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Does the fact that we can deep fry anything mean we know how to deep fry 11 kinds of candy? And what are the results?
To test Mahalo's page on how to deep fry anything we decided to fry candy. Lots of candy - eleven different kinds, in fact! We've outlined our steps for frying candy below. Plus we reveal which candies fried well, and which types you should avoid. -
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Step 1: What You Need to Fry Candy
- A little organization pays off when you're deep frying. Try to assemble your equipment and ingredients beforehand. Otherwise you might discover you don't have enough oil to fill your pot or fryer, and have to run to the grocery store in the middle of your preparations!
Equipment
- Deep fryer
- Although we chose to use a deep fryer, any pot big enough to submerge our battered candy in hot oil would suffice.
- If you are not using a deep fryer, you'll need a cooking thermometer to check your oil's temperature.
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Slotted spoon
- Tongs
- Paper towels
Ingredients
- Oil (for frying and a little for the batter)
- We chose canola oil, but you can fry with almost any oil.
- Flour
- Eggs
- Milk
- Baking powder
- Last, but certainly not least, candy!
- We chose the following kinds, using both miniatures and full-size bars:
Step 2: Preparing the Candy
- Chill your candy bars, in the freezer or refrigerator, for at least 20 minutes.
- We chilled two-thirds of our candy bars, to see if there was an optimal temperature for the ingredients. One third went into the freezer, one third in the refrigerator, and the remaining third stayed at room temperature.
- We found that chilling the candy really did make a difference; the bars that were at room temperature melted in the oil while chilled bars remained intact.
- Heat your oil - you want it to reach 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Inserting candy directly into the hot oil would result in a hot, goopy mess, so you need batter to coat the candy.
- To make a flour batter:
- Put two eggs, two tablespoons of oil, and two cups of milk in your mixing bowl.
- Whisk in two teaspoons of baking soda and two cups of flour.
- Fully mix the ingredients, until you have a smooth batter.
- Tip: Cool the batter in the refrigerator for a few minutes to thicken it. That way it will better coat whatever you're frying.
- Tip: If your batter is runny, add more flour. It needs to fully coat your candy bars.
Step 3: Frying the Candy
- Now it's time for the most important part: frying the candy!
- Make sure the oil is hot enough (375 degrees Fahrenheit).
- When it is, dip each piece of candy in the batter (unwrap it first!).
- It's very important make sure the chocolate is fully coated with batter!
- Use a slotted spoon or tongs to place the coated candy in the hot oil. You want to get the candy as close to the oil as possible before letting go; this will avert hot oil splatters!
- We used a slotted spoon to drop the candy into the hot oil.
- Be careful not to overcrowd your container. You don't want any pieces of candy to touch, because their batter coatings can meld together!
- While waiting, spread a double layer of paper towels next to the fryer.
- Frying, when the oil is hot enough, only takes a few minutes. When the batter's golden brown, it's time to take out the candy.
- Scoop out the candy with your slotted spoon or tongs and place it on the waiting paper towels.
- We used tongs, which made it easy to grab the candy.
- If you want to fry another batch, wait a few minutes for the oil to reach optimum frying temperature once more.
Step 4: Eating the Candy
- The most important part: how did the candy taste?
- Wait a few minutes for the candy to cool before eating it. If it's hot to pick up, it will burn your tongue!
- When the candy has cooled, pick it up, and enjoy.
Mahalo's Results
- Almond Joy - very good! Heated coconut and melted chocolate = yummy.
- Baby Ruth - delicious! Caramel, peanuts, and chocolate melded into a delectable treat.
- Batter this one carefully; the bar had an unfortunate tendency to open on one end, leaking contents into the oil.
- Butterfinger - unfortunately, the Butterfinger's center melded into an unchewable mass during frying.
- Hershey's Chocolate - too thin for us to fry successfully, the chocolate melted and leaked out of the batter.
- Kit Kat - not bad, but frying did not enhance the flavor.
- Milky Way - a favorite! General consensus: tastes like s'mores!
- Milky Way Dark - a dark chocolate version of the Milky Way. Another popular one!
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - sadly, the our peanut butter cups always melted in the oil, resulting in wads of peanut butter stuck to the bottom of the fryer.
- If you freeze these beforehand and coat them very well, they could be great.
- Snickers - great! Chocolate, caramel, peanuts and nougat are wonderful fried!
- 3 Musketeers - not that popular. The nougat center didn't improve with heating.
- Twix - very popular! Any kind of melted caramel was a crowd pleaser!
- It turns out you can successfully deep fry candy, although some kinds deep fry better than others. Enjoy!
