Category Archives: Taffy

Mary Janes

Few things can stand the withering test of time. But there are some candy recipes that are so special that as the years go by they taste just as good as they did back when you were a child. Mary Jane’s are one of those special treats that has achieved this feat, and will be here for a long time coming. Even the wrapper has not been altered since the first batch was distributed in 1914.

This delicious morsel assaulted my taste buds with it’s one of a kind peanut butter and molasses flavor, something that sounds so incredibly simple but tastes so good. It’s chewy like a piece of taffy but just as easily able to be rolled up and savored if you so desire. Believe it or not, it was originally named after the creators’ favorite aunt! Talk about leaving a mark on society long after you’re gone! Sometimes sticking to the basics is the best, and with the century mark coming up for the little candy that could, there’s no need to change a thing. Mary Jane’s are still a candy that both young and old can enjoy together.

Air Heads

 

When we are young, we seem to eat more “sugary??? candy, whereas we get older, our palates change and we tend to go for candies with a more mature flavor, such as dark chocolate and candied fruit. But even then, there are a few childhood candies that manage to slip past our adult taste buds and anchor themselves in our memory. Like Airheads. I LOVE Airheads. I’m not sure what it is about them that I love so much. Take the cherry Airhead, for example. When you remove the shiny, colorful wrapper, the candy is bright red and smooth, it is flexible when you bend it and it smells like children’s cough syrup…but in a good way. And then the taste! Chewy, sweet, tart and just sugary enough without being overpowering. It leaves little grains of sugar on your tongue after you chew it and depending on what flavor you chose to munch on, your tongue is painted a garish purple, red or green – which pleases both it’s young and not-so-young consumer. 

Airheads come in a variety of flavors – grape, blue raspberry, cherry, orange, white mystery, watermelon, green apple, and strawberry. All are a taffy-like candy and they are kind of a take on the old salt water taffy’s that used to be so popular, but these taffy’s are modern and (to use a word we so often see) “extreme???. The candy itself is harder than salt water taffy, but equally chewy. My favorites are cherry and “white mystery???, most likely because they are a bit tangy. White Mystery…. I have been working on that one for years and still have not discovered just what it tastes like! Some days it is pineapple, other days it’s an orange-mango infusion. I guess I’ll never unravel the “mystery???. But here’s one mystery solved by the Sheriff, Airheads are criminal suspect number one. Crime committed? Being delicious!

Bit O’ Honey

The Bit o’ Honey bars have been pleasing America since 1924 and it’s easy to see why. They are available in bite-sized pieces as well as bars that have six of the bite-sized pieces per pack. It is an unusually sweet candy and one of the few that I can’t eat in one sitting, which makes it a great long-chewing candy. This little baby will last you through one long movie or one very boring day at work. It’s a simple but unique recipe of honey flavored taffy and chopped almonds.

Honey and almonds taste great together in many forms…cereal, granola bars and of course, Bit O’ Honey candies. The bars have an old-fashioned taste and look which is pleasing to both the palate and eye. The taste is almost creamy and the nuts add a crunch and bite that you wouldn’t expect from a taffy-candy product. The bars smells sweet and inviting…like your Grandma’s kitchen. But be careful you don’t pull out any fillings eating Bit O’ Honey’s or it’s off to the dentist for you!