How to Make Salt Water Taffy in One Hour
Learn how to make salt water taffy like you find on seaside boardwalks in just one hour! Start with this funfetti version and then experiment with your own flavors using my recipe as a base.
Why You’ll Love this Homemade Taffy Candy
Working with homemade taffy is sticky, messy, and super stretchy – sort of like the slime that people buy for kids to play with. But, when you are all done pulling and stretching, your effort is rewarded with melt-in-your-mouth goodness!
Making this is a project, but not one that will take all day. With help from my mom and “help” from my toddler, we made and wrapped 50 pieces of taffy in an hour.
I got the idea for the funfetti version from a similar flavor made by Taffy Town [paid link] (a company that’s been making the confection for over 75 years). My homemade version has a rich vanilla flavor (just like my vanilla cupcakes) and is loaded with rainbow nonpareils [paid link] (tiny sprinkle balls).
What is Taffy Candy?
Salt water taffy is a super chewy candy that originated on the New Jersey shore.
Commercially, it is made by stretching sticky boiled sugar, butter or vegetable oil, flavorings, and sometimes colorings until it gets lots of air in it so it’s light and chewy. Then, it’s cut into small pieces and wrapped in waxed paper to keep it soft.
Can You Make Salt Water Taffy at Home?
You can make salt water taffy at home, but you will have to do all of the pulling yourself. It’s hard work, but you can save yourself a trip to the gym.
Also, I suggest grabbing a friend or two and a couple of kids to help out. Back in the day, people used to have taffy pulling parties to make taffy. Trust me, this more fun to do with others.
Why do they call it salt water taffy?
It does typically contain salt. But, so does does most taffy. Salt water taffy and taffy are the same thing!
The name salt water taffy started as a marketing gimmick when a taffy shop by the Atlantic shore was flooded.
Are chews the same as taffy candy?
Yes, chews are another name for the same thing. It is what salt water taffy is called in Britain.
Salt Water Taffy Ingredients and Equipment
Salt Water Taffy Ingredients
- Salt water taffy contains sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, water, salt, and flavoring. You can make salt water taffy in all kinds of flavors.
- The most popular flavors according to Taffy Shop are peppermint, vanilla, banana, watermelon, frosted cupcake, cotton candy, raspberry, and strawberry.
Tip: If you are making any of these flavors at home, you can use candy flavoring from LorAnn [paid link]. You can buy a 24 pack of different flavors very inexpensively. Once you own them, you can also you use them to flavor other candy recipes like homemade jelly beans.
- I like to make mine by using vanilla or vanilla bean paste (vanilla that includes the vanilla beans) and nonpareils (small round sprinkles).
- Note that the ingredients include corn syrup. Corn syrup is not the same as high fructose corn syrup. While both products are made from corn starch, regular corn syrup is 100 percent glucose, while high-fructose corn syrup has had some of its glucose converted to fructose enzymatically. Always check product ingredients to ensure that you are buying the right one when you make candy at home.
Homemade Taffy Equipment
- The good news is that you don’t need a professional taffy puller to make this recipe. But, there is one kitchen item that is required.
- You’ll need a candy thermometer [paid link]. These come in all different varieties, but a really cheap one will work just fine.
Tip: Make sure your candy thermometer has a clip to attach to your pot. This will make your life easier.
How to Make Homemade Salt Water Taffy Candy
- Place sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, butter, water, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan on medium-high heat and mix thoroughly.
- Heat until the mixture reaches 255 F on a candy thermometer and immediately remove from the heat.
Tip: If you read other salt water taffy recipes, you’ll see a range of temperatures. The higher the temperature, the harder the taffy will be. 255 F makes a candy that holds its shape but dissolves in your mouth.
- Mix flavoring into the hot taffy. I used vanilla bean paste in my taffy. It’s like vanilla extract with the addition of vanilla beans.
Tip: This is also when you would mix in food coloring.
- Pour the hot taffy into a buttered baking dish.
- Cover it with a layer of nonpareils to make funfetti salt water taffy.
- When it is cool enough to touch, butter your hands, form a big ball, and begin to stretch and pull. Imagine you are a kid with bubble gum in your mouth, pulling a piece of it way out, rejoining it to the ball, and then pulling again (but, if you can resist, don’t put any in your mouth yet – it will be much better after pulling).
Tip: Buttering your hands is really important. Taffy is VERY sticky!
- Keep doing this for about 15 minutes.
Tip: Do not skip the pulling stage! Pulling the taffy aerates taffy, which makes it softer and more chewy. As you pull, you’ll notice that the color becomes significantly lighter. You’ll also notice that it will get much tougher to pull. When your arms get really tired and it starts to feel like you are using one of those exercise stretch bands, you’re done. Don’t stress about doing it right. Just have fun!
- Do one last pull to make the taffy into a long rope with the thickness that you’d like your final product to be.
- Cut into bite-sized pieces.
Tip: As crazy as it sounds, it will make it easier to cut the taffy if you butter your scissors. Be careful not to cut yourself.
- Cut wax paper into small squares.
Tip: While parchment paper and wax paper are both non-stick, wax paper works much better for rolling up candy.
- Wrap taffy.
Why This Homemade Taffy Recipe Works
Even though home candy makers don’t have a pulling machine, the act of pulling and stretching the candy does the job. This is the original way taffy was made and it works perfectly!
Best Tips for Making Salt Water Taffy
- Grab a friend! Making salt water taffy can be really tiring if you do it alone.
- Keep on pulling. The more you pull, the better the taffy will be.
- Always use a candy thermometer. Guessing at the temperature simply won’t work. You need to get the temperature correct.
- Experiment with different flavors. You can even divide your batch in half to make two flavors from the same recipe.
Related Recipes
Funfetti Salt Water Taffy
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2/3 cup light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter You’ll also need some extra butter for buttering a baking dish, your hands, and scissors.
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste [paid link] or 1 tablespoon vanilla plus the seeds from a vanilla bean
- rainbow nonpareils to taste
Instructions
- Thoroughly butter a small baking dish and set aside.
- Place sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, butter, water, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan on medium-high heat.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Heat until the mixture reaches 255 F on a candy thermometer and immediately remove from the heat. Note: If you read other salt water taffy recipes, you’ll see a range of temperatures. The higher the temperature, the harder the taffy will be. 255 F makes a candy that holds its shape but dissolves in your mouth.
- Mix vanilla bean paste into the hot taffy.
- Pour the hot taffy into the buttered baking dish.
- Cover taffy with a layer of nonpareils.
- When the taffy is cool enough to handle, butter your hands, form a big taffy ball, and begin to stretch and pull. Imagine you are a kid with bubble gum in your mouth, pulling a piece of it way out, rejoining it to the ball, and then pulling again (but, if you can resist, don’t put any in your mouth yet – the taffy will be much better after the pull). Keep doing this for about 15 minutes. Pulling the taffy aerates it, which makes it softer and more chewy. As you pull, you’ll notice that the color of the taffy becomes significantly lighter. You’ll also notice that the taffy will get much tougher to pull. When your arms get really tired and it starts to feel like you are using one of those exercise stretch bands, you’re done. Don’t stress about doing it right. Just have fun! Look at the color of the taffy at the very beginning of the pull. You’ll see that it gets much lighter as the process continues.
- Do one last pull to make the taffy into a long rope with the thickness that you’d like your final product to be.
- Butter a pair of scissors (be careful not to cut yourself).
- Cut the taffy into bite-sized pieces.
- Cut wax paper into small squares.
- Wrap taffy in the wax squares.
Notes
- Grab a friend! Making salt water taffy can be really tiring if you do it alone.
- Keep on pulling. The more you pull, the better the taffy will be.
- Always use a candy thermometer. Guessing at the temperature simply won’t work. You need to get the temperature correct.
- Experiment with different flavors. You can even divide your batch in half to make two flavors from the same recipe. Buying a 24 pack of candy flavoring from LorAnn [paid link] is a good place to start.
yum! theese look great! is there a way to make sugar free salt water taffy?
I really didn’t find the recipe…but I think your page could use another 60 advertisements.
P.S. from Saundra
Vinegar taffy is a bit more challenging because it is a hard taffy – needs more pulling – but it is worth it. :)
One other old pioneer taffy favorite is vinegar taffy. It is really made with vinegar but it tastes sensational. It was a favorite of my dad and I have made it a plethora of times with my family. It is one of my favorites too. You should try it.
Amazing delicious bon bons
I made this today. It did not turn out in the least. I heated to 255 and it was so hard I couldn’t pull it.
you probably let it get too cool it has to be very warm still or you cooked it past the taffy stage
Hi Stef,
I like your recipe. I didn’t know what taffy was, now i know it’s candy! I never tried something like this be4, but i’ll give this a try within a few weeks for sure!
Is this a US recipe or a UK recipe? I guess UK. Then i can make my brittisch friend laugh for making taffy myself!
Thanks for the recipe and i’m looking forward to your next one. I really do.
Have a great day and till next time,
Marja
Oh I love taffy and reading this – I can tackle it on a cold winter weekend that we having here in northern Alberta, Canada – and the flavours that you promote I can get here – now too find out if my favourite taffy flavour is available “banana” yummmy – my next favourite flavour is raspberry (but have never tasted it in taffy form – but it’s something to try ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Cheers from Edmonton!! how did your taffy turn out im going to make this recipe tomorrow with my granddaughter!!
Great fun with my son on this DIY project. We just enjoyed this project and its taste.
Easy, delicious and quick!
Best Kitchen Utensil 2018
That is SO fun! My kids really enjoyed it! And it melts in your mouth! Thanks for the tips and the recipe!
My husband is obsessed with salt water taffy. I’m totally making this for his birthday this year!
I’ve always wanted to make taffy at home with my daughter, thanks for an easy to follow great recipe!
I’m a huge fan of salt water taffy and this recipe did not disappoint! I’ll be using it again and again.
My kids love taffy!! They will love being able to help make it! Thank you for sharing!
How fun is this?! I never would have thought to make taffy myself (those machines make it look so much easier!) I’m not gonna be able to stop myself from experimenting with new flavors, now!
You had me at one hour…and funfetti! ;) I can’t wait to try this!
it was amazing and it tasted so good my kids loved it
How fun it was to make with my daughter. She loved pulling it. Then love eating it when it was done. She gave some to are neighbor & said I made this. She was proud of herself.
Yay! I’m glad you two had fun!
I made these for the first time last night. instead of the vanilla bean paste I used about 0.5 oz (half a bottle of a one ox. bottle) or lemon extract. it gave me a hint of lemon without being too lemony, I did not add the sprinkles either. pulling bymyself took about an hour. I noticed when I was letting it cool a little the edges would cool faster so I started with the edges and added more of the candy as it melted until i was pulling all the candy. also this morning, I noticed that the candy when being unwrapped stuck a lot to the wax paper. do you have any suggestions on how to get them to NOT stick to the wax paper after wrapping them?
Well, soft ball stage worked much better but it was a little softer than I would’ve liked. There are only a few degrees different between the two times that I tried so I may try it one more time with a boil temp somewhere between soft ball stage and firm ball stage.
I am not a newbie to making candy so I was surprised to see that the taffy entailed boiling it to 10 degrees more than firm ball stage. I boiled it to firm ball stage, knowing full-well that I should only boil it to soft ball stage. Sure enough, we got delicious hard candy that did eventually get softer as you sucked it. I will try the recipe again but only boiling to soft ball stage, 240 degrees and I hope that makes a difference. My kids did have a fun time pulling the taffy but because of how long I boiled it, it got stringy so we had to squeeze while we pulled. What we got was a beautiful, ridged hard candy sort of a similar texture to nips caramel candies. I will update…
Hi, I’ve made a recipe almost the same as this before, and it turned out perfectly! Thanks for sharing! I was just wondering if the sprinkles soften in the candy, or if they stay hard?
I like to put cinnamon oil in the taffy with a little red food coloring.
My candy thermometer just came in the post. I am trying it this weekend!!! Can’t wait!!!
This was great fun to make with my 10 y.o.! We made a double batch and flavored half with 1 Tblsp vanilla and the other half with 1/4 tsp peppermint extract. Both are delicious and the recipe worked out perfectly. I almost missed the “pulling window” by waiting too long for the taffy to cool; problem was solved by heating the pans in the microwave for 20 seconds each. We also added food coloring gel during the pulling stage, although I wonder if it would be easier to add when the taffy is still liquid. The 255 degree mark was just right. Thank you for sharing your recipe!!
PS. You may want to add that it takes a long time for the sugar solution to reach 255. I was expecting it to take 10 min but it was much longer – maybe 40 min?
I’m so glad that you had fun making the taffy! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
Hello, This looked amazing and I tried a taffy heated to 266 that turned into hardtack, so I wanted to try yours.
I followed this recipe to the letter and things seemed to be going well at first, now, all I have is a stringy, sticky mess that hardened and turned into sugar strings for the most part, it turned out hard and inedible.
Are you supposed to let it cool til a certain temperature before working it? I started as soon as I could touch it, so disappointed after this second attempt
I tried this today and mine came out quite hard. I only heated it to 250 but we did try to pull it before it was completely cool. Any ideas as to why it came out like hard candies rather than taffy?
I tried this twice and it did not turn out at all both times. Really dissappointed.
Sorry that you you both had problems. I wish I had an answer for you. makayla, maybe try heating it a little less. The temperature can jump quite quickly so it’s possible that it got too hot even after taking it off the heat.
I tried this recipe, and it turned out perfectly delicious. Thank you so much!
Hi§, great recipe! Please tell me, how many did you get to do with these quantities? Thanks!
I followed your recipe exactly and even though we pulled it when it was still pretty hot, it cooled quickly into a rock hard rope. Not sure what went wrong. The only thing I can think of is my candy thermometer. Everything else was spot on. :(
I just made it! It took a few tries but i enjoyed making it and it tastes GREAT! I used praline candy flavoring and it turned out excellent. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This is fantastic! The pictures really help with seeing the whole process — and the difference in color is amazing from the beginning to end. It looks like it is a fun task, although an intense one. I would like to try this with peppermint extract… yum!
How come my taffy doesn’t harden even after I left it to cool for 30 minutes? It remains in the watery form and I am at loss for what to do!
I just made your taffy recipe and it came out perfect and it taste delicious. Only thing i did different was use rum flavoring instead of vanilla. Cant wait to experiment with more flavor/ color combinations. Thank you!
LOVE IT! I made my first attempt for my husband for V-Day this year; the flavor is spot on, but the candy is SO hard it’ll pull your teeth right out! The recipe I used said heat to 260/hard ball stage…..
Looking forward to trying yours! I’ll say, 1/4 t. peppermint extract, makes it a great peppermint flavor!
Living in Ireland and never having eaten salt water taffy, I’ve never fully understood the big fuss but after seeing this post I think I’ll have to give it a go….If it’s as addictive as my favourite Vanilla Tablet I’ll be on too a winner :D
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Made this last weekend and had such a blast I’m gonna make more. I tried pistachio extract with chopped pistachios mixed in and it was a hit among my coworkers. Great recipe, thanks!
Wow. This recipe really takes me back. My mom used to always make taffy for a taffy pull activity at my birthday parties. I remember ours being a whole lot messier! :-) It’s smart the way you use scissors for an easy way to make tidy pieces. Great post!
Hi Stef! It was great to meet you last night at the IFBC party at Mother’s. This salt water taffy project looks like a ton of fun! Love the funfetti idea!
I had no idea you could make salt water taffy at home! This is so exciting! I’ve got to try this :)
That looks amazing to eat and fun to make. :) Megan
With your kitchen around as well as the recipe book, you can absolutely enjoy making such stuffs. It is also a lot more fun if you’re it with your family.
I can’t wait until Elaine is old enough to do stuff like this. Your son is absolutely adorable by the way!
I have seen funfetti in many forms but never taffy until now!
how fun is that!
Thanks for sharing Stef!!
How fun!!! Its great to have so much fun in the kitchen!!!
Thank you so much, this looks like a great project! I will definitely be trying it out in the next few weeks.
These look amazing, Stef! How fun! I bet you could experiment and create a few different unique flavors out of one batch! Great post!