The Best Ginger Hard Candy Recipe – Easy To Make!
Make your own homemade ginger hard candy with this easy recipe. These healthy candies are great for nausea, car sickness and morning sickness!
Ginger hard candy is one of the first things I buy for my hospital bag every time I get close to the end of my pregnancy. I always feel nauseous after delivery and sucking on a ginger candy always helps me feel better!
Ginger candy is also great for long car rides. 3 of my kids get car sick, so we make sure to have some candy in the glove compartment to pull out when anyone starts to feel queasy.
According to studies, ginger helps increase movement in the GI tract, helping with digestion as well as saliva flow and as a result, it helps with nausea. Its a safe and natural solution that people have been using for centuries!
Of course you can just buy ginger hard candy and ginger chews at the store, but making candy yourself is pretty fun! Plus they cost a lot less to make.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Get my full disclosure here.
Why you’ll like this Ginger Hard candy recipe:
Healthier
Store-bought hard candies usually contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, sweeteners and food dyes.
Making your own candy, you can control the quality and healthiness of the ingredients.
Easy To Make
Its easy to make your own ginger candy at home with just a few ingredients and a couple of supplies.
only 3 ingredients
This recipe only calls for three ingredients you probably already have sitting in your pantry!
They’re yummy!
If you love the heat and spicy flavor of ginger, you are going to love these little candies! They aren’t over-powering but definitely give you that kick of ginger flavor.
Help with nausea
Ginger has been used throughout history as a natural remedy for digestive issues, including nausea and vomiting.
Several studies have proved that ginger is as effective as some over the counter anti-nausea drugs at easing feelings of nausea caused by motion sickness, morning sickness, and chemotherapy.
What you need to make Homemade ginger candy:
ingredients
honey – any kind of honey will work for this recipe but raw honey adds to the health benefits of the ginger candy.
sugar – using white granulated sugar along with the honey instead of using straight honey by itself makes these candies lighter in color and keeps them from having a burnt flavor.
ground ginger powder I like to use organic ground ginger.
lemon essential oil (optional) – lemon and ginger flavors go really well together, but adding lemon EO is completely optional. If you do add it, make sure you use “food grade” essential oils.
Tools to Use:
How To Make Ginger Hard Candy:
WARNING – Making hard candy, you will be working with extremely hot ingredients. Be very careful not to burn yourself!
Prep – Set out the candy molds. For easy clean up, lay parchment paper under them.
Heat – In a small saucepan, heat the honey, water, ginger and sugar over medium heat. Using a candy thermometer, watch it, stirring frequently until the thermometer reads 300 degrees. As soon as it reaches 300 degrees, immediately remove from heat. Let the honey mixture sit a few minutes until the bubbles go down.
Stir – Add in the lemon essential oils (if using). Stir to mix.
Pour – Working quickly and VERY carefully, spoon the hot honey mixture into the candy molds. Fill all of the molds to the tops.
Let Set – Let the ginger hard candy sit for 30-60 minutes until they are completely hardened. Pop out of the molds and enjoy!
Tips for success:
Store – To keep your ginger hard candy from sticking together, it is best to store them in a mason jar in the fridge. Or wrap each one in a little piece of parchment paper.
Substitutions – 1 Tablespoon of fresh ginger root can be used in place of the ground ginger in this recipe.
Variations – For a different flavor, use food grade orange essential oil instead of lemon.
FAQ about this ginger hard candy recipe:
Can I use fresh ginger in the candy recipe?
This recipe calls for organic dry powdered ginger to make things more simple and cut out steps.
But you can use fresh ginger root if you prefer. Just use twice as much fresh grated ginger as you would dry ground ginger in this recipe.
Can I make ginger hard candy without a candy thermometer?
Technically you can make candy without a candy thermometer but you have to be much more attentive and take a few extra steps to make sure your sugar syrup is at the right “stage” when you remove it from the heat.
The Spruce has a great article on making candy without a candy thermometer using the “cold-water method”.
How do I store homemade ginger hard candy?
Homemade ginger candies should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge because they are more likely to get sticky and form a clump if your home is at all warm.
Another way to keep candy from getting sticky at room temperature is to wrap each individual piece in a small square of parchment paper.
Are there any potential health benefits of consuming ginger candy?
The bioactive compounds found in ginger help to reduce irritation in the gastrointestinal tract and ease nausea and vomiting by promoting saliva production.
There are many ways to consume ginger, such as:
- Ginger tea: Steep fresh ginger slices or ginger tea bags in hot water and drink it.
- Ginger candies or chews: Suck on ginger candies or chews.
- Ginger capsules or supplements: Some people find relief from nausea by taking ginger in a capsule form.
- Ginger in food: Add fresh or ground ginger into your meals and recipes.
does ginger hard candy help with morning sickness?
Ginger is known to help with the nausea that can come with morning sickness in the first trimester (or beyond). Sucking on ginger candy is a safe and natural way to help with an upset stomach, and can even relieve diarrhea in some cases.
More Healthy Treats on the blog:
If you liked this recipe, I think you’ll really enjoy these other easy recipes for homemade treats on the blog:
- Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies
- Healthy Berry Jello
- Homemade Strawberry Marshmallows
- Rice Crispy Treats Sweetened With Dates
- Homemade Honey Lollipops
I hope you love this ginger candy recipe! If you make them, I’d love for you to come back and leave a comment and rating so that I know how you like them!
Pin these steps to try later. Tag @athomeontheprairie on Instagram to share what you’ve made with us!
Honey Ginger Hard Candy
Make your own homemade honey ginger hard candy with this easy recipe. These healthy candies are great for nausea, car sickness and morning sickness!
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger powder
- 1 tablespoon water
- 20 drops lemon essential oil (optional)
Instructions
- WARNING – Making hard candy, you will be working with extremely hot ingredients. Be very careful not to burn yourself!
- Prep – Set out the candy molds. For easy clean up, lay parchment paper under them.
- Heat – In a small saucepan, heat the honey, water, ginger and sugar over medium heat. Using a candy thermometer, watch it, stirring frequently until the thermometer reads 300 degrees. As soon as it reaches 300 degrees, immediately remove from heat. Let the honey mixture sit a few minutes until the bubbles go down.
- Stir – Add in the lemon essential oils (if using). Stir to mix.
- Pour – Working quickly and VERY carefully, spoon the hot honey mixture into the candy molds. Fill all of the molds to the tops.
- Let sit and harden for 1 hour. Pop out of the molds.
Notes
For Best Results - let the honey cool just a few minutes before adding the lemon essential oil (if you are using oils) so that they are plenty flavorful.
Store - to keep your ginger hard candy from getting sticky, it is best to store them in a mason jar in the fridge. Or wrap each one in a little piece of parchment paper.
Substitutions - 1 Tablespoon of fresh grated ginger can be used in place of ground ginger.
Variations - for a different flavor, use food grade orange essential oil instead of lemon.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 2 candiesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 80Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 3mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 3gSugar: 13gProtein: 1g
This is great! Do you have any recommendations for replacing the sugar with something else? Maybe only using honey for these, if possible? I’d like to make them for a friend going through chemo, but sugar is a major cancer feeder, so I’d like to avoid it. Thanks so much!
Jessi
This is great! Do you have any recommendations for replacing the sugar with something else? Maybe only using honey for these, if possible? I’d like to make them for a friend going through chemo, but sugar is a major cancer feeder, so I’d like to avoid it. Thanks so much!
Jessi
You can follow my recipe for honey lollipops (also on the blog) for a honey only option!
Wonderful! I still plan on using the ginger (for nausea), so I’ll just combine the two! Thanks!
How did they turn out??
These are so tasty! Thanks for sharing! I used grated fresh ginger and the lemon oil and these are delicious. If I wanted to make more than 30 candies at a time, can I just double the recipe?
That sounds extra yummy, Gretch! And yes, you can definitely double the recipe!
This looks so good! What a great recipe to make with kids!
Just a question, how does raw honey add any health benefits when the temperatures needed in the recipe is higher than is used in pasteurization?
Heating honey to that temp destroys the benefits of honey. I would add the honey and the essential oil at the end when cooled a bit. Just my opinion. Thanks for sharing! I will try this, only with adding honey at the end.
The problem with adding then honey at the end is that the mixture most likely won’t harden like it should for hard candy. But It’s worth a shot! Let me know how it goes!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! How long can they keep in the fridge after making them?
They never last long at our house, but I’d say they have about a month shelf life.