Strawberry Candy Recipe

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This old-fashioned homemade strawberry candy recipe is made with a scrumptiously sweet combination of strawberry gelatin, sweetened condensed milk, chopped pecans, and sweetened coconut flakes. Rolled in red sugar with a dyed-green slivered almond on top, they look nearly too cute to eat (nearly…).

Strawberry Candy Recipe

I have my Grandmother Cornetha to thank for this homemade strawberry candy recipe. She and my Papa Reed (mama’s daddy) got married when my mother was fourteen, adding a whole other branch to our family tree. Honestly, at this point, we got one of those HUGE oak trees with all of the branches jutting out all over the place!

But let’s get to the recipe. This deliciously sweet strawberry-flavored hard candy recipe will make your tastebuds sing! They’re also known as Christmas strawberries as back in the day they were often only made around the holidays. I’ll often wrap up these fun candy berries and give a bag as a gift nowadays. But whether you treat yourself or someone you care about to these little gems, just promise me you’ll give this candy strawberry recipe a go.

Fortunately, they’re easy candies to make. Plus, one of the steps is to let the mixture chill for up to 48 hours. They also have such a unique texture: a combination of chopped nuts and coconut flakes with creamy condensed milk and sweet strawberry gelatin powder. Add the red sugar and these totally sweet treats are so addictive! I love how we shape them to resemble fresh strawberries, although there is no fresh fruit in sight.

Alright, who’s ready to make some strawberry candies?

Strawberry Candy Recipe ingredients

Recipe Ingredients

  • Sweetened condensed milk
  • Strawberry gelatin powder
  • Green food coloring
  • Red crystal sprinkles (red sugar)
  • Sweetened flaked coconut
  • Finely chopped nuts (I’m using pecans)
  • Slivered almonds

How to Make Strawberry Candy

pour condensed milk into bowl

Pour your sweetened condensed milk into a large bowl.

I could just drink a whole can of this if my blood sugar would let me. I swear, anything with sweetened condensed milk in it is delicious!

add coconut and nuts

Add your coconut and chopped nuts.

add gelatin powder

And gelatin powder.

Stir the mixture to get strawberry candy base

Stir and stir and stir and stir and stir until it looks like this.

(It won’t take long, I just felt like being dramatic).

Cover with foil and let sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours.

Spoon up a teaspoon of the mixture.

24 hours later…

Oh, who are we kidding? Like I’m gonna wait 48 hours on anything. I didn’t even let my own kids wait until their due dates. I have the patience of a hyperactive gnat on sugar.

So the next day, go ahead and take out your strawberry candy mixture (unless you want to follow the original instructions and not be a rebel with me, whatever cranks yer tractor).

Spoon up about a teaspoonful like this.

Shape teaspoon of mixture into a strawberry.

Shape into a strawberry…

Roll strawberry candy in red sugar.

And then roll it around in the sugar mixture. 

Now add the sugar coating a whole bunch more times.

Plate of strawberry candies.

Like this.

coloring the almond slivers

Now we need to dye our almonds.

I place mine in a sandwich bag and pour about a tablespoon or so (I use too much so feel free to use less) of green food coloring into the bag.

Seal that and move them around to give them a good coating.

Dry colored almonds on a paper towel-lined plate.

Then pour them out onto a paper towel-lined plate to dry.

If you like, you can also put them on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven at 250 to speed up the drying process.

stick a stalk in each strawberry candy

Stick one at the end of each of your berries.

Strawberry candy

Like so.

finished strawberry candy

And that’s it! Aren’t they pretty? They taste YUMMY, too!

Storage

Store leftover candy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe Notes

  • If you want, you can make red sugar yourself using beetroot powder. Check out this recipe for DIY Beetroot powder or Kale powder.
  • Swap the chopped pecans for chopped walnuts or omit them completely if you prefer.

Recipe FAQs

Where can I get red sugar?

I order mine from Amazon or Target. I usually get this red sanding sugar. If you choose to purchase from this link, Southern Plate will receive a small commission to put toward updating recipes, providing new ones as well as videos, and more. Another option is to roll each candy strawberry in strawberry gelatin powder if you’re in a pinch, but I definitely prefer the red sugar coating.

What else can I use to make the tops green?

You can also use green sugar crystals and just dip the tops of these candies in those crystals. That works as well. You can also add a green toothpick to the top to make for easy eating.

You may also enjoy these bite-sized treats:

Recipe For Potato Candy

Peanut Butter Slice Candy

Cream Cheese Mints

Homemade Fudge With Variations

10 Favorite Christmas Candies

Strawberry Candy Recipe

Strawberry Candy

This old-fashioned homemade strawberry candy recipe is made with strawberry jello, sweetened condensed milk, chopped pecans, and coconut.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Chill Time: 1 day
Total Time: 1 day 20 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: candy, strawberry
Servings: 36 candies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1 cup finely chopped nuts I used pecans
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 oz
  • 3 boxes strawberry gelatin 3 oz boxes
  • 1-2 jars red sugar crystals you can get by on one, but I used 1 1/2
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds you just need about three dozen pieces, 1/2 a cup is more than enough
  • green food coloring

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, combine milk, coconut, nuts, and gelatin powder, mixing well. Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours.
    1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, 1 cup finely chopped nuts, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 3 boxes strawberry gelatin
  • Remove and form teaspoonfuls into a strawberry shape and then roll them in red sugar.
    1-2 jars red sugar crystals
  • Dye almonds green with food coloring and once dry, place one at the end of each strawberry as a stem. Store in refrigerator.
    1/2 cup slivered almonds, green food coloring
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Keep a green tree in your heart

and perhaps a singing bird will come.

Chinese Proverb submitted by Leigh. Submit your quote here.

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121 Comments

  1. Well…ummmm…..I MUST be a durn Yankee because I’ve never even heard of or seen anything like this! lol It would never even dawn on me to do something like this either. hehe It does look rather tasty though. Is there a difference if you don’t wait 48 hours though? Is it less congealed or something?

    Thanks for bringing us another cool story from your family Christy!!

    1. Oh, BTW, I left out my clothes line story because it’s not exactly G-rated. We’ll just leave with the image of lil ol me needing fresh underwear and having to run out to the clothes line to get em. hehe

  2. I just love reading your posts. Ah, the clothes line, I so feel you on that one, and it always seemed that all grandma’s had theirs in view of the entire world. As kids we did not realize that we were not the only ones being tortured with the clothes line in plain view, every kid at grandma’s had the same experience, but then again when you are 10 the whole world revolves around your world…lol

    erica

    p.s. candies sound good too…:)

  3. I love reading all these comments. Y’all have some wonderful memories. The only candy I had when I was little was whatever penny candy they sold at the corner candy store. I loved the visits to that store, some of the candy isn’t even made anymore. ~sigh~ but the memories will last.

  4. This has to be the cutest candy I have ever seen! What a neat idea! I have never heard of these before. I will have to try these sometime soon! They really do look like strawberries! LOL!!! 😉

  5. My Granny used to love these. Sadly, she is no longer with us. I actually cried when I saw these because it made me think of her. I will get the ingredients and make them for my kids this weekend.

    1. This has turned out to be an emotional post for a lot of people and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you commenting. I feel like Grannies who have passed on are reaching down and hugging us all today!

  6. Oh, Christy, I found myself longing for a clothes line just this week. The weather has been so Spring-like I couldn’t help but think how much better the sheets and towels would be if they could be hung up outside. Sadly, I live in a neighborhood where they would have the biggest conniption fits if I hung a line. I live below the Mason-Dixon, but sometimes I swear you wouldn’t know it! 🙂
    As a child, I too hated to see our clothes hanging on the line for all to see. Isn’t it funny how you change your opinions as you get older?

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