IMHO, to make certain kinds of candy you _have_ to have something like sugar to provide structure and some sweetness. Sugar-free things often use Maltitol but it's hard to get Steels sells it but at astronomical prices something like $12(US) for 1 lb. Isomalt another sugar alcohol is commonly used in hard candy because of it's superior anhydrous nature. (candy stays harder longer without as much water uptake) I have searched for Isomalt and you can buy it from something called Grandma Kate's but it also is not cheap. DiabeteSweet available at Walmart and other locations. It's isomalt and AceK mix. (isomalt is only approximately 70% as sweet as sugar so a high intensity sweetener is often added) I also have found a couple of web sites that offered isomalt. I'm trying to purchase via snail mail. But it as not arrived ATD, so I can't say it's successful, but the price is less than $4 for 1 lb. If anyone knows how to get a hold of maltitol at a more reasonable price PLEASE let me know!

I have a couple of recipes for hard candy and if you can find some isomalt I'll type them in for you.

Good luck!