Taffy is a type of chewy candy

Candy

Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...

, similar to toffee

Toffee

Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of 300 to 310 °F...

. Taffy is often sold alongside bubblegum

Bubblegum

Bubblegum is a type of elastic chewing gum, designed to be blown out of the mouth as a bubble.-History:In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum,...

 and candy. Taffy is made by stretching or pulling a sticky mass of boiled sugar, butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 or vegetable oil, flavorings, and coloring until fluffy. When this process is complete, the taffy is rolled, cut into small pastel

Pastel

Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....

-coloured pieces and wrapped in wax paper

Wax paper

Wax paper is a kind of paper that is made moisture proof through the application of wax....

 to keep it soft. It usually has a fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

y flavor

Flavor

Flavor or flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. The "trigeminal senses", which detect chemical irritants in the mouth and throat as well as temperature and texture, are also very important to the overall...

, but other flavors are common as well, including molasses

Molasses

Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...

 and the classic unflavored taffy.

Salt water taffy

Salt water taffy

Salt water taffy is a variety of soft taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, area beginning in the late 19th century.-Etymology:...

 was a noted invention of Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

, and became a common souvenir of many coastal resort towns. Modern commercial taffy is made primarily from corn syrup

Corn syrup

Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...

, glycerin and butter. The pulling process, which makes the candy lighter and chewier, consists of stretching out the mixture, folding it over and stretching it out again.

In the United Kingdom, taffy candies are called chews. They are shaped pieces of candy very similar to soft toffee but without the caramel flavouring, and can be found in the form of popular brands such as Chewits

Chewits

Chewits is the brand name of a chewy, cuboid-shaped, soft taffy sweet manufactured by Leaf International. -History:Chewits was launched in the UK in 1965. The sweets were originally manufactured in Southport, but after the closing of the factory in 2006 manufacture was moved to Slovakia. The...

 or Starburst

Starburst (confectionery)

Starburst is the brand name of a cuboid-shaped, fruit-flavoured soft taffy candy manufactured by The Wrigley Company, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated...

.

Caramel candies are sometimes referred to as taffy (taffy apples), but are very different from common salt water taffy

Salt water taffy

Salt water taffy is a variety of soft taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, area beginning in the late 19th century.-Etymology:...

.