Santa Lollipops Made with Jolly Ranchers: Great Christmas Candy Gifts!

Making your own lollipops (or suckers) is not as hard as you think! These Christmas Santa lollipops were not tough at all, and they look adorable when they're finished! All you need are some Jolly Ranchers and a little imagination! Well, and this tutorial. But you get the idea...

Aren't these guys the cutest? Last month we made our beloved turkey lollipops (or turkey suckers, whichever you prefer), and they were a huge hit. So I started playing around with the Jolly Ranchers, trying to get them to be the right shape for a Santa pop. After several experiments (and several fails), I think I got the recipe just right!

You Will Need:

-Jolly Ranchers (3 pineapple, 2 cherry and 1 watermelon flavor per Santa)

-lollipop sticks (I used 6" size)

-candy eyes
-mini M&M's (red hots will also work)
-red fruit roll-ups

-cellophane bags (4 in x 9.5 in)
-ribbon for wrapping (optional, but looks SO cute!)

-mini marshmallows

-parchment paper

Before You Begin

I can honestly tell you that the hardest part of this recipe is finding the right colors/flavors of Jolly Ranchers. You need:

Jolly Ranchers in Cherry (for the hat-strawberry will work, too)

Pineapple (for the beard and white part of the hat)

Watermelon (for the face)

This seems easy enough but what it really means is that you need to purchase two types of Jolly Ranchers: Fruity Bash and Original.

We were also dismayed to find that in this package of Fruity Bash Jolly Ranchers, there were only 5 pineapple!!! What's up with that, Hershey Company??

Set Your Decorating Candies Aside

Before you begin baking, cut your fruit roll ups into mini smiles. Put your candy eyes, mini M&M (or red hot) noses, lollipop sticks and fruit roll up smiles aside. The lollipops set quickly once removed from the oven, so you want to have all of your decorations ready to go.

Ingredients:

-Jolly Ranchers (3 pineapple, 2 cherry and 1 watermelon flavor per Santa)

-lollipop sticks (I used 6" size)

-candy eyes
-mini M&M's (red hots will also work)
-red fruit roll-ups

-cellophane bags (4 in x 9.5 in)
-curling ribbon for wrapping (optional, but looks SO cute!)

-mini marshmallows

-parchment paper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Unwrap your Jolly Ranchers and place them on parchment paper on a cookie tray EXACTLY as shown:

I do not recommend making more than a few of these at a time. Four or five is ideal. Any more on one tray and they set too quickly, making them hard to decorate. It's also hard to position them correctly to add the sticks. You can make as many as you want on a tray, of course, but I'm just trying to save you from a Pinterest fail!

We also added a fun flower to this tray, just to use up some of the extra Jolly Ranchers:

2. Bake for about 5 minutes (maybe more, depending on your oven) at 275 degrees, until the Jolly Ranchers are melted and you see a Santa forming. Keep an eye on them! I usually leave the oven light on and watch them. Take them out when they look like Santas. If you leave them too long, they will just keep melting!!

3. Working quickly, add your eyes, nose, mouth, and hat marshmallow puff.

You can also omit the mouth and they still look pretty cute!

4. Gently add your lollipop stick. You can roll it a bit to make sure it will be secure.

5. Allow them to cool completely before you carefully remove them from the parchment paper. They should NOT be sticky or mushy. They should be hard! If they're still soft, let them cool longer.

6. Place them in cellophane bags when completely cool. Finish off with curling ribbon if you desire.

Aren't they adorable? They make great gifts, too! They'll keep for a while, as long as you store them in a cool, dry place. **An added note about storage: I suggest storing them flat, as they can bend or change shape if stored for a long period of time in a propped position or inside a jar or arrangement.