When I was young girl growing up in Virginia, we attended church on a regular basis. We attended a good old fashioned Pentecostal Church of God. Can I just say I loved growing with church family? Way back when almost every holiday was spent with our church family in some form or fashion. We gathered together for Christmas Eve services, Easter pageants, July 4th cookouts, New Year’s Eves services and many more holidays. One thing I learned as a very young child was that church women can cook like none other. Almost every holiday included a pot luck dinner. For those who are not familiar with pot luck – “a potluck is a communal gathering where each guest contributes a different, often homemade dish of food to be shared” and everyone gets to dig in with gusto.
One thing I remember during the Christmas holidays was that one of our sweet little church ladies would make my family the best stained glass Christmas rock candy which was a sweet, cinnamon flavored rock candy with a light dusting of confectioners sugar Stained glass candy (rock candy) is an old-fashioned holiday treat.
This year I decided to try making this candy for my friends and family It was so much fun and the grandsons had a great time breaking the candy in pieces. I purchased a mix of Lorann flavor oils from Amazon and tried several different flavors. A great candy thermometer is the Taylor Precision candy thermometer which can also be purchased on Amazon.
I used light Karo syrup and Lorann’s apple and cherry double strength oils. 
It takes 35 to 45 minutes to reach 300 degrees. Patience, patience and patience. 
My grandson, Clay, deciding on technique to crack candy.
Boys watching candy dry. Like waiting for water to boil.
Stained Glass
Course: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy24
servings10
minutes40
minutesStained glass Christmas rock candy is an old-fashioned holiday treat consisting of a sweet flavored rock candy with a light dusting of confectioners sugar.
Ingredients
1 cup water
3 3/4 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons Lorann candy flavors oil (I use cinnamon for red and green apple for green)
1 teaspoon of food coloring to match your flavor of oil
1 cup of powdered sugar
Directions
- Line a baking sheet pan with aluminum foil and sift powdered sugar over the entire pan.
- In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, add and combine the white sugar, corn syrup, and water, and stir continuously over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves.
- Once the sugar is dissolved, insert a candy thermometer and let the mixture come to a boil. Do not stir the mixture while the mixture is boiling. (Make sure the candy thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan). Continue boiling without stirring.
- When candy thermometer reaches approximately 300 degrees (VERY HOT BE CAREFUL!) (about 45 minutes), remove the pan from the heat and add in the flavoring and food coloring. Stir until combined. Be sure to turn your face away if using cinnamon oil, it is very potent.
- Pour the candy mixture onto the pan with the powdered sugar. Let the candy completely cool for at least one hour. (You can tilt the pan to spread out the candy but please be careful. Wear good oven mitts!).
- Once the candy has completely cooled and set for at least one hour, break candy into pieces, and make sure you break of the sharp points by just tapping the piece lightly to smooth it out.
- Add your powdered sugar to a zip-loc bag, add the candy and shake to coat.
- Store in an airtight container.
