Bring Christmas cheer with candy from your kitchen

Nothing beats a batch of Christmas confections whipped up in your own kitchen for everyone on your gift list. Armed with a few tips, tried-and-true recipes and the precision heat of a natural gas range, successfully making Southern-inspired favorites like peanut brittle and divinity can be quick and easy.

Our Walton Gas team scoured the internet for the best candy-making pointers and recipes to give you a start. So, grab some goodie bags and get ready to fill them with gift-worthy confections sure to bring holiday cheer.

Candy-making tips

1. Assemble the right equipment.

  • Natural gas range: Candy-making requires precision. Cooking candy on a gas range gives the ultimate control over temperatures. With gas, the heat is more accurate and temperature changes are instantaneous — both important for making candy.
  • Heavy saucepan: Use a heavy saucepan to promote even cooking and prevent scorching or burning. Use the recommended size pan to prevent candy from boiling over. Professionals tend to favor copper pots over stainless steel. Copper is a great conductor of heat, so the candy cooks evenly. Copper pots also tend to be thicker than stainless ones, so they retain heat better and allow the candy to cook more slowly.
  • Candy thermometer: Invest in a quality candy thermometer to know the exact temperature of cooking ingredients while doing sugar work. Before investing in a thermometer, read these recommendations (https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/shopping/product-reviews/best-candy-thermometers) from foodnetwork.com.

2. Check the thermometer.

If you haven’t used your candy thermometer in a while, or it’s the first time, do a test to ensure measuring accuracy. Place the bulb of the thermometer in a pan with enough water to cover the bulb. Bring water to a boil and let it boil several minutes. Be careful not to let bulb touch the bottom of the pan. Read the temperature at eye level while thermometer is in water. It should read 212°F or 100°C while water is boiling. If thermometer does not measure temperature correctly, adjust candy temperature during cooking to reflect difference.

3. Watch the weather.

The weather and humidity can play a prominent role in the process of making candy, as it can have a dramatic impact on the quality of the finished product. As a rule of thumb, only make candy when the weather is cool and dry, as the candy will cool faster and reduce the likelihood of crystal formation. Remember, high-humidity days can occur during the winter as well as summer.

4. Invest in quality ingredients.

You’ll taste the difference between confections made with real, fresh ingredients versus ones that aren’t. For instance, in recipes that call for butter, always use the real thing. Margarine and low-fat spreads do not result in the correct texture because of emulsifiers and other ingredients added to their formulas. Here in Georgia, locally grown pecans and peanuts, harvested in the fall, are an easily sourced fresh ingredient ideal for making a variety of sweet treats.

5. Watch closely.

Once you begin cooking your candy mixture, keep an eye on the candy thermometer. Stir the mixture carefully and occasionally with a wooden spoon until the correct temperature is reached. Be patient; candy takes time to cook. Don’t rush things by turning up the heat.

6. Store correctly.

Candies that absorb moisture (caramels, mints, hard candies, toffee) should be stored separately from candies that lose moisture (fudge, divinity, meringues). If you combine these types of candies during storage, hard candies will become sticky. Store toffee and nut brittles in airtight containers at room temperature.

Go nuts for Southern sweets

Inspired by the fact that Georgia leads the U.S. in the production of both pecans and peanuts, we’ve rounded up some of the best candy recipes featuring these nuts. Click on the links for ingredients and preparation instructions to make these Southern sweets:

A note about nuts from the Land O’Lakes Test Kitchen: Toasting nuts before adding to a recipe intensifies their flavor. Toast nuts in an ungreased skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. To oven-toast, place in baking pan. Bake at 350°F, 5-7 minutes. Watch closely.

Wrap it up

Once the candy is made, complete your gift with festive packaging. For a budget gift wrap, purchase clear cellophane bags found in the party section at discount retailers like WalMart, Dollar Tree or Dollar General. Dress them up with curling ribbon.

For a novel presentation, Savannah celebrity cook Paula Deen suggests checking out thrift stores for low-cost unusual containers such as decorative glass jars, tins or baskets.

Remember to hit after-Christmas sales to stock up on bags and boxes for next year’s candy gifts.