Fix Broken Lollipops

The face of a two-year-old weeping over a broken lollipop is nearly unbearable. That angelic face led me to the Internet a few days ago in search of a way to repair the shattered confection. So here you go, in the event you encounter the same emergency.

1. Heat oven to 325°F.
2. Crush candy bits inside a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin, hammer, or similar whacking tool. The smaller the bits, the faster they will melt, but bigger bits we've prettier colors. Decide which you prefer.
3. Spray nonstick spray in cupcake liners or cupcake pans or candy molds or whatever you choose for your shape. I used cupcake liners, even though I knew that would leave a ridged edge.
4. Pour crushed candy bits into your molds.
5. Bake in preheated oven approximately 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it, because time will vary depending on the size of the mold and the size of your crushed candy bits.
6. When the bits are melted, take them out and let them cool couple of minutes. Then either insert the sticks into the molds, or wait until they are cool enough to handle, but still soft, and pop them out to stick the sticks in. (I did not have any lollipop handles, so I used chopsticks from the Chinese restaurant I found in the back of my silverware drawer. I snipped a tiny hole in the paper cupcake liners and poked the sticks through it into the candy.)

I assume this technique would work well for leftover bits of any hard candy. May the joy return to the face of your little one!