Strawberry Candy Recipe
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This old-fashioned homemade strawberry candy recipe is made with a scrumptiously sweet combination of strawberry gelatin, sweetened condensed milk, chopped pecans, and sweetened coconut flakes. Rolled in red sugar with a dyed-green slivered almond on top, they look nearly too cute to eat (nearly…).
I have my Grandmother Cornetha to thank for this homemade strawberry candy recipe. She and my Papa Reed (mama’s daddy) got married when my mother was fourteen, adding a whole other branch to our family tree. Honestly, at this point, we got one of those HUGE oak trees with all of the branches jutting out all over the place!
But let’s get to the recipe. This deliciously sweet strawberry-flavored hard candy recipe will make your tastebuds sing! They’re also known as Christmas strawberries as back in the day they were often only made around the holidays. I’ll often wrap up these fun candy berries and give a bag as a gift nowadays. But whether you treat yourself or someone you care about to these little gems, just promise me you’ll give this candy strawberry recipe a go.
Fortunately, they’re easy candies to make. Plus, one of the steps is to let the mixture chill for up to 48 hours. They also have such a unique texture: a combination of chopped nuts and coconut flakes with creamy condensed milk and sweet strawberry gelatin powder. Add the red sugar and these totally sweet treats are so addictive! I love how we shape them to resemble , although there is no fresh in sight.
Alright, who’s ready to make some strawberry candies?
Recipe Ingredients
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Strawberry gelatin powder
- Green food coloring
- Red crystal sprinkles (red sugar)
- Sweetened flaked coconut
- Finely chopped nuts (I’m using pecans)
- Slivered almonds
How to Make Strawberry Candy
Pour your sweetened condensed milk into a large bowl.
I could just drink a whole can of this if my blood sugar would let me. I swear, anything with sweetened condensed milk in it is delicious!
Add your coconut and chopped nuts.
And gelatin powder.
Stir and stir and stir and stir and stir until it looks like this.
(It won’t take long, I just felt like being dramatic).
Cover with foil and let sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours.
24 hours later…
Oh, who are we kidding? Like I’m gonna wait 48 hours on anything. I didn’t even let my own kids wait until their due dates. I have the patience of a hyperactive gnat on sugar.
So the next day, go ahead and take out your strawberry candy mixture (unless you want to follow the original instructions and not be a rebel with me, whatever cranks yer tractor).
Spoon up about a teaspoonful like this.
Shape into a strawberry…
And then roll it around in the sugar mixture.
Now add the a whole bunch more times.
Like this.
Now we need to dye our almonds.
I place mine in a sandwich bag and pour about a tablespoon or so (I use too much so feel free to use less) of green food coloring into the bag.
Seal that and move them around to give them a good coating.
Then pour them out onto a paper towel-lined plate to dry.
If you like, you can also put them on a and bake them in the oven at 250 to speed up the drying process.
Stick one at the end of each of your berries.
Like so.
And that’s it! Aren’t they pretty? They taste YUMMY, too!
Storage
Store leftover candy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
- If you want, you can make red sugar yourself using beetroot powder. Check out this recipe for DIY Beetroot powder or Kale powder.
- Swap the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts or omit them completely if you prefer.
Recipe FAQs
Where can I get red sugar?
I order mine from Amazon or Target. I usually get this red sanding sugar. If you choose to purchase from this link, Southern Plate will receive a small commission to put toward updating recipes, providing new ones as well as videos, and more. Another option is to roll each in strawberry gelatin powder if you’re in a pinch, but I definitely prefer the red sugar coating.
What else can I use to make the tops green?
You can also use green sugar crystals and just dip the tops of these candies in those crystals. That works as well. You can also add a green toothpick to the top to make for easy eating.
You may also enjoy these bite-sized treats:
Homemade Fudge With Variations
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup finely chopped nuts I used pecans
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
- 3 boxes strawberry gelatin 3 oz boxes
- 1-2 jars red sugar crystals you can get by on one, but I used 1 1/2
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds you just need about three dozen pieces, 1/2 a cup is more than enough
- green food coloring
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine milk, coconut, nuts, and gelatin powder, mixing well. Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours.1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, 1 cup finely chopped nuts, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 3 boxes strawberry gelatin
- Remove and form teaspoonfuls into a strawberry shape and then roll them in red sugar.1-2 jars red sugar crystals
- Dye almonds green with food coloring and once dry, place one at the end of each strawberry as a stem. Store in refrigerator.1/2 cup slivered almonds, green food coloring
Keep a green tree in your heart
and perhaps a singing bird will come.
Chinese Proverb submitted by Leigh. Submit your quote here.
I make strawberry candies for the holidays and for family weddings. My recipe calls for adding vanilla wafer crumbs to make a little stiffer dough. For the person who is allergic to almonds, you can buy plastic strawberry stems in the craft store or just decorate the top with a green frosting leaf.
Love my clothsline and the fresh sheets hanging on it! Smells wonderful 🙂
I loooove these…we called em Strawberry Fakes back in the 70’s and I always made them at Christmas…and as for clotheslines….I live in the city and have one and loooooooove using it…there is no better night’s sleep than one spent sleeping on sheets that have been line dried….long live the clothesline!!!
I live in a city and have an umbrella clothesline in full view of a walking trail–with a few trees as a barrier, if you can call it that. I’m the ONLY one in my subdivision with a clothesline so you can imagine…there might actually be an ordinance but I’m kinda a rebel in my older years. I’ve gotten so I just put everything out in the best way it will fit–the sheets are an adventure, let me tell you! I love the smell of sun dried undies, t-shirts and, especially sheets. Clotheslines–I wish more people would know the joy of having one.
What would be a good substitute for the almonds so you can still make it look like a strawberry. Half of my family is highly allergic to almonds. My Mom collected white milk glass, which now means I have about 300 pieces of milk glass. .
You can buy strawberry stems.(they’re plastic) Sometimes they’re hard to find but you can ask a bakery where you might find them in your area. If you make peach cookies you can also buy peach stems for those. I make both of these. In my area I found them at a bakery/craft store.
Try using fruit rollups for the stems.
I just dip the tops of my candies in green sugar crystals and no one seems to miss the stem.
These look so delicious. I would gladly let my underwear fly in the outdoors if I knew I was going to get some candy like this.
I so hear you about the underwear on the line!!! I just got my own clothesline last year out here at the farm…and it is in full view of the highway and railroad the run through the farm. I’m lucky, though, it is a square umbrella type and I make sure that all the underwear are on the inner lines, surrounded by shirts, jeans and towels to protect the folks passing by from being shocked. Okay, no one needs to know about the drawers worn here!!!