Homemade salt water taffy is fun to make and a nostalgic treat! Fill a candy jar up with a rainbow of flavors and colors. This post contains affiliate links.
You might also like our homemade churro toffee, our homemade mounds & almond joy bites, or our breakable candy bombs!
Watch our step by step video!
Salt Water Taffy
Salt water taffy is a nostalgic treat. One that you’ll find all over, but especially sold near coastal towns. You might think, understandably so, that saltwater plays some sort of role in making taffy, but that isn’t true. Salt water taffy isn’t any different than taffy. This candy is said to have received its name after a candy maker, near an Atlantic boardwalk, walked into his shop after an ocean swell had soaked all of the candy. When customers came into the shop, inquiring about the taffy, he jokingly said he had some salt water taffy available. The name stuck and the rest is history.
Homemade Salt Water Taffy
I remember making a batch of cinnamon salt water taffy with my mom when I was a child. I didn’t end up caring for the cinnamon flavor, but the process of making the taffy and pulling it was fun. Ruby is my taffy assistant and loves making salt water taffy. She was excited when the 5th-grade reading passage for the week was all about salt water taffy. She wanted to make a batch to share with her class, but homemade treats are prohibited at school. Instead, she told her teacher about her taffy adventures and the flavors she’s made.
We’ve made grape, orange, raspberry, lemon, bubblegum, and banana-flavored taffy. We recently added watermelon flavoring to our stash so a batch of that will be in our future. My favorite flavors are grape and orange.
This recipe is an adaptation of one that I found in a paperback Betty Crocker cook book that my grandma gave me when I was a teenager. It’s out of print, but full of some of my favorite staple recipes!
Salt Water Taffy Supplies and Ingredients
Supplies
- baking sheet
- medium saucepan
- wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- candy thermometer
- scissors
- wax paper
- food gloves
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
(scroll to the end of the post for the recipe and step by step instructions)
- sugar: white, granulated sugar
- corn starch
- light corn syrup
- water
- butter: salted or unsalted
- sea salt or kosher salt
- flavoring oils or extracts: flavoring oils are much stronger than extracts. If using flavoring oils use 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 a dram). If using extracts use 1 teaspoon.
- food coloring: 2-3 drops. The taffy color will lighten as it is pulled.
How To Make Salt Water Taffy
(scroll to the end of the post for step by step photos)
Butter a baking sheet and set it to the side.
Combine sugar, corn starch, corn syrup, water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil.
Add a candy thermometer to the pan and allow the mixture to simmer (without stirring) until it reaches 250-253 degrees.
Sea Level vs. High Altitude cooking times
I live close to sea level and have found that 252 degrees is just about right for making taffy. If you live at a higher altitude the general rule of thumb is to reduce the temp 2 degrees for every 1000 feet of elevation above sea level. It might take a batch or two to find just the right temperature, but once you do its smooth sailing! You’ll be able to make batch after batch of deliciously soft and chewy taffy.
If your taffy hardens quickly and looks like hard candy/glass you cooked it too long (it will still be edible, but more of a Jolly Rancher hard candy). If the taffy is runny and a slimy mess it wasn’t cooked long enough. A good candy thermometer is essential to ensure the proper temp.
Flavoring Salt Water Taffy
You can simply flavor your taffy with a teaspoon of vanilla extract, but we like adding fruity flavoring oils. My favorite flavoring oil brand is LorAnn. They taste amazing and are easy to find locally at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby or order online from Amazon or Walmart. You’ll need 1/2 of a bottle (1/2 teaspoon) for each batch of salt water taffy.
If you’d like to use extracts like lemon, peppermint, rootbeer, orange, or lemon you’ll need about a teaspoon.
Once the taffy mixture reaches 250-253 degrees remove it from the heat and stir in a couple of drops of coloring and the flavoring oil.
Immediately pour the taffy mixture onto the buttered baking sheet. Allow taffy to cool until it is warm enough to handle.
Note: if you want to split the batch to make 2 flavors you’ll need to prepare a second buttered pan and have a place to pour half of the hot taffy mixture to flavor it separately. You’ll need to work quickly. I prefer making a single flavor at a time. It’s just easier!
How To Pull Taffy
I’ve pulled taffy with buttered hands and buttered gloves and prefer using buttered gloves. Simply wipe a small amount of butter across your food gloves and you’ll be good to go. Peel taffy off of the baking sheet, form it into a ball and begin to pull. It will start out looking glassy but will turn into a soft, satin texture as you pull. The color will lighten and the taffy will start to stiffen slightly. Watch our step-by-step video to see how the color changes as you pull.
Form taffy into a rope and cut it into bite-sized pieces using buttered scissors. Wrap candy in wax paper.
Homemade Salt Water Taffy Recipe
Homemade Salt Water Taffy
Equipment
- saucepan
- candy thermometer
- wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- baking sheet
- scissors
- wax paper
- measuring cups and spoons
- gloves
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 Tbsp. corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt sea salt or kosher
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup
- 2/3 cup water
- food coloring
- 1/2 teaspoon concentrated flavoring oil (1 teaspoon extract)
- butter for greasing pan and hands
Instructions
- Butter a baking sheet. Set baking sheet aside.
- Combine sugar, corn starch, salt, butter, corn syrup and water in medium saucepan.
- Heat on medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil.
- Add candy thermometer to pan and cook, without stirring, until mixture reaches 250-253 degrees (see notes about cooking temp).
- Pull pan off of heat and add 3-4 drops of food coloring and flavoring oil. Stir.
- Imediately pour mixture onto buttered baking sheet. Allow to cool until you can handle it. Mixture should be warm when you begin to pull the taffy, not hot.
- Spread a small amount of butter onto your hands, or onto your food gloves (I like using gloves) then remove taffy from baking sheet, form into a ball and begin to pull taffy.
- Taffy will start out looking glassy and darker in color, but will change to a satin texture and lighter in color.
- It will change from soft and stringy to stiff and smooth.
- This can take anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
- Roll taffy into a rope.
- Cut taffy, with buttered scissors, into bite sized pieces.
- Wrap taffy in small squares of wax paper.
- This recipe makes 30-40 pieces of taffy, depending on the size you cut the pieces.
Notes
- You can use salted or unsalted butter.Â
- Flavoring oils are much stronger than extracts. If using flavoring oils use 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 a dram). If using extracts use 1 teaspoon.
- The perfect taffy temperature can fluctuate depending on altitude. You'll find suggestions from 246 degrees all the way up to 256 degrees. I've made many batches of taffy and have found 252 to be the right temp for my taffy. I live close to sea level. Higher altitudes may want to reduce the temp to 246. I believe the rule is to subtract 2 degrees for every 1000 feet above sea level.
- If your taffy hardens quickly and looks like hard candy/glass you cooked it too long. If the taffy is runny and a slimy mess it wasn't cooked long enough. A good candy thermometer is essential to ensure the proper temp.Â
- If taffy is slightly sticky after cutting it into pieces, let it stand 15-20 minutes before wrapping. This will allow it to dry on the ends and it won't stick to the wax paper.
Nutrition
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