Kids Can Craft: DIY Pop Rocks!

Pop Rocks Candy.  These are a kid favorite.  As well as a favorite for an adult obsessed with candy (ahem, me).  I started digging around and found a few recipes for making some at home and decided to give them a try (Instructables & eHow had the best info).   Now you can too with a few added tips I learned.  Here's how:

First you'll need to gather a few supplies -

Ingredients
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Corn Syrup
1/8 cup of water
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Flavor Oil
A few drops liquid Food Coloring
1/4 cup Citric Acid Powder (do not get the liquid!)

Gear
Candy thermometer
Saucepan
Cookie Sheet
Hammer
Freezer Bags

Mix the sugar, water & corn syrup together until blended in a saucepan:

Now, stir regularly until it begins to boil over medium heat.  Then let sit boiling until it gets heated to 305 degrees Fahrenheit:

While things are heating up on the stove, spread the powdered sugar over your cookie sheet and  sprinkle half of the citric acid over that:

Once the sugar mixture is at 305 degrees, remove from stove, let temperature drop to 275 degrees and add the flavoring and color.  Keep in mind - the candy will naturally have a yellowish sheen, so don't have your heart set on an exact color shade - I used kelly green and it came out like pistachio.  Now add the baking soda.  It will immediately get foamy and thick so work fast and pour it out on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle the remaining citric acid powder on top:

Allow the candy to cool & harden (approx. 10-20min) and then break into large piece by hand and stick them in a freezer bag.  I recommend double bagging so the bits are 100% contained while breaking into little bits.  This is the part the kids will really love - get out the hammer and go to town evenly smashing until you get small pieces (don't go too crazy and pulverize it into powder!).  

Now the candy is ready to eat.  They aren't exactly the same as the real thing (which uses injected CO2 to create the pop effect), but they've got a tart, fizzy taste that's still fun on the tongue.  After I made them I realized it was the old-time recipe for Seafoam (aka sponge candy), except citric acid is added to make a fizz reaction with the baking soda.  I sprinkled some onto cupcakes for flavor-filled accent:

*One note about putting it on frosting is that they'll need to be eaten pretty fast.  The moisture in the frosting will make the rocks get gooey if they sit on it too long.  So this is a good last-minute finishing touch.

This makes quite a bit of candy, so store whatever isn't eaten in an airtight container for fizzy candy fun later.

Kids like treats & they're even better when they can help make 'em, so today's project qualifies as a Kids Can Craft idea (with a little adult assistance).

Got a craft kids can help make?  Link it up HERE.

Sharing this creation with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so click HERE to check them out!