The Best Homemade Swedish Candy Recipe (Just 5 Ingredients!)

Swedish candy isn’t like… how do I explain this… it’s not SWEET-sweet, you know? It’s more like the flavors are cleaner? More grown-up? I don’t know, it just tastes like actual fruit instead of “red flavor” or whatever American candy companies think strawberry should taste like.

Basically: less sugar, more flavor, way better ingredients. That’s the Swedish candy philosophy and honestly we should all be living by it.

What You Actually Need (It’s Shockingly Simple)

The Main Stuff:

• 1 cup fruit juice but like, REAL juice, not that sugar water nonsense (I love lingonberry but good luck finding it, raspberry works great)
• 1/2 cup water (from the tap is fine, we’re not fancy here)
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup dealer’s choice, both work
• 3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (Knox brand, that little box, you know the one)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or regular salt, honestly who’s checking)

To Make Them Not Stick Together:

• 2 tablespoons potato starch or cornstarch either one, I’ve tried both
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

If You Want Colors (Totally Optional):

• Beet powder for red/pink
• Spirulina for that weird blue-green (kids love it though)
• Turmeric for yellow

How to Actually Make These (Without Losing Your Mind)

First Things First

Get yourself an 8×8 pan, line it with parchment paper but leave some hanging over the edges like little handles (trust me on this, future you will thank present you). Spray it with oil or whatever non-stick thing you have. I used butter once. Still worked.

The Gelatin Thing

This part freaked me out the first time because gelatin is WEIRD, okay?

Pour that half cup of cold water into a medium saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over it, don’t dump it all in one spot or you’ll get this gross clump situation (learned that the hard way). Just… sprinkle it evenly. Let it sit there for 5 minutes looking all spongy and frankly kind of gross. That’s normal. That’s what it’s supposed to do.

Making the Magic Happen

Add your fruit juice, honey, lemon juice, and salt to that gelatin mixture. Turn the heat to medium-low and this is IMPORTANT you cannot let this boil. Like, seriously cannot. I don’t care if you’re in a hurry. Don’t do it.

Stir it constantly (yeah, I know, your arm will get tired, deal with it) until everything dissolves and looks smooth. Takes about 5 minutes, maybe less if you’re lucky. The mixture should look clear-ish and definitely not chunky.

When it’s ready, take it off the heat immediately.

The Color Situation (If You’re Doing That)

If you want to add those natural colors and honestly they make it way more fun, add like a quarter to half teaspoon of whatever powder you’re using. Stir it in real good. The beet powder is forgiving, spirulina is… potent. Use less than you think you need with that one.

The Waiting Game (AKA The Hardest Part)

Pour everything into your prepared pan. Use a spatula to smooth it out, doesn’t have to be perfect, we’re going for “rustic homemade charm” here not “professional candy factory.”

Stick it in the fridge. Now here’s where patience becomes a virtue or whatever you need to leave it alone for AT LEAST 4 hours. Overnight is better. I know waiting is hard (my kids checked it approximately 47 times the first batch) but sticky candy is sad candy.

Cutting and Finishing

Once it’s fully set and I mean FULLY set, like firm to the touch, lift the whole thing out using those parchment paper handles. See? Told you they’d come in handy.

Now you can cut it into whatever shapes you want. I use kitchen scissors that I oil first (vegetable oil works fine). You can do squares, rectangles, use tiny cookie cutters for fun shapes… I like making fish shapes because “authentic Swedish candy vibes” or whatever 12-year-olds say these days.

Mix that potato starch and powdered sugar together in a bowl, toss your cut candies in it. This keeps them from becoming one giant candy blob in your storage container.

Different Flavors to Try (Because Variety Is Life)

The Classic Fish Situation: Raspberry or strawberry juice works perfect for this. Add a tiny bit of orange extract if you want to get fancy. If you have beet powder, throw some in for that iconic red color.

Sour Version (For the Brave): Use 1/4 cup lemon juice instead of 2 tablespoons. After you take it off the heat, stir in 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. Your mouth will thank you and also possibly hate you? It’s complicated but delicious.

Berry Chaos: Mix different berry juices together, lingonberry, raspberry, blueberry, whatever you can find. The flavor is WILD and way more interesting than single-berry options.

Tropical Experiment: Passion fruit or mango juice with a squeeze of lime. Not traditional but who cares, it’s delicious and my kids request it constantly.

Making homemade Swedish candy taught me that sometimes the best stuff, the stuff that really matters, comes from your own kitchen, your own creativity, your own willingness to try something that seems kind of ridiculous at first.

You may also be interested about this Homemade Raspberry Jam.

If this recipe brought a little calm or comfort to your day, I’d love to hear it in the comments and make sure you Follow on Facebook.

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