How to Melt Jolly Ranchers to Make Halloween Suckers

This fun tutorial shows you how to melt Jolly Ranchers hard candies down and make fun Monster themed Halloween suckers.

Kids will love this fun experiment that ends in a tasty and adorable treat. The finished suckers turn out so cute, and kids will learn all about heat, candy making, and more.

To melt down Jolly Ranchers and turn them into flat suckers, you will need Jolly Rancher candy, sucker sticks, an oven, parchment paper, a cookie sheet, and candy eyes.

Head down for the complete directions on how to melt Jolly Ranchers to make these DIY Jolly Rancher suckers.

Jolly Rancher Sucker Tips for Success

• Be sure to watch your suckers in the oven as they are melting. You want to melt them down just until the candies are flat and the colors are melted together. Do not over-melt them (you know this will happen when the candy starts to bubble).
• You can use any number of desired Jolly Ranchers to create your suckers. We like to use 3-4 Jolly Ranchers at the most, or the sucker sticks may not be strong enough to support the suckers.
• You can experiment with different flavors and colors of Jolly Ranchers. Each sucker will taste and look different, and that makes it more fun.
• The sucker sticks and eyes will need to be added after the Jolly Ranchers come out of the oven, but while the candy is still hot and sticky, so you will need to work quickly. The pan will be very hot, so make sure an adult helps with this step.
• Be sure to cover your pan with parchment paper ahead of time. If you skip this step, your pan may end up ruined, as it is difficult to get the suckers off without it.

How to Melt Jolly Ranchers to Make Monster Suckers

Materials:

• Jolly Ranchers Hard Candies (2-4 candies per sucker)
• Cookie Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Sucker Sticks
• Oven
• Candy Eyes

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
2. Cover your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Layer 2-3 Jolly Ranchers touching on your cookie sheet. Alternate colors, use multiple colors or the same colors. Be sure to leave space for the sucker sticks in between suckers.

4. Pop the pan in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes. Watch the suckers close and pull them out when the Jolly Ranchers are completely flat and colors are touching/blended together at the edges.
5. Put the pan on a hot pad and be careful not to touch the side during this step. Take a sucker stick and pop it so it is about an inch into the sucker. Give the sucker stick a twirl (being careful not to touch the pan) to completely cover it with candy.
6. Press your monster eyes on the top of the candy. You can add any number of eyes as you’d like (make some monsters with one eye, some with multiple eyes, etc…

7. Let candy suckers sit and harden for 30+ minutes until completely hard.
8. Peel the suckers off the parchment paper and enjoy!

*This is one of our favorite Halloween themed activities; however, it can be made at any time. Make them Christmas themed by layering red and green Jolly Ranchers, Valentine’s themed by layering two in a heart shape or using red and pink ones, and more. You can always melt down Jolly Ranchers without the eyes for year-round sucker fun.

For more fun Halloween themed crafts and activities for kids, be sure to check out some more below:

• Slimy Halloween Sensory Bin – Use dyed pasta to create a fun and slimy Halloween themed sensory play activity.
• Fork-painted Halloween Crafts – Using a fork and paint, create fun bat, pumpkin, and black cat crafts.
• Paper Bag Monster Puppet – Using a paper bag and construction paper, create fun monster crafts that double as puppets for children.