Homemade Sweet Treats, Honeycomb Candy
My mom only made this candy a few times for our family but I always loved it. I had a friend who made this candy a few times too and she called it sponge candy and used to dip it in chocolate.
I modified a recipe I found so it would have a more honey flavor, instead of a sugar flavor. I used some Wildflower Berry Raw Honey that I purchased from Azure Standard and it turned out delicious.
At first, I thought this recipe was going to be time-consuming and a little difficult since I had never actually made it myself before. I had only watched it being made. But to my pleasant surprise, it was quite easy. The hardest part was to just let it be and boil until it reached the correct temperature.
At first, the mixture will be a little grainy from the sugar, until it dissolves. I just stirred it occasionally until the mixture came to a boil.
Then once the honey mixture was boiling I adding the candy thermometer and let it be. I put the spoon in the sink so I wouldn’t be tempted to stir. 🙂 The mixture will get clear and a little darker in color.
Once the candy thermometer reached 300 degrees I removed the pan of honey goodness from the heat and whisked in the baking soda. Make sure you have the mixture in a good-sized pan as it really bubbles up at this stage.
Then pour onto a greased or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Don’t spread the mixture just pour it out. You want the bubbles to get trapped inside the candy to make the honeycomb effect.
I let the candy cool for about 30-40 minutes and then broke it up into serving sized pieces. It has a great strong honey flavor. Yum!
Honeycomb Candy
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1/3 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Baking Soda
Instructions
- Mix the sugar, honey, and water in a medium-sized pan. You want a big enough pan for the mixture to expand once the baking soda is added so don't use a small pan.
- Heat on medium high heat, stirring occasionally until mixture begins to boil.
- Once the honey mixture is boiling, clip on the candy thermometer and reduce the heat to just keep it boiling. I cooked mine on medium heat. Boil until the candy reaches 300 degrees.
- Once the mixture is at 300 degrees, remove from heat and whisk in the baking soda. Be careful as the mixture will bubble and expand. Mix the baking soda in well.
- Pour the mixture into a greased or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Don't spread the mixture.
- Let the candy cool until firm.
- Once the candy is cool and firm, break into serving sized pieces and store in an airtight container.
- Enjoy!
This candy would also be great dipped in or drizzled with chocolate or vanilla melted baking chips. Because doesn’t chocolate make everything better? 🙂
See more posts in this series on the  31 Days of Homemade Sweet Treats page.
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That candy looks delicious, Shelly. I love the name, too. 🙂
Thanks, Sandra.
When I was a kid we always called this sponge candy It’s great dipped in chocolate too. Once you dip it allow it to harden and it’s fantastic.
Jill, It is great with chocolate. My friends always dips the sponge candy she makes in chocolate. You are right it is fantastic with chocolate. The batch I made only lasted a few days without chocolate, but next time I’m going to dip it in chocolate. Because everything is better dipped in chocolate. 🙂
This is similar to the base for my husbands homemade peanut brittle. Yummy goodness. They honey in this recipe replaces the corn syrup in his.
I use my great grandma’s recipe for homemade peanut brittle and it uses corn syrup too. Honeycomb candy and peanut brittle are very similar and both delicious too. 🙂 I like to make the honeycomb candy for those who can’t eat peanuts.
I wondered if you can put some chopped cashews in it to make it like a cashew crunch I had one time made by the Amish. And would you add the cashews with the soda or pour the candy over them on the cookie sheet? The first time I made it, I burned it. Yuck! Going to try again though.
Lisa, if you are using raw cashews you can add them in a little early and cook them with the candy. But if you are using roasted cashews I would either stir them in at the end with the soda or put them on the cookie sheet and cover them with the candy. I think it would work best to mix them in right before adding the soda or with the soda.
Hi, this looks delicious and I plan on making a batch. Do you know how long these last in a container? Thanks!
These will last a couple of weeks to a month if they are stored in a sealed. But if they draw any moisture they will get sticky.
Looked delicious and seemed simple enough but I did indeed burn it. Will def give another try though. Any useful tips would be appreciated as I’m not experienced in candy making.
Margie, I’m sorry to hear your candy burned. Here’s a few tips for you…
Once you get to the stage to leave the ingredients to cook in the pot until you reach 300 degrees you might have to adjust your burner down a bit to keep the thermometer climbing but no so high to let the mixture burn. I use medium high setting on my stove but maybe you need to set yours to medium if medium high let it burn.
Be sure to watch your candy thermometer, once it hits 300 degrees take it off the heat. I know I once burnt a batch and it turned out my candy thermometer went bad and wasn’t registering correctly. That could also be the problem here. You might trying buying a new thermometer, it may have been reading too low and that’s why the candy burnt. I’ve had it happen to me before.
I hope that helps.
What would happen if you cut down the actual sugar content and added more honey?
I’m not sure Jenna if it would work or not.
Mine are sticky. What did i do wrong?
It could be it didn’t quite get to 300 degrees. I know one of my candy thermometers wasn’t reading accurately and I hadn’t tested it and it affected the candy.
Also, this candy can draw moisture really fast and will become sticky. Was it crisp at first and then turned sticky or was it sticky from the start?
mine taste a bit salty and I feel like I can taste the baking soda. Is that normal?
Cristina, you shouldn’t be able to taste the baking soda. It might have not gotten mixed in quite well enough before you cooled it down.