30 Old Fashioned Christmas Candy Recipes

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Make one of these old fashioned Christmas candy recipes this holiday season!  These vintage recipes are some of my favorite Christmas candy to make--delicious, and full of sweet memories. 

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Old Fashioned Christmas Candy Recipes

1. Sugar Plums

White milk glass compote filled with homemade sugar plums.

Sugar plums are one of the ultimate Christmas desserts, these days mostly well known because of the poem, The Night Before Christmas.  This old recipe requires no cooking at all!

2. Nonpariels 

Cupcake liners filled with homemade nonpariel candies surrounded by Christmas ornaments.

Sprinkles make everything more festive and fun, don't they? Nonpariel candies are one of the best recipes to make with kids.  It's an easy recipe, and kids love to be able to help make this delicious chocolate candy.   See how easy they are to make on this post from The Monday Box.

3. English Toffee

Pieces of English Toffee tied up with red and white baker's twine, with text overlay reading "English Toffee."

No Christmas goodie tray would be complete in my family without English Toffee.  Butter and sugar are melted together, caramelized, then poured into a prepared baking sheet to cool, and topped with melted chocolate.  Once cool, the pan of candy is easily broken into pieces to make this classic homemade Christmas candy.

4. Microwave Fudge

Piece of microwave fudge with pecans.

Ok, so the technique for making this fudge isn't old fashioned, but the result certainly is!  You can make amazing homemade fudge with this easy technique and recipe from Home Made Interest. Easy Christmas candy recipes like this make it simple to put together a beautiful holiday tray!

5. Salted Caramels

Wooden bowl filled with homemade salted caramel candies wrapped in waxed paper.

These chewy caramels are absolutely divine!  Salted Caramels are old fashioned favorites that make great Christmas gifts, because the recipe makes such a big batch and they last for weeks (if you can prevent yourself from eating them all, that is).

6 Pecan Bourbon Balls

Pecan Bourbon Ball Old Fashioned Candy on a white surface.

It doesn't get more classic than this Pecan Bourbon Balls recipe from Life Currents!  They look really fancy and impressive, but this no-cook recipe is actually very easy to make.

7. Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle Recipe

Homemade peanut brittle in white gift boxes tied with baker's twine and Christmas gift tags.

No homemade Christmas candy roundup would be complete without peanut brittle!  A few basic ingredients are cooked to the hard crack stage, then when the candy cools, it's broken into small pieces.  This classic candy recipe from Upstate Ramblings makes peanut brittle just like my grandmother used to make.

8. Buckeye Candies (Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls)

Brown kraft box filled with chocolate covered peanut butter balls (buckeye candies).

If you ever lived in Ohio (the buckeye state), you've probably enjoyed these old fashioned Christmas candies.  Buckeye candies are chocolate covered peanut butter balls that are dipped in chocolate so that part of the peanut butter filling peeks out--and looks like a buckeye nut!  Of course, you could just cover the entire thing in chocolate and call them Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls, too.  Either way, they're delicious!

9. Homemade Peppermint Patties

Homemade peppermint patty candies on a wooden cutting board surrounded by candy canes and a red cloth.

If you're looking for great homemade candy recipes, these made peppermint patty candies from Upstate Ramblings should be on your list. They get that distinct peppermint patty flavor from peppermint extract and an easy filling made from butter, cream, and powdered sugar.

 

10. Old Time Peanut Butter Candy

Old Fashioned peanut butter candy stacked on a slate surface, surrounded by homemade candies wrapped in waxed paper.

These Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Candies from Fearless Dining only take about 10 minutes to make!  Wrap the pieces of candy in wax paper to complete that classic, homemade candy look.

11. Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters

Chocolate peanut butter cluster candies on a white plate surrounded by Christmas decorations.

I love Miss in the Kitchen's Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters for a couple reasons.  First, because it's so easy!  Just melt, mix, and let cool on parchment paper or waxed paper.  But second, because of the flavor--more than just chocolate covered nuts.   Chocolate chips and peanut butter get melted together to form the coating for these peanut clusters, making these pieces of candy even more delicious than classic nut cluster candies. 

 

12. Old Fashioned Divinity Candy

Homemade divinity candy in a red mug.

Divinity is one of the most famous good old-fashioned candy recipes around.  The soft pillows of divinity candy get their amazing texture from using beaten egg whites in the recipe.  Get all the details, tips, and tricks in this traditional southern Divinity recipe from Food Folks and Fun.

13 Italian Torrone Nougat

Slices of torrone Italian Christmas candy on brown kraft paper.

Torrone is an Italian nougat Christmas candy flavored with honey, citrus, and nuts.  I can't wait to try making my own candy nougat with this recipe from XOXO Bella!
 

14. Coconut Rum Balls

Coconut rum balls in a white dish on a wooden cutting board.

My grandmother used to make rum balls like these for her legendary Christmas goodie trays.  This no bake dessert from Aubrey's Kitchen is sure to bring back lots of happy Christmas memories of years gone by.

15. Homemade Peppermint Bark

Peppermint bark made with milk chocolate and white chocolate on a wooden surface in front of fresh evergreen branches.

Chocolate bark is one of the easiest homemade candies to make.  Milk chocolate, white chocolate, and crushed peppermint candies get layered on a cookie sheet in this easy candy recipe from Homemade Interest.   

16 Christmas Nougat Candy

Christmas Nougat Candy, white candy with pieces of red and green gumdrops mixed in, stacked on a red plate.

Salty Side Dish's recipe for Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy is a Christmas classic!  Just look at those vibrant Christmas colors in the creamy homemade nougat candy.  (Be sure to check out her tip for using a plastic bag to keep the candy mixture from sticking!)

17. Hard Cinnamon Candy

Glas jar full of cinnamon hard candy pieces.

You have to be careful when making hard candies, because the sugar mixture gets very hot.  So this isn't a candy to make with the kids.  But they will really enjoy eating it!  I love how festive this cinnamon hard candy from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt looks.

18. Hot Chocolate Fudge

White mug filled with pieces of Hot Chocolate Fudge and mini marshmallows.

A Mug filled with Hot Chocolate Fudge from Chocolate Moosey would make the most amazing neighbor or teacher Christmas gift!

19. Christmas Grinch Candy Buttons

Grinch candy buttons old fashioned candy dots on a white surface surrounded by fresh evergreen branches.

Do you remember Candy Buttons?  Those little old fashioned candy dots on the paper?  I LOVED those as a kid, and so I created a Christmas, Grinch themed version of those vintage candy button candies.

20. Penuche Fudge (AKA Brown Sugar Fudge)

Two tiered white serving tray piled high with pieces of old fashioned penuche fudge.

Don't be intimidated by traditional fudge recipes that require a candy thermometer!  This old fashioned penuche fudge is absolutely amazing and worth the effort.  (It's not all that much effort, though, I promise.)  It's made with brown sugar instead of white sugar, and tastes a lot like pralines, but with traditional creamy fudge texture.  It's been one of our family's favorite recipes for over 50 years.

21. Brown Sugar Cashew Brittle

Pieces of brown sugar cashew brittle in a clear bowl on a dark wood table.

This Brown Sugar Cashew Brittle recipe is a delicious twist on standard candy brittle recipes (like the peanut brittle recipe above).  Peanut brittle is made with white sugar, but this recipe from Play Dates to Parties uses brown sugar to give the homemade candy extra depth of flavor and complexity.

22. Candied Pecans

Three containers of candied pecans on a wooden surface next to a blue and white checked kitchen towel.

Candied pecans are one of my favorite things in the world.  And they're so easy to make!  I love this gently spiced candied nut recipe from Lemon Blossoms.

23. Chocolate Covered Cherries

Closeup photo of chocolate covered cherries, next to maraschino cherries and with one chocolate covered cherry candy sliced open.

Chocolate covered cherries are my husband's favorite old fashioned Christmas candy.  I can't wait to try this Chocolate Covered Cherry Recipe from Dinner at the Zoo and make my own this year!

24. Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peels

Chocolate covered candied orange peels on a wooden cutting board in front of a sliced orange.

Follow these easy instructions from Keep Calm and Eat Ice Cream to make these classic chocolate covered candied orange peels.  These homemade candies have an elegant, sophisticated flavor that can't be beat.

25. Old Fashioned Potato Candy

Old Fashioned Potato Candy on a white plate on a wooden cutting board.

Yes, Potato Candy really is made with potatoes!  Learn about the depression-era history of this vintage candy recipe in this excellent post from Food Lovin' Family.

26. Chocolate Covered Raspberry Jellies 

Tray of chocolate covered rasperry jellies candies in front of a Hometown Christmas Recipe Book.

I love love LOVE fruit jelly candies (I even won the tasting competition of Food Network's Holiday Gingerbread Showdown 2018 with my Peach Jellies Recipe!). So when I saw this chocolate covered raspberry jellies recipe from Flour on my Face, I knew I had to include it in this roundup of classic Christmas candy recipes.

27. Martha Washington Candy

Martha Washington candies stacked on a circle of white paper, two of the candies cut in half so you can see the center of the candy.

The actual Martha Washington might not have had anything to do with the development of this recipe, but these Martha Washington candies are definitely a Christmas classic!    Get the vintage recipe from The Kitchen is My Playground.

28. White Chocolate Mint Truffles

Light pink bowl of white chocolate mint truffles on a serving tray next to a pair of silver tongs.

I love how these white chocolate mint truffles from Belly Rumbles look like little snowballs!  What a perfect kind of chocolate truffle to make for Christmas.

29. Bacon Fat Caramels

Small glass footed bowl of bacon fat caramels wrapped in parchment paper.

I Love this bacon fat caramel recipe from Urban Cowgirl Life because--well, first, because it sounds DELICIOUS--but for this roundup, because saving and using bacon fat is such a classic, thrifty, old fashioned technique.  My grandmother used to make her pie crusts with saved bacon fat.  It doesn't really make the sweet treats taste like bacon, it just adds an indistinguishable something, a bit of umami to make the homemade candies all that much more delicious.

30. Chocolate Caramels

Squares of chocolate caramels sprinkled with sea salt on a parchment lined baking tray.

Did you know that fudge is thought to have been invented when a batch of chocolate caramels went wrong?  There's a great history of fudge in Oh, Fudge! (a book now out of print and very expensive, sadly) that details how American fudge is thought to have been invented at Vassar College (my alma mater) by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, Class of 1892.  There's some dispute over whether she actually invented it, but it's at least the first known documented version of a modern fudge recipe.  

This, my friends, is a batch of chocolate caramels that are very, very right.  Silky smooth, perfectly chewy, and full of chocolate caramel flavor.  Don't miss this classic, old fashioned chocolate caramels recipe from The Flavor Bender.

What homemade Christmas candy recipes are you going to make to go with your Christmas cookies? 

 

Other Candy Roundups You Might Like:

Navigational image leading reader to roundup of Christmas caramel recipes.

Navigational image leading reader to roundup of Christmas fudge recipes.

Other Cookie Roundups You Might Like:

Navigational image leading reader to roundup of 33 eggless cookie recipes.

 
Nicole Wills, creator of Tikkido

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