How to Make Watermelon Candy – Summer’s Sweet Treat

When someone talks about Watermelon Candy do Jolly Ranchers come to mind first?  That’s what I used to think too until I made watermelon candy for the first time last year.

I bet you didn’t know you could make your own watermelon candy using just a watermelon and nothing else.  Well, you need a few other things but no other food items, and no added sugar.  Queue the mom applause here.

I wanted to get this post published before Independence Day since watermelons are so closely tied to the 4th of July.  We were out of town recently and I wasn’t able to get it all pulled together until today.  Thankfully it’s still watermelon season so you have time to try this yummy-ness yourself.

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Watermelon Candy Supply List

• • Watermelon (ripe and yummy)
  • Bread Knife
  • Cutting board
  • Dehydrator – I use this dehydrator

We’ve been using the techniques I learned through a FB post shared a few years ago and we haven’t had a bad melon since.  They go like this….

• • Symmetrical shape
  • Dark green
  • Heavy for it’s size
  • Big butter spot (the bigger and deeper the yellow spot the longer it ripened on the vine)
  • Tight lines on the end
  • Brown dots on the vine spot

This watermelon is perfect!  You’ll only need a few slices to fill your dehydrator so enjoy the rest of the fresh juicy melon like you would normally.  There’s not much active time to making this yummy watermelon candy, but you should plan to make it when you’ll be home to check on the progress.

Now that you know how to pick em let’s get to the candy makin’ part.  Slice off a section of watermelon approximately 1-1/2″ thick.  Cut off the rind and then slice it into sections of 1-1/2″ by 2″.  Take each section, turn it on its side and slice into 1/2″ slices.

Place your slices onto the trays of your dehydrator, leaving some space between each slice for air movement.  You could try 1/4″ slices because they will dehydrate into watermelon candy quicker.  I wouldn’t cut them any thinner than that or your resulting candy will be very thin.

After all your trays are filled place on the top and plug it in.

Set the temp on your dehydrator to 125 degrees.  The idea is to dry or dehydrate the melon without cooking it.

At about 24 hours start checking your pieces.  When done they’ll be a little firm and not squishy.  If they’re squishy there’s still too much liquid.  I usually flip them over at this point.  This helps them not to stick to the tray.

See how small they get once all the liquid is gone?  You could start with larger slices but then you can’t fit as much onto the round trays.

By now I’m sure you’ll have taste tested many pieces of the yummy watermelon candy.  It’s so hard to stop eating it 🙂

Store the candy in an airtight container. I like to use mason jars for my watermelon candy because they keep it so fresh.  Those two 1-1/2″ slices of watermelon turned into a quart jar of yummy watermelon candy 🙂

MORE SWEET TREATS
Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies – English Toffee – Best Chocolate Cake

After I shared this post I decided to finally buy some extra trays for my dehydrator.  You should search for the correct model number, but I bought these trays for mine.  Now I can make more watermelon candy at one time 😀

A healthy and tasty treat; it’s perfect when you want a little something sweet.  From this….

to this!

I bet you can’t eat just one… 😉

Pin this yummy recipe to your favorite candy or sweet treat board.

I wish I could send you all a piece to sample but my supply is already very very low.  I better get to makin’ some more before watermelon season is over.

If you’ve ever made your own watermelon candy (or make some in the future) I’d love to hear what you think of it.

Until next time,

Toni