Old Fashioned Hard Candy or Broken Glass Candy

This is an old recipe that we make during the holidays.  As you cook up a batch of this hard candy, it fills the house with the wonderful, refreshing scent of cinnamon, peppermint, or anise.  Tint the candy with the color of your choice.  Put the candy in a clear jar, and you have a wonderful gift to give someone.

Ingredients

3 3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 c. water
food coloring
1/4 tsp. of your favorite flavoring oil like cinnamon, anise, butterscotch, peppermint,
1/2 c. powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

Butter two 15 x 10-inch heavy baking pans.

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and food coloring. Add as much coloring as you desire to get the color you want.

Over medium heat, stir constantly until the sugar dissolves completely. Bring to a boil.  Cook without stirring until the candy reaches the hard crack stage, or 300° on a candy thermometer. 

Remove from heat.  Carefully and quickly stir in the flavoring of your choice. Pour into the prepared pans and allow the candy to cool completely. If the candy is too thick in places, tilt the pan so the candy evens out.

Dust the candy with powdered sugar if you would like a more frosty look. Then break the candy into pieces.  Store the hard candy in an airtight container. 

Notes

To make the candy into nice squares, quickly score the hot candy with a pizza cutter sprayed with cooking spray. You may have to go back and re-cut through the candy,  Then the candy can be easily broken into squares.