School is officially done for summer! Yay! I was reading my oldest daughter’s Kindergarten report card yesterday, and the teachers said they’d miss her and wished her luck in Grade 1. And I almost burst into tears! When did I get so sappy!? I never thought a report card could move me to tears, but I guess it’s just a reminder that my kids are growing up. My 6 year old came home from the last day of school with a few treats. Some parents (because you know it was the parent’s idea…) are so thoughtful! One mom sent a Kit Kat with a note that said “Time for a Break”. I’m pretty sure none of the kids understood the pun, but I thought it was clever and chuckled on the inside. And another mom sent home a cookie decorated like a popsicle. It was impressive. A lot like the ones you see going around on Facebook. I didn’t send my daughter with anything, because, I guess I’m just not that thoughtful? But these lollipops would have made a perfect year end treat! Wrap them in cellophane with a note “Lolly Gee, I hope you have a great summer!” and wouldn’t it be adorable? They’d also make a great party favour. They are so easy to make!
I’m really looking forward to having all three of my little rascals at home for the summer! (Along with the babysitter we finally managed to hire, because goodness knows we wouldn’t be able to get any work done without some help!). One big, happy, crazy, messy family. Oh the mess. I’m going to try not to think about that.
How to Make Jolly Rancher Lollipops
The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
Jolly Rancher Candies (3 per lollipop) 4″ Lollipop Sticks Parchment Paper
We made 8 lollipops so I used 24 Jolly Rancher candies. I got ours from the bulk store so I didn’t have to go overboard with a mountain of leftover Jolly Ranchers that would inevitably sit in our drawer for months.
Set a piece of parchment paper in a baking sheet and line up your candies on the tray. Offset them so there’s room for the sticks. We did ours with only two colours per lollipop, (The engineer in me is all about patterns…), but they look awesome with three different colours too. If you’re really bold, you can use longer lollipop sticks and use 4 or more Jolly Ranchers per lollipop. So fun!
I don’t recommend doing more than 6 lollipops at one time – You might even want to try starting with only 4 lollipops for your first batch.
When they come out of the oven, you have to move quickly to get the sticks in them before they harden. I managed to get through 6 by myself and Jason helped me with the two on the other end of the pan while I yelled “Hurry, hurry! They’re hardening!” haha That’s what he gets for being married to a blogger and coming to the kitchen for a snack while I was working on a blog project.
When they come out of the oven, You have to press the sticks into the lollipop and then roll the stick slightly so that it gets covered in the melted candy.
I put mine back in the oven for a minute after the sticks were in, just to make sure the sticks were completely covered with candy. It’s important that you use parchment paper under the lollipops or you’ll have a really hard time removing them from the pan. Not wax paper (that will melt and make a big mess), but parchment paper. I didn’t do anything fancy to get them to release. You don’t have to spray the parchment paper with cooking spray or anything, just the parchment paper on its own (I used Reynold’s brand). I let them sit on the counter for about 25 minutes while I ate my lunch and when I went back to them, they came off with no problems at all. You can see in the photo below that mine didn’t stick to the paper at ALL as I lifted them. I was actually amazed.
But again, I repeat, do not use wax paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, you could probably use a silicone baking mat, but NOT wax paper.
Here’s a closer look… because I like showing details and they’re so pretty! These make me happy.
And you better believe they made my kids happy! My 6 year old was excited to try them when she got home from school! She couldn’t finish a whole one, but when my 4 year old came home, she picked one up, and the next thing you know it had vanished. She’s my sugar crazy girl.
These Jolly Rancher lollipops are so easy to make and they are so fun! The kids will love helping you line up all the candies on the tray and choosing the colour combinations! They would make great party favours! Or you could wrap them in cellophane with a ribbon and a pun for Valentine’s Day (“I’m a sucker for you!”). Even if you don’t have any events planned, they’re a fun kids baking activity and a terrific treat for any old Sunday afternoon! Such a fun little project for the kids to help out with!
Here’s even more fun recipe ideas:
How to Make Rock Candy
How to Make Gummy Bears
Ice Cream in a Bag
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
