There are lots of great desserts in the Little House books, but I had my heart set on snow candy from the very beginning.

This is one of the fastest and most rewarding recipes I’ve ever made. Start to finish, it doesn’t take more than 5-7 minutes, and the resulting maple candy is delicious. The version I made (a recipe from Happy Hooligans) is truthfully nothing more than boiled maple syrup, but there’s something about the chill from the snow and the texture from the few remaining snowflakes still clinging to the candy as you lay it on your tongue that just make it so darn satisfying. ^.^

This is a fun, quick snowy day recipe to make with kids. I highly recommend eating the candy straight off the snow, as it tends to go soft a few minutes after being removed from the snow (the melting snowflakes start to dissolve it).

NOTE: You’ll want to be careful to use “food safe” snow—clean snow that hasn’t been walked or touched by animals. We had a big snow the weekend I made this, and I went out while it was still snowing and gathered some fresh snow off our back porch railing. If you’re sending out kiddos to gather the snow, make sure they know a safe place to get it.

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Snow Candy

“One morning she boiled molasses and sugar together until they made a thick syrup, and Pa brought in two pans of clean, white snow from outdoors. Laura and Mary each had a pan, and Pa and Ma showed them how to pour the dark syrup in little streams onto the snow. They made circles, and curlicues, and squiggledy things, and these hardened at once and were candy. Laura and Mary might eat one piece each, but the rest was saved for Christmas Day.”

— Little House in the Big Woods

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup maple syrup (That’s literally all you need. I didn’t even feel like it needed an ingredient picture!)

      

Makes 10-12 pieces of snow candy, depending on how big you make them.

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INSTRUCTIONS:

1. 1. Pour your syrup into a small saucepan and heat on medium-low until boiling. Continue to heat until the temperature reaches 235° on a candy thermometer (this shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes).
   2. While you wait, pack a baking sheet with a thick layer of clean snow. You want to pack down the snow layer tightly and make sure it’s at least 2 inches thick. The boiling candy will melt through the snow, and you don’t want it to melt all the way through to the bottom of the pan (or it can stick).
   3. Use a spoon to drizzle little pools of hot syrup onto the snow (each one should contain approximately 1-2 tsp syrup). Let the candy set for 2-3 minutes or until cool.
      
   4. Eat immediately…then make more if you want! 🙂
      
      
       

Check out our other candy recipes! 🙂

Scrooge’s Humbugs

3 Musketeers Candy Bars

Odysseus’ Candy Fleece