Home DessertCandy How to Pull Pioneer Taffy

How to Pull Pioneer Taffy

by Jamie
If you are looking for a fantastic activity for kids, youth groups, family reunions or just to pass some time on a lazy summer day or Sunday afternoon, give this fun Pioneer Taffy a try.
The taffy takes between 35-40 minutes to cook. It needs to cool for about 10 minutes, and then you are ready for a fun taffy pull.
Everyone in your family can have their own piece to pull.

Let the good times roll!
These are my cute nieces that helped me pull taffy this past weekend. We had a great time!
Let me show you how to make it happen!
1. Place all ingredients but the vanilla and butter into a heavy sauce pan. You can find glycerin at most pharmacies. It is a very important ingredient. The taffy will not turn out well with out it.
2. Bring your taffy to a boil over medium high heat. Let it keep on a boiling until your candy thermometer reaches 258 degrees. This should take about 35-40 minutes.
3. I like to check the temperature of the taffy by dipping a spoon into the pan and then running cold water from the tap over the top of it. See how the taffy is kind of stiff looking…that means it is ready to go. If you cook it much past this stage you it will be really hard when you pull it. If you under cook it…you may have a sticky mess. This water trick really helps. However, you can rely on your candy thermometer as well.
4. When your taffy is cooked take it off the heat and pour in your vanilla.
5. Add your butter to the pot and give the bubbling beauty a good round of stirring. Stir until the butter is all melted.
6. Butter a large cookie sheet.
7. Pour the taffy onto the sheet.
8. Let the taffy cool for about 5 minutes, or until it is cool enough to handle. The edges will start to set up a bit faster than the middle.
9. Pinch the taffy into 12 separate pieces.
10. When the taffy is cool enough to pick up, hand out a  piece to each lucky participant. Then you can start to pull the taffy. The trick is the stretch it out……
…..and then fold it back together. Stretch and fold, stretch and fold…..
……until your taffy turns a beautiful white color. Or if some of your pullers are 3 years old, until they get tired of pulling. It still tastes mighty good, even if you don’t pull it long enough for it to turn white.
11. Stretch the taffy into a long rope shape and set on a piece of wax paper. You can break the taffy into pieces by holding it in the palm of your hand and tapping it with the handle of a butter knife (thanks for the tip, Grandma Barb!)
This is a shot of my kids and their cousins, and my own Grandma Barb, taken about 12 years ago. We’ve had a lot a great times, pulling this taffy. Hope some of you get a chance to try it and that you love the time spent together as much as we have over the years. 🙂 
Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: NA calories NA fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 1 voted )

Ingredients

  • 2 C sugar
  • 1 1/2 C water
  • 1 C white corn syrup
  • 1 t salt
  • 2 t glycerin (found at the pharmacy)
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 2 T butter

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients but the vanilla and butter into a heavy sauce pan. You can find glycerin at most pharmacies. It is a very important ingredient. The taffy will not turn out well with out it.

2. Bring your taffy to a boil over medium high heat. Let it keep on a boiling until your candy thermometer reaches 258 degrees. This should take about 35-40 minutes.
3. I like to check the temperature of the taffy by dipping a spoon into the pan and then running cold water from the tap over the top of it. See how the taffy is kind of stiff looking...that means it is ready to go. If you cook it much past this stage you it will be really hard when you pull it. If you under cook it...you may have a sticky mess. This water trick really helps. However, you can rely on your candy thermometer as well.
4. When your taffy is cooked take it off the heat and pour in your vanilla.
5. Add your butter to the pot and give the bubbling beauty a good round of stirring. Stir until the butter is all melted.
6. Butter a large cookie sheet.
7. Pour the taffy onto the sheet.
8. Let the taffy cool for about 5 minutes, or until it is cool enough to handle. The edges will start to set up a bit faster than the middle.
9. Pinch the taffy into 12 separate pieces.
10. When the taffy is cool enough to pick up, hand out a  piece to each lucky participant. Then you can start to pull the taffy. The trick is the stretch and then fold it back together. Stretch and fold, stretch and fold until your taffy turns a beautiful white color. Or if some of your pullers are 3 years old, until they get tired of pulling. It still tastes mighty good, even if you don't pull it long enough for it to turn white.
11. Stretch the taffy into a long rope shape and set on a piece of wax paper. You can break the taffy into pieces by holding it in the palm of your hand and tapping it with the handle of a butter knife (thanks for the tip, Grandma Barb!)

How to make pioneer taffy from Jamie cooks It Up!

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51 comments

Joan June 14, 2010 - 2:26 pm

What a fun family project! Thanks for sharing! I love your blog!

Reply
Cooking with Kait June 14, 2010 - 3:06 pm

Great step by step photos on how to make taffy. Looks like so much fun stretching it.

Reply
Maranda June 14, 2010 - 3:38 pm

Hahaha!! That looks like tons of fun for everyone! I especially love the first picture with the taffy as a heart. Great job and thanks for sharing! I'll have to bookmark this to make with Little Butt someday.

Reply
Anonymous June 14, 2010 - 3:48 pm

!!!!!Love your Blog!!!!!
Have you tried making different flavors?

Reply
kelly lim June 14, 2010 - 5:16 pm

i might not have started on any of your marvelous creation but i certainly do enjoy reading the recipes.

i love the attractive pictures and i have loads of fun just by running through your blog every day. thank you so much for sharing,Jamie!!

god bless, Have a nice day!

Reply
Tara@JustDevineStyle June 14, 2010 - 6:14 pm

This looks super fun! I am excited to try it out!

Reply
Kristie June 15, 2010 - 12:34 am

I'm getting the Glycerin while my daughter is at VBS tomorrow and I'm going to surprise her with this recipe. She has Severe food allergies and All taffy we have ever found says may contain Nuts. So I can't wait to surprise her tomorrow!

Reply
Jamie Cooks It Up! June 15, 2010 - 3:21 am

Anonymous,
I have tried using cinnamon candy flavoring instead of the vanilla. It was great as well.
~Jamie

Reply
Carrie June 15, 2010 - 7:00 pm

My mom used to make this for us when I was a kid and we loved pulling and pulling it. I had all but forgotten her taffy! thanks for the reminder and the recipe. My mom probably wouldn't be able to find it if I asked. :0)…LOL!

Reply
megan June 17, 2010 - 8:25 pm

Mine turned out a sticky mess. I don't know what I did wrong….I tried the spoon trick and I was at 260. Oh well, maybe next time. I love your blog

Reply
Melissa Montierth March 26, 2020 - 12:29 pm

It wasn’t cooked enough.

Reply
Melissa March 16, 2011 - 11:17 pm

Would this be the same as Honey taffy? Would you add honey instead of vanilla?
Thanks

Reply
Jamie Cooks It Up! March 21, 2011 - 12:20 pm

Melissa,
Honey Taffy is something different. Not sure how to make it…this recipe just needs the vanilla. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out. Thanks!
~Jamie

Reply
Effie October 6, 2011 - 3:34 pm

Just wanted to give a heads up, I've been researching glycerin and have discovered that the glycerin depicted in your picture which is spelled without an “e” at the end is not supposed to be consumed. Make sure your readers get vegetable glycerine with an “e”. The backs of the bottles without an “e” should explain that it is not to be eaten.

Reply
Heather October 27, 2011 - 1:29 pm

Effie, when I made this recipe I called a pharmacist to ask which glycerin I should use. He told me that because of the small quantity of glycerin, this one is fine to use. Ingested in large amounts this glycerin is not edible. I used this exact same glycerin when we made taffy and none of the seven 14-year-olds who helped me got sick.

Reply
tammy September 16, 2012 - 2:03 am

This sounds like so much fun. Can you add food coloring? I would love to try this for a young women activity. It might be fun to add colors for the values. I just need to have my son send the glycerin here to me in Japan. I LOVE your blog!!! It is amazing. There is nothing that I have tried that I have not loved. Thanks soooo much for your hard work.

Reply
Jamie September 17, 2012 - 6:23 am

Hi Tammy,
You can add food coloring, and different kinds of candy flavoring. Add them after the taffy has finished cooking along with the butter. Good luck! Fun idea to do the YW values. Good luck!
~Jamie

Reply
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amber December 15, 2012 - 7:48 pm

Hi,

Is it possible to make this recipe in advance or do you have to be pulling it withing the 10 minutes after it has cooled?

Thanks, I’m so excited to try this at my daughter’s birthday party!!

Amber

Reply
Jamie December 16, 2012 - 5:34 pm

Amber,
You can’t make this recipe in advance. Once the candy has cooled all the way down it will be impossible to pull. 🙂 Good luck!
~Jamie

Reply
Kim January 23, 2013 - 10:56 pm

My son has many allergies too, one being dairy. Can you use a non dairy butter in this recipe?

Reply
Sherida June 22, 2013 - 3:37 pm

I don’t know if you tried it yet or not but I just made this using Earth balance butter. It turned out great!! So yummy!! My kids love it!!

Reply
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LaRene Olbeter June 5, 2013 - 2:30 pm

Hi Jamie,

Thinking of doing this for our upcoming pioneer trek! Do you know if the recipe is affected by humidity? Thanks for any suggestion 🙂

Reply
angela June 20, 2013 - 6:30 am

Question: any substitute for corn syrup?

Reply
Hazel November 17, 2013 - 9:07 am

Corn syrup substitute

For each cup of light corn syrup in a recipe, substitute 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup water.

For each cup of dark corn syrup, substitute 1 cup of packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup water.

For each cup of corn syrup, substitute 1 cup of honey

Reply
Natalie July 17, 2013 - 7:31 pm

We made this tonight and my kids loved it! I have one question: is the taffy supposed to end up soft like salt water taffy or is it supposed to cool to a hard, crunchy candy suited for sucking? Ours turned out to be very crunchy. Thank you!

Reply
Jamie July 18, 2013 - 10:41 am

Hi Natalie,
The firmness of the taffy depends on how long you cook it. If you want it to be a little softer just cook it one or two degrees less. Be careful not to under-cook it however, it will be super sticky and hard to pull. Good luck!
~Jamie

Reply
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Reply
Seth Hogan June 2, 2014 - 6:50 pm

Do you butter your hands to stop the taffy from sticking to you?
Or is it not that sticky?

Reply
Arlene July 24, 2014 - 7:31 pm

Seth, when I was young, my mother had us use a little corn starch on our hands. It worked great and didn’t cause a mess.

Reply
Melissa Montierth March 26, 2020 - 12:30 pm

Like!

Reply
Angee July 24, 2014 - 7:28 am

We’ll be trying this today for Pioneer Day in Utah. Thanx for the great tips. We’re all excited!

Reply
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Kathryn Nielson June 18, 2015 - 8:49 am

Hi Jamie,
I’m curious as to how pioneer taffy originated. Do you have the answer to that?
Thanks!
Kathryn

Reply
Jamie June 23, 2015 - 9:16 am

Kathryn,
Wow, that’s a good question. I learned to make this Pioneer Taffy while working at The Lion House in downtown Salt Lake City. I had assumed the recipe had been passed down from those originally living in The Lion House (early Utah Pioneers). Wish I had a better answer for you!
All the best,
~Jamie

Reply
destiny July 4, 2016 - 11:10 am

hi I’m thinking of doing this project for the summer program I’m running at the daycare i work at. you said that if u tap it it breaks. does that mean it hardens? I’ve never made taffy before that why I’m asking:) thanks!

Reply
Brittany Nelson July 18, 2016 - 9:02 pm

Do you stir the sugar mixture or just combine it then let it boil?

Reply
Jamie July 19, 2016 - 8:43 pm

Brittany,
Either way is fine. I generally just let it combine as it boils, but you can stir it if you so choose. Best of luck!
~Jamie

Reply
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Stacey Goodman July 20, 2016 - 3:16 pm

Could the recipe work out double or tripling it? Also do you know if it is possible to make it in advance? I am hoping to make it for a primary for about 150 kids.

Reply
Jamie July 21, 2016 - 10:01 am

Hi Stacey,
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t double well. Also, it can’t be made in advance, as the longer the taffy sits and cools the quicker it will set and eventually be impossible to pull. It’s quite time sensitive. I’m sorry to be the deliverer of this bad news! I wish I had better advice for you! I’m not sure making it for a crowd of 150 is a possible feat, unless you had many pots going at once and many helpers watching the candy’s temperature to be sure it is correct.
Best,
~Jamie

Reply
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Bea December 6, 2017 - 9:18 pm

Just an FYI about the Glycerin. As a baker and candy maker I use alot if glycerin and Wilton makes the glycerin that I use it is spelled without the”e” and is food grade glycerin. So the spelling has nothing to do with it being edible. It’s much cheaper if you buy it at a craft store,sewing shop or Walmart where the wedding supplies are and most of the Wilton products. I buy the 60ml (2 oz) size for a bit over a dollar. Just wanted to let you and your readers know. Great recipe!! Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas ??

Reply
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Stephanie July 3, 2023 - 11:19 am

If you wanted to flavor it, at what point in the recipe and how much?

Reply
Jamie July 5, 2023 - 10:58 am

Stephanie,
Thanks for your question. You can add your preferred flavor instead of the vanilla. Once it is cooked to the correct temprature, add your flavoring and stir it in.
Hope this helps.
~Jamie

Reply

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