Homemade Taffy

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! In honor of the holiday, I thought I would share one of our most unique traditions, making and pulling homemade taffy. My dad's side of the family has been making these candies since he was a little boy and each year, we all join in and make a couple batches. There are some who pull the taffy and some that cut and wrap the pieces. I usually fall into the pulling category with my brothers and some cousins while my sister and mom help cut and wrap the yummy vanilla taffies. Making taffy is a very particular process and I stay far away from the kitchen while it is being cooked. I leave that for my dad and his siblings because even a single degree above or below the specified temp, the taffy will end up being more of a hard candy instead of soft and chewy.

Pulling taffy is tough business too let me tell ya! It requires some serious arm muscles and we usually pair up and pass the taffy back and forth. It has to continuously be stretched and since it is sticky, you coat your hands in butter so that's kind of fun too. My brothers and I are pictured here and we ended up having one soft batch and one hard batch and I have been sneaking a piece here or there all week. And now that we are snowed in, I think the rest of our taffy stash will be gone in a flash. So until next year, I'll savor what's left.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! In honor of the holiday, I thought I would share one of our most unique traditions, making and pulling homemade taffy. My dad's side of the family has been making these candies since he was a little boy and each year, we all join in and make a couple batches. There are some who pull the taffy and some that cut and wrap the pieces. I usually fall into the pulling category with my brothers and some cousins while my sister and mom help cut and wrap the yummy vanilla taffies. Making taffy is a very particular process so I stay far away from the kitchen while it is being cooked, leaving that for my dad and his siblings to deal. Even a single degree above or below the specified temp and the taffy will end up being more of a hard candy instead of soft and chewy.

Pulling taffy is tough business too, let me tell ya! It requires some serious arm muscles and we usually pair up and pass the taffy back and forth. It has to be continuously stretched and since it is sticky, you coat your hands in butter so that's kind of fun too. My brothers and I are pictured here and we ended up having one soft batch and one hard batch and I have been sneaking a piece here or there all week. And now that we are snowed in, I think the rest of our taffy stash will be gone in a flash. So until next year, I'll savor what's left of this holiday treat.