Easy Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy
Easy Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy
This Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy is an easy no-bake treat that’s perfect for the holiday season. Great as a homemade gift!
These Gumdrop Nougat Candies taste like nostalgia and Christmas’ past. And I love them. They’re sweet, soft, chewy and so delicious. And very easy to make. Create a batch and share them with friends, give them as gifts, and make sure to have them on your holiday treat plate!
Who knew that marshmallows + white chocolate chips = a chewy and delicious nougat?! And with festive red and green gumdrops, this is a perfect Christmas treat.
I love that this treat is no bake, and that it can come together in just minutes. All you need to do is melt together a little butter, mini marshmallows and white chocolate chips, then stir in chopped gumdrops. Then spread it out into a parchment paper lined pan.
Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy Recipe Tip
The mixture is pretty sticky, so a little trick I use is to lightly grease a small square of parchment paper then use that to spread and pat the mixture down. Put it in the fridge for a few hours (overnight is best) to set…it needs to be completely cooled to cut it.
When it comes time to cut them up into squares, make sure you use a large sharp knife because they’re sticky!
As you cut into the nougat you’ll see how pretty these candies are! The red and green gumdrops look like stained glass in the nougat.
Aren’t they so pretty?
No one is going to be able to resist these candies when you put them out…trust me. I had to put away over half of our batch or we were going to eat them all in one sitting! But don’t worry, I have a recipe tip for you.
Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy Recipe Tip
This batch will make about 60 bite sized nougat candies, so if you’re not serving them right away, you might consider freezing this treat! Layer the cut pieces of nougat between pieces of parchment paper and place in an air tight container, and put them into the freezer. When you’re ready to serve, let them sit for about 1 hour or more after freezing, to bring them to room temperature.
A delicious holiday treat you need to make!
Easy Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 225 gram bags white chocolate chips (DO NOT USE Chipits)
- 2 250 gram bags of mini marshmallows
- 1 1/2 cups chopped red and green gumdrops see notes below for where to buy them
Instructions
- Prepare an 8x8 square baking dish by lining it with parchment paper.
- Cut the gumdrops in half. Set aside.
- Melt the butter, white chocolate chips and marshmallows together over indirect medium heat. To do this I create a double boiler by putting a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (making sure that the bowl and pan fit together snug). This ensures that the mixture doesn't burn.
- Continuously stir the mixture until it is smooth and melted together, making sure not to cook the mixture...the goal is to just melt, not cook or boil. See tips above in this post!
- Remove from heat.
- Let cool for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the gumdrops. Mix well.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- The mixture will be very sticky, so I use a lightly greased piece of parchment paper or wax paper to help spread and pat the mixture down into the pan.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting, overnight is best.
- Slice into 60 bite sized pieces.
- To store the candies, use parchment paper between layers so the candies don't stick together.
- Enjoy this nougat recipe!
Notes
Tips and Tricks for Making Nougat Candy:
RECIPE UPDATE! I have received a lot of questions about melting the butter, white chocolate chips and marshmallows together. I prefer to use the double boiler method because it’s a lot more difficult to burn the mixture with the indirect heat. A lot of people found this method hard because the mixture is very sticky and takes some time to melt down. I realize that, but I still feel like it’s the better method. You just have to be patient and keep stirring. Here are some tips:
- Put the butter and the chips in the bowl first and get them melting.
- Then add in 1/3 of the marshmallows and get them melting.
- Then the next 1/3 and stir them in, get them melting down.
- Add the remaining marshmallows, stir them in and keep mixing until the mixture is smooth and there are no remaining marshmallows.
- The whole process only takes about 10 minutes or less.
Where to buy gumdrops for nougat candy:
I’ve had a lot of questions about where to buy the gumdrops for this candy, so I thought I’d share what I know here:
- The candy I used are called Baking Gums. They’re small and don’t have any sugar on the outside of them.
- The ones I used were these Baking Gums from Bulk Barn. They’re in the baking aisle, and they come in a mix of yellow, orange, red and green. I just sorted out the red and green ones once I got home.
- I have also seen them at Save On Foods under the brand Nutty Club.
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More Delicious No-Bake Christmas Treats:
- Chocolate Caramel Nut Clusters
- Caramel Crunch Popcorn
- Easy Peppermint Bark
- Candy Cane Cloud Dessert
- A Collection of Easy No-Bake Christmas Treats
Check out my Valentine’s Day Nougat too! I’m sharing even more tips in this post!
Happy Holidays!
I am also ordering about storage, why do they have to be kept in the fridge or freezer? I don’t see any ingredients in the recipe that require refrigeration? Also what happens if you do store them on the counter for a month? Do they go moldy or just not as fresh? Thanks
Hi Kaela! The only reason I recommend keeping these candies in the fridge is to help them from not sticking together. You can keep them on the counter, and I do for short periods of time (a day or so), but if they get too warm they will stick together. The only time I freeze them is if I want a batch weeks or months later.
I wrap the pieces in cut squares of parchment paper. Solves the sticking together and I leave a few pieces at room temperature, while the rest stays in the refrigerator.
There are so many comments already that I didn’t read them all, but at the risk of being repetitive, why not use gummy bears, which are easy to find and perhaps small enough that you wouldn’t have to cut them in half.
What is the best knife to cut the nougat?
I just use a sharp chef knife.
Could I use colored marshmallows?
You can, but the flavour will be completely different.
Is it really only a 8×8 pan. I cant imagine cutting that into 60 pieces.
Yes, that is what I always use.
These are seriously addictive! I’ve already made 2 batches in the last couple of weeks!
I’ve just made 2 adjustments to the process (but not the recipe) that made this easier for me. I used a slow cooker (high to start, then low once things got going) instead of a double-boiler method, melting chocolate and butter first. And for storage, instead of layers with parchment, I lightly dusted my hands with icing sugar and rolled each cube in my hands. Now they get along very well in any container with no parchment and no sticking! It’s true that the colors are just a tiny bit “dusty” compared to before dusting but they are still lovely on a tray. Thanks for the recipe, it’ll be a tradition!
I just made these and melted the butter then added the chocolate and marshmallows for one minute in the microwave – that worked well. These are just like I remember from the penny candy store😊 Thank you!
I love this recipe and everyone I know does too
I’ve been trying to find the recipe for something my adopted aunt used to make for me and my brother when we were kids. This is the closest thing I have found to it. The only difference was that hers were rolled out in tubes, sprinkled with coconut flakes on the outside. She’d wrap the tubes of candy in foil and keep them frozen. My brother and I would have to wait for them to thaw enough to slice. We loved the way the jellies looked like stained glass in the candies. Is it possible to roll these up too?
Hi Sheri! Thank you for sharing this, I love to hear personal history on different recipes…these candies are so nostalgic for so many people! I think it’s possible to roll them, the mixture is quite sticky, but it could be done. I would try rolling them with a little butter on your hands.