I put the crushed candies in a divided tray so the girls could easily scoop out each color, but you could just go straight from the plastic bags if you want.

3.  Cut a piece of parchment paper to be the size of your cookie sheet, then draw circles with Sharpies to be the guidelines for your lollipop size and placement.  (they do spread out a decent amount, so leave some room between each lollipop)  Flip your parchment paper over so the actual marker circles are underneath, but you can still see the shape - that way the Sharpie doesn't bleed onto your actual candy.

 

4.  Preheat your oven to 225*.  Then allow the kids to scoop out the colors/flavors of the choices and mound them onto the circle shapes.  If you're doing this with more than one kid, allow them to write their name in Sharpie next to their lollipops.

5.  Put your tray into your preheated 225* oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until candies are melted.  

6.  Carefully take out your tray and immediately add your lollipop sticks, rolling them in the melted candy to completely coat the top part of the stick.  Note:  The lollipops will harden quickly, so move pretty fast with this step.

You'll notice that some lollipops were unevenly melted, that was the Lifesavers candies.

I'd recommend just sticking with the Jolly Ranchers, or doing a test batch 

with other varieties of candy.

7.  The lollipops will be cooled and hardened in less than 5-10 minutes.  Just peel them off the parchment paper and they're ready to enjoy!

Sharing our lollipops at:
Tatertots and Jello
The Frugal Girls