So one thing I love about this time of year is all the yummy treats! It starts to get cold, and all I want to do is stay inside and make delicious foods! When I worked at Cox Honeyland, one of my favorite candies was their Old-Fashioned Honey Candy – the kind you can pull! It is delicious, and it’s fun to make! 🙂

Related recipe: Love homemade candy? Then you’ll love our Homemade Microwave Caramels!

Homemade Honey Candy Recipe

hen I worked at Cox Honeyland one of my favorite candies was their Old-Fashioned Honey Candy – the kind you can pull! It is delicious, and it’s fun to make!

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 15

Total Time 1 45

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Ingredients

▢ 2 cups melted honey
▢ 1 cup cream
▢ 1 cup sugar
▢ butter, (or butter-flavored cooking spray)

Equipment

Instructions

Combine the first 3 ingredients and cook slowly on medium heat until it forms a hard ball when you drop it into ice water. It took me about an hour.
As the mixture gets close to being done, the bubbles from the boil will get a lot smaller and closer together. Pour the mixture onto a buttered cooking sheet. When cooled, pull with buttered hands. Stretch, twist and pull until firm (this is the fun part! ;)) and then form into long ropes and place on waxed paper.
Cut into bite size pieces. If you want, you can roll them in powdered sugar and wrap them in wax paper.

Nutrition

Calories: 76 kcal · Carbohydrates: 16 g · Protein: 1 g · Fat: 2 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 7 mg · Sodium: 2 mg · Potassium: 11 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 16 g · Vitamin A: 73 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 4 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Cuisine: American

Course: Snack

Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.

This recipe is courtesy of Cox Honey

Questions & Reviews

Alicia says:

This candy has been a family tradition for many years. We love it so much and have enjoyed sharing it with other family and friends!

Steph says:

They look yummy :) do they taste like bit-o-honey at all?

Cyd says:

Just a yummy honey candy, similar but much better and that great homemade taste.

Nicole says:

Do we actually drop it in ice water to create a ball? I'm a bit confused on the process... :-/

emilie says:

I'm pretty good at just figuring things out as I go but I'm also a little confused by these directions. I cooked for an hour and did the water test and never really saw this hard ball formation. I poured it out on the buttered sheet but I'm not quite clear on the pull and twist part. Maybe if you included step by step pictures with the directions I bet that would help a lot. :)

Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen says:

Oh what a fun candy to make!!!

Kristy says:

I used to ask my grandma to make this for my birthday. I think I'll make this for all of my sisters for Christmas. It will bring back some nice memories. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Cyd says:

Just put a few drops of the candy into ice water to test.

Haley says:

What kind of cream do you recommend using?

Cyd says:

Heavy Whipping cream

Ann says:

I am excited to try this recipe... We used to make honey candy all the time, but did not use the cream... I'm sure this would be a great recipe as I love honey and I love cream even more. We used to just put honey, water, sugar and sometimes lemon to make a great cough drop with the honey, boil it to a hard ball and stretch it like making taffy.. If you don't want to do the water test method you can purchase a candy thermometer and just cook it to 255 degrees....

Zane says:

what about cream cheese? :D

Marren says:

I would love to try this recipe, but I am really confused about the ice water part. Do I boil it for an hour and then pour it in ice water? Help???

Cyd says:

The ice water part is just a little test that you can do. Drop a very small piece into the ice water and see if it goes hard. Don't put all of the caramel in. :)

Marren says:

Ah, thank you. That makes much more sense :) Also, (last question, I promise) during the cooking/boiling step, does it have to be stirred at all?

Cyd says:

Hi Marren, I just talked to Steph and she said stir constantly. :)

Sharan says:

Can this be made with extra honey & no sugar?

Cyd says:

We have only made this delicious honey candy as the directed on the recipe.

David says:

Followed every step. The end result was a nasty smelling glass like structure. Don't know where I went wrong.

Jenna says:

Readers.. Not all grandmothers, great grandmothers had cooking thermometers. "Hard ball stage" referring to candy, means that you get a bowl of ice, add some water. When a drop of the honey candy mixture hits the iced water, it will crystallize if it is ready. At that point it's spread on waxed paper. When it cools enough to handle, children pull it, twist it into a braid, cool & cut. Oh, and don't substitute anything. This is a very old recipe. It's sticky but wonderful.

Michelle says:

I have made this candy successfully in the past. However last year every batch I made of this and other pull candies were sticky and sweated. What causes that?

Lauren says:

Have you ever tried using a sugar substitute like Splenda or a Splenda blend?

Cyd says:

We have not tried any sugar substitutes with this recipe. It's so delicious the way it is we didn't want to cut any corners.

Angela says:

Sounds like too high heat and cooked beyond hard ball stage. Do you have candy thermometer? They help greatly. Can pick up a Walmart.

Uncommonsensesc says:

At the hard ball stage, it's past the pull, twist, cool and cut part. You need the soft ball stage for this. Hard ball stage is for nut brittle where you just break it into bits when it's cool.

Caroline says:

What is the shelf life?

Mandy says:

Hello! Thank you for the recipe. My daughter is expecting in February and she’s planning a grey/white/yellow “bumblebee” nursery (not in your face bumblebees, just hints here an there. We are also planning her shower for the same theme. If you don’t pull the candy (like taffy I assume) does it stay soft and pliable like caramels or harden up like a Jolly Rancher?

Cyd says:

Hi Mandy. Our Homemade Honey Candy is in between soft caramel and a hard jolly rancher. It's similar to taffy.

Jim says:

Agree - more questions than answers. It appears that this mixture needs to boil for an hour? Need a step by step rewrite. I’ll wait.

Confused says:

I dont understand the instructions either. do we boil to a ball then put in water but then pour on a sheet?

Momma Cyd says:

You add a drop of the boiled candy into a bowl of cold water to test it for doneness to the hard ball stage. (They are just explaining how to test that)

emery says:

Do they need to be refridgerated afterwards?

Momma Cyd says:

No, just store in an airtight container.

Annelle Lalonde says:

What type of cream to use? What temperature should it be to form hard ball?

Momma Cyd says:

You can use heavy cream. Combine the first 3 ingredients and cook slowly on medium heat until it forms a hard ball when you drop it into ice water. It took me about an hour.

Join The Discussion

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Alicia says:

This candy has been a family tradition for many years. We love it so much and have enjoyed sharing it with other family and friends!
Steph says:

They look yummy :) do they taste like bit-o-honey at all?
Cyd says:

Just a yummy honey candy, similar but much better and that great homemade taste.
Nicole says:

Do we actually drop it in ice water to create a ball? I'm a bit confused on the process... :-/
emilie says:

I'm pretty good at just figuring things out as I go but I'm also a little confused by these directions. I cooked for an hour and did the water test and never really saw this hard ball formation. I poured it out on the buttered sheet but I'm not quite clear on the pull and twist part. Maybe if you included step by step pictures with the directions I bet that would help a lot. :)
Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen says:

Oh what a fun candy to make!!!
Kristy says:

I used to ask my grandma to make this for my birthday. I think I'll make this for all of my sisters for Christmas. It will bring back some nice memories. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Cyd says:

Just put a few drops of the candy into ice water to test.
Haley says:

What kind of cream do you recommend using?
Cyd says:

Heavy Whipping cream
Ann says:

I am excited to try this recipe... We used to make honey candy all the time, but did not use the cream... I'm sure this would be a great recipe as I love honey and I love cream even more. We used to just put honey, water, sugar and sometimes lemon to make a great cough drop with the honey, boil it to a hard ball and stretch it like making taffy.. If you don't want to do the water test method you can purchase a candy thermometer and just cook it to 255 degrees....
Zane says:

what about cream cheese? :D
Marren says:

I would love to try this recipe, but I am really confused about the ice water part. Do I boil it for an hour and then pour it in ice water? Help???
Cyd says:

The ice water part is just a little test that you can do. Drop a very small piece into the ice water and see if it goes hard. Don't put all of the caramel in. :)
Marren says:

Ah, thank you. That makes much more sense :) Also, (last question, I promise) during the cooking/boiling step, does it have to be stirred at all?
Cyd says:

Hi Marren, I just talked to Steph and she said stir constantly. :)
Sharan says:

Can this be made with extra honey & no sugar?
Cyd says:

We have only made this delicious honey candy as the directed on the recipe.
David says:

Followed every step. The end result was a nasty smelling glass like structure. Don't know where I went wrong.
Jenna says:

Readers.. Not all grandmothers, great grandmothers had cooking thermometers. "Hard ball stage" referring to candy, means that you get a bowl of ice, add some water. When a drop of the honey candy mixture hits the iced water, it will crystallize if it is ready. At that point it's spread on waxed paper. When it cools enough to handle, children pull it, twist it into a braid, cool & cut. Oh, and don't substitute anything. This is a very old recipe. It's sticky but wonderful.
Michelle says:

I have made this candy successfully in the past. However last year every batch I made of this and other pull candies were sticky and sweated. What causes that?
Lauren says:

Have you ever tried using a sugar substitute like Splenda or a Splenda blend?
Cyd says:

We have not tried any sugar substitutes with this recipe. It's so delicious the way it is we didn't want to cut any corners.
Angela says:

Sounds like too high heat and cooked beyond hard ball stage. Do you have candy thermometer? They help greatly. Can pick up a Walmart.
Uncommonsensesc says:

At the hard ball stage, it's past the pull, twist, cool and cut part. You need the soft ball stage for this. Hard ball stage is for nut brittle where you just break it into bits when it's cool.
Caroline says:

What is the shelf life?
Mandy says:

Hello! Thank you for the recipe. My daughter is expecting in February and she’s planning a grey/white/yellow “bumblebee” nursery (not in your face bumblebees, just hints here an there. We are also planning her shower for the same theme. If you don’t pull the candy (like taffy I assume) does it stay soft and pliable like caramels or harden up like a Jolly Rancher?
Cyd says:

Hi Mandy. Our Homemade Honey Candy is in between soft caramel and a hard jolly rancher. It's similar to taffy.
Jim says:

Agree - more questions than answers. It appears that this mixture needs to boil for an hour? Need a step by step rewrite. I’ll wait.
Confused says:

I dont understand the instructions either. do we boil to a ball then put in water but then pour on a sheet?
Momma Cyd says:

You add a drop of the boiled candy into a bowl of cold water to test it for doneness to the hard ball stage. (They are just explaining how to test that)
emery says:

Do they need to be refridgerated afterwards?
Momma Cyd says:

No, just store in an airtight container.
Annelle Lalonde says:

What type of cream to use? What temperature should it be to form hard ball?
Momma Cyd says:

You can use heavy cream. Combine the first 3 ingredients and cook slowly on medium heat until it forms a hard ball when you drop it into ice water. It took me about an hour.