Frequently Asked Questions
QUESTION:
Can I omit the corn syrup when making candy?
I have a Christmas candy recipe for Chocolate Walnut Drops. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, which I generally don't keep in the house. I would prefer to substitute honey. I wouldn't feel nervous doing that with regular food, but do you think the substitution would work with candy? Basically, the corn syrup is mixed with sugar and milk, boiled for a couple minutes, then chocolate chips, nuts and flavoring are added to slightly thicken the mixture. Then it's dropped onto a cookie sheet by teaspoonful, soft enough for a walnut half to be pressed into it. Waddaya think?
ANSWER:
Corn syrup is used in recipes such as candy as a preventative rather than for flavoring to prevent crystallization and grainy texture. Since honey can crystallize, it would not make a good substitution in this case.
You might be able to omit the corn syrup altogether without a problem, but then again, you may end up with candy that may be slightly grainy, especially if there is a lot of humidity in the air.
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