This is it, everyone…the cutest and easiest-ever treat to give out at the holidays! This homemade lollipops recipe with added sprinkles gives us all the feels!
No matter if you’re looking for a little sweetness to gift at Christmas, Valentine’s Day, a birthday, or any other occasion, you can customize these to your heart’s content.
Who doesn’t love lollipops? We honestly can’t think of anyone in the world! And, as it turns out, they’re simple as all get out to make. No confectioner secrets here!
These homemade lollipops are adorable and fun, and with the right extract, you can make them taste like whatever you want. Mint? Vanilla? Strawberry? It’s all up to you.
So, then, if you want to know how to make sprinkle lollipops, read on…
Homemade Lollipops Recipe: Ingredients & Utensils
Ingredients
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon extract of your choice (vanilla, peppermint, strawberry, etc)
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Any of our sprinkle mixes (see suggestions below under recipe)
- Food coloring of your choice, optional
Note: you can cut this recipe in half, or double it, for less/more lollipop goodness!
Utensils & Other Items
- Silicone lollipop mold
- Lollipop sticks
- Medium saucepan
- Pastry brush
- Candy thermometer
- Paper towel
- Measuring cups
- Bowl (filled with ice water)
How To Make Lollipops Recipe
- Spray silicone mold lightly with nonstick cooking spray and wipe out with a paper towel to remove any oil.
- Insert the sticks into the candy molds.
- In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, water, flavoring, and colors.
- Heat over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
- Brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush.
- Insert a candy thermometer into the pan.
- Bring to boil. Do not stir! Let the candy reach 310 F—the hard-crack stage. (Candy hardens in stages depending on temperature, and “hard-crack” is the last stage.)
- Immediately place saucepan in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Be careful not to let any water into the pan!
- Very carefully spoon candy mixture into molds. Be sure to cover the lollipop stick.
- Add your chosen sprinkles to the mixture, pressing lightly and working quickly.
- Let harden and cool completely. Pop your lollipops out of the candy molds by pressing on the back of it lightly. If packaging right away, set aside on baking sheets to begin the process over again for larger quantities.
Sprinkle Lollipops Recipe: Tips & Tricks
Before we get into some tips about actually making these lollipops right, we, of course, want to share our suggestions about customizing them for any occasion.
For example, some sprinkle mix tips…
- Christmas is a particularly fun time to make these! Use our Christmas Cookie, Christmas Nonpareil or Sleigh Ride mixes for festive pops.
- Of course, not everyone celebrates Christmas, and if you’d rather make winter-themed lollipops, we have mixes for that too! Try using Snow Storm or Frost Bite.
- At Valentine’s, lollipops are the best ever treats to give to coworkers (or to give to your kids for their class)! Add our Love Boat or Love Shack mixes for lovey-dovey pops.
- Easter approaching? Or maybe you just want to celebrate spring? Throw these in a goodie basket with Sunday Best, Bunny Hop, or Spring Fling sprinkles!
- Got a little boy’s birthday? Spider Web or Green Smash sprinkles.
- Got a little girl’s birthday? Unicorn Cake or Pink Princess sprinkles.
- Prefer a gender-neutral birthday? Outer Space or Comic Book sprinkles are great for that.
- Want something special for trick-or-treaters at Halloween? We’ve got Monster Mash and Haunted House sprinkles!
Seriously… have fun! These lollipops will bring out your creative side, so indulge it!
Now then — other sprinkle sucker tips!
- The weather can actually affect this recipe. Humidity, for instance, makes it really tough for the candy mixture to reach the “hard crack” stage listed in the instructions. Make these on the driest possible day you can! (If you live in a naturally humid area, no worries: just avoid super rainy days.)
- Store them in an airtight container if you’ll be bagging them to give them away later.
- If you are giving these away immediately, wrap them in a cellophane bag.
- Got hard sugar stuck to your pan? Just warm up the pan, remelt the sugar, and scrape it all out.
- Have fun with flavors and colors by switching up the food coloring and candy flavoring along with the sprinkles to match your event or theme!
We hope you love these homemade lollipops!
Lollipops! Everyone loves them in some form or another, and now we’ve taught you how to make delicious homemade ones. What did you think?
What sprinkles or add-ins did you put on yours? Tell us about your lollipop experience in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!
We are pretty partial to cherry flavoring and pink food coloring but the possibilities are endless!
Love this sprinkle lollipop recipe? Check out more sweet inspiration right here!
We have lots of sprinkle sweets and treats for you to try here at the blog?! Here are a few of our favorite recipes we’ve posted:
- Easy Cake Batter Fudge
- Gingerbread Cookie Bites
- Homemade Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Fairy Bread
- Nonpareil Candies
- Birthday Chocolate Bark
Homemade Lollipops Recipe - Sprinkle Lollipops
This homemade lollipops recipe is easy and fun! We'll show you how to make lollipops at home with simple ingredients and all the sprinkles and colors! You'll love these DIY candy suckers recipe, we promise!
Ingredients
- ● 1 cup white granulated sugar
- ● ½ cup light corn syrup
- ● ¼ cup water
- ● ½ teaspoon extract (vanilla, peppermint, strawberry, etc)
- ● Silicone Lollipop Molds
- ● Nonstick cooking spray
- ● Lollipop Sticks
- ● Sprinkles
- ● Food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Spray silicone mold lightly with nonstick cooking spray and wipe out with paper towel to remove any oil
- Insert the sticks into the molds
- In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, flavoring, coloring, and water and heat over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
- Brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush
- Insert a candy thermometer into the pan
- Bring mixture to boil, Do Not Stir, let candy reach 310 F - the hard crack stage
- Immediately place saucepan in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process, be careful not to let any water into the pan
- Very carefully spoon candy mixture into molds, be sure to cover the lollipop stick
- Sprinkles - Rainbow Bright, Rainbow Nonpareils, Rainbow Jimmies
20 comments
When do you add in the flavoring and food coloring?
Hello! It’s during step 3!
Can I use extract for flavor or does it have to be candy specific flavoring?
Yes regular extract for flavor is fine.
-Liz
Our girl scout troop is making a couple of batches tonight. So excited to share with the local nursing homes for their community badge. They picked your recipe!
Yay! Can’t wait to see how they come out! So fun.
How do you handle the liquid candy that doesn’t fit in the molds? Does this recipe fill one mold exactly? Thanks! Excited to try!
This recipe makes about 24 lollipops, we use up all the candy but you could use any lollipops mold or silicone shapes if you have any extra liquid!
How long do these keep for after you’ve made them?
Hi Jenny, the lollipops should keep at least 2 weeks in an airtight container.
-Liz
Hello! Can you tell me about how many this makes. So I know how many miles to buy? Thanks!
Hi Deb, the amount of lollipops from this recipe will depend on the size of your mold.
We got 24 lollipops using a 1 inch circle mold.
-Liz
I see sprinkles in the mold without the candy. Do you add pre and post pouring the candy?
Hello!
We put the sprinkles into the empty mold as shown and then poured the candy. The candy mix then bonds to the sprinkles as it settles. Hope that helps!
Hi. I Was wondering if You could add alcohol to the Candy. Thank You. And I can’t wait to Try Your recipe.
Hello!
We haven’t tried it but if you try it, let us know how it goes!
I live in a very small town and don’t have the molds, do you have any idea what i can use for molds if i don’t have?
Hello!
We ship worldwide, the links to our molds are found in the post. Otherwise, any flexible, silicone mold you have would work.
How much concentrated oil flavor would you use instead of 1/2 tsp of extract?
Hello!
Since flavoring oils are more concentrated, you only need a few drops in place of a teaspoon of extract.