Did you know that you can make homemade Tootsie Rolls out of basic baking ingredients! It's true! Baking cocoa, powdered sugar, dry milk, vanilla, and corn syrup. They are a fun and easy treat to make with the kids.

If you like making your own candy you NEED to try our homemade butterfingers or homemade marshmallows!

Watch our step by step video!

These homemade Tootsie Rolls are always a hit with kids! Fun and easy to make, and they make a lot! I searched for a recipe that used baking cocoa (because that's what I had on hand vs. baking chocolate) and also a recipe that needed to be warmed up. I thought it might help create a smooth dough. Couldn't ever find one. So I used several different recipes to come up with these. The texture was just right. Slightly softer than regular Tootsie Rolls (which have a pretty hard texture), but still smooth and firm. Especially when pulled right out of the refrigerator.

jar of wrapped tootsie rolls with two unwrapped candies next to it

These Tootsie Rolls are SO yummy. My kids say they taste like brownies----nice and chocolatey.

What people are saying about these tootsie rolls

"Thank you for posting this. I made them last night and everyone that I have given them too, LOVED them."

"First time making these and we liked them better than the storebought ones!"

Tootsie Roll Ingredients

baking cocoa
vanilla
powdered milk
butter
powdered sugar
corn syrup

How To Make Tootsie Rolls

The ingredients are pretty basic and the process is super simple. If your kids like playing with play-doh they will love making their own Tootsie Rolls! The dough can be formed into fun shapes and is super easy to work with!

The first thing you'll do is heat the butter, baking cocoa, and corn syrup in a saucepan. It doesn't need to boil or simmer, it just needs to come together. The butter will melt and combine with the cocoa and corn syrup to produce a smooth texture.
Stir in vanilla and powdered milk and remove from heat. I like using a dough whisk for this part, but a wooden spoon works too.
Then you need to thicken the mixture with powdered sugar. Start with 2 cups and stir it all together. It will be a thick and sticky dough.
Transfer the dough to the work surface (covered in powdered sugar) and add more powdered sugar (about ½ cup) on top of the dough. Knead until the sugar has been mixed in and you have a soft, workable dough. You might need a little more sugar to accomplish this.
Roll out Tootsie Roll dough into long ropes and cut with a knife or pizza cutter.
Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper and chill for an hour.

You can let them come to room temperature before eating, but we like ours cold. I wrap mine in parchment paper to keep them from sticking to each other.

Homemade Tootsie Rolls will keep for about 2 weeks if stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

hand holding tootsie roll wrapped in parchment paper

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Homemade Tootsie Roll Recipe

Homemade Tootsie Rolls

Did you know that you can make homemade Tootsie Rolls out of basic baking ingredients! It’s true! Baking cocoa, powdered sugar, dry milk, vanilla and corn syrup. They are a fun and easy treat to make with the kids.

5 from 13 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 1

chill: 1

Total Time: 1 16

Servings: pieces

Calories: 28kcal

Author: Brandy Nelson

Ingredients

Instructions

In a sauce pan (on med) heat butter, cocoa, and corn syrup until smooth and melted.
Stir in the powdered milk and the vanilla extract. Remove from heat.
Add a cup of the powdered sugar and stir until it is incorporated. Once that sugar is mixed in, add a second cup of powdered sugar and stir to mix. At this point the dough will start getting stiff and it might be difficult to stir more powdered sugar into the candy.
Dust your work surface with ½ cup of powdered sugar and knead the candy until it is smooth. If it is still very soft, knead in a little more powdered sugar until it is firm but not dry or crumbly.
The dough might be a little sticky, but it dries as you work with it so I just sprayed my hands with a little cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking and I didn’t have any issues.
Once the homemade Tootsie Roll candy is smooth and a firm, break off a small piece and roll it into a long, thin rope. Using a sharp knife, cut it into small pieces and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have formed all of the Tootsie Roll dough into small pieces. We ended up with over 75 pieces.
Refrigerate the tray of Tootsie Rolls until they firm up, for about 1 hour. Wrap the homemade Tootsie Rolls in waxed paper to keep them from sticking to each other.

Notes

Homemade Tootsie Rolls will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. I like them cold, but you can bring them to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition