This week is all about getting ready for our bake sale to benefit The Confetti Foundation. (Here’s why I support them.) And since this is a one-woman-and-twins effort, we have spent a fair amount of time on Pinterest, looking for recipes that are (1) bake sale favorites and (2) really easy. (Want to follow along? Here’s my bake sale Pinterest board.)
So how excited were we to find this idea for Jolly Rancher Lollipops, originated by Meaghan at The Decorated Cookie? Pretty darn excited that I could add candy to the bake sale without making an extra trip to the candy store. This is such a fun idea, and a great project for the kids to help with.
We created our lollipops in our party colors. (You can actually buy Jolly Ranchers in bags by color, like all the red flavors, which made things easier for us.) I think these blue and red lollipops would be adorable for a Dr. Seuss party.
Jolly Rancher Lollipop Supplies
- Jolly Ranchers
- Lollipop sticks
- Cookie trays
- Parchment paper
- Tin foil
- Plastic pretzel bag
- Twist tie (comes with the pretzel bags) or ribbon
Jolly Rancher Lollipop Instructions
1 – Preheat your oven to 275.
2- Line your cookie tray with tin foil and then parchment paper.
3 – Have the kiddos unwrap your Jolly Ranchers.
4 – Arrange the candies in stacks of three Jolly Ranchers. We varied the flavors of each candy. Our party colors are turquoise and red, so we made some red and blue lollipops and some all red. Make sure that your candy stacks are staggered to allow room for the lollipop sticks. Also, don’t pack too many on your cookie tray because you’ll have to work fast to insert the lollipop sticks and you don’t want your melted candies hardening before you can get to them. The max I did was eight stacks per tray.
5 – Bake for about 6 minutes. The candies should melt together to form a rectangle shape, but not get too thin.
6 – Do not let the kids to this part. Immediately after you pull the cookie sheet out of the oven, place a lollipop stick in the center of the melted candy. Then roll and slightly depress the stick into the candy until it is coated.
7 – Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then transfer off the tray. When the lollipops are completely cooled, insert into a plastic pretzel bag and tie the end with a twist tie or ribbon.
And here’s a teeny, tiny preview of the bake sale.
I know this is an old post…but you are one of the only people on Pinterest that put their pops in a bag which is what I want to do. Do you think the kids will have trouble getting the bags off? And do you think I can make these 6+ weeks in advance or do you think they will get stuck in the bags if I do that?
Hi Allison – We put the lollipops in bags to protect them from the elements at our outdoor bake sale. I don’t think anyone had trouble getting the bags off. Probably untying the ribbon knot was harder! (You could use a twist tie instead.) I don’t think I’d make them 6 weeks in advance. If the lollis do get warm, the bags might wind up sticking. Hope that helps!