Honey Lollipops for Licking, Stirring, and Gifting

By Wendy Sondov · Published: Aug 23, 2022 · This post may contain affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, there is a tradition of eating apples dipped in honey symbolizing the hope for a sweet New Year. Sparkling Honey Lollipops make beautiful Rosh Hashanah gifts for family and friends. Enjoy them as honey candy or as tea stirrers, adding smooth honey sweetness as they melt into the tea!

Amber colored Honey Lolipops molded in circle shapes and apple shape with wooden sticks.

Why you'll love this recipe

With this recipe, making Honey Lollipops is super easy, and can even be done without a candy thermometer if you don’t have one.

The internet is full of honey candy recipes with honey as the only ingredient. However, honey by itself burns before it gets hot enough to make hard candy.

Honey Lollipops need added glucose to harden. Honey is 40% fructose, 30% glucose, 1% sucrose, 9% bee spit (tmi, I know!).

Corn syrup is mostly glucose and flavorless. Honey plus corn syrup has the chemistry, when heated, to avoid crystallizing and produce a golden syrup that hardens into honey flavored candy.

Lollipops with red and green ribbons in a white mug with tea bags for gift giving.

At first, I was only thinking of Rosh Hashanah gifts as I made the apple shaped honey candy, but once they were wrapped and glowing like little pieces of amber, I realized that Honey Lollipops are full of gift giving potential.

Solve all of your holiday gift giving troubles right now! Teachers, friends, and family are sure to appreciate a special mug filled with a variety of tea bags and Honey Lollipop stirrers!

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

White plastic mold for circle lollipops filled with honey syrup and wooden lollipop sticks.

Add sugar to a small saucepan. Carefully pour corn syrup, honey, and 2 tablespoons water on top of the sugar, avoiding splashing or dripping on the sides of the pan.
Over a medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring gently without splashing, only until sugar dissolves. Boil for about 10 minutes, until a candy thermometer reads 310 degrees.
Remove the pan from the heat and immerse the bottom of the pan in an ice water bath for about 20 seconds to stop the cooking. Carefully wipe dry all water from the pan before proceeding.
Pour syrup into candy molds sprayed with nonstick spray. Add sucker sticks and twist the stick so that the tip is coated in syrup.

Storage

Allow honey candy to cool and harden at room temperature. The lollipops should be hard, shiny, and ready to pop out of the molds and wrap in plastic in about 15 minutes. Store lollipops wrapped individually in plastic (bags or wrap) at room temperature in an airtight container or freezer weight ziplock bag for up to 7 days.

Apple and circle lollipops with wooden sticks in a clear glass.

Tips

A candy thermometer indicates when the syrup reaches the “hard ball” stage (310˚F) after about 10 minutes of cooking. Dripping a tiny drop of the syrup into cold water will either harden immediately (ready!) or remain soft (keep cooking a bit). When the syrup is at the hard ball stage, it is ready to be poured into molds or free-form shapes on parchment paper.
Please don't attempt this recipe without the corn syrup. Honey by itself burns before it gets hot enough to make hard candy. Honey only lollipops will be either soft or burnt.
This recipe makes the correct amount of syrup for the 4 molds I used. Leftover syrup will harden and cannot be reheated. If you have more molds, you can double the recipe. If you have less molds, make free-form honey candy on parchment paper with any leftover syrup.
Add these treats to a mug with tea bags for a great gift idea.
Chilly weather and flu season are around the corner. A care package of cold remedies would be extra special with sore throat soothing Honey Lollipops!
For beautiful gift toppers and homemade candy for the holiday season, Honey Lollipops can be molded into a wide variety of shapes.
Circle lollipops morph into a gourmet treat with a quick dip in melted chocolate and a dash of holiday sprinkles.

Lollipops dipped half in chocolate with tiny leaf sprinkles in fall colors.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make lollipops without a mold?

Pour free form circles onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Add the lollipop sticks and allow the syrup to cool and harden.

Why are my lollipops not hardening?

It's important that the honey mixture heats to the hard ball temperature to ensure that sufficient water has been cooked out. If there is too much moisture, the lollipops won't harden.

Should you stir hard candy?

Stir the mixture gently only until the sugar has dissolved. Stirring too vigorously or too much can cause the sugar to cystalize making the candy grainy.

Honey Lollipops with cellophane bags over the candy, tied with a yellow ribbon.

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