Once you make Homemade Caramels, you’ll never want store bought again!
Remember the Whitman’s sampler, the box of chocolate covered stuff: nougat, bark, caramel, fruit flavored goo.
Every Christmas, one of these boxes showed up at our house. Being the picky child I was (still am) We would poke a hole in the bottom of each piece of candy to see what it was. What a great day it was when they started putting the map, key, chart in the lid.
What we were always searching for was the caramel ones. And if the box was really fresh, that caramel would be so soft. When you bit into it, then started to pull the candy away from your mouth, you’d get that golden string of caramel…You know what I’m talking about, and not just the string, the whole story.
So in my kitchen journeys, I’ve tried making caramels a few times. I’ve tried recipes that were too soft (wouldn’t hold shape)
too hard (you could spend days trying to chew it)
boring flavor
wrong flavor, just off, not sure how to describe it.
And then it happened, completely by accident. I was looking for something else and I stumbled on this recipe from the Joy of Baking The picture drew me, then I read the recipe and it was different. All the other recipes I’ve tried had butter in them, this one? No butter in sight. Maybe that’s it? So I have to try.
I have to tell you, THESE ARE THE BEST CARAMELS I HAVE EVER EATEN!
They hold their shape, and they have that caramel string when you bite into them.
And they are so easy to make!
Homemade Caramels
Homemade Caramels
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla (optional)
Instructions
- In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine cream, sugars and salt. Over medium to medium high heat bring mixture to a boil while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
- Once mixture comes to a boil, attach candy thermometer and stop stirring.Remember my tips on using a candy thermometer, don't let it touch the bottom of the pan, make sure your mixture covers the mercury tip all the way.
- While your caramel is boiling, prepare your pan, butter well a 8x'8 baking dish, or line with parchment first and then butter the parchment.
- Continue boiling, without stirring until your temperature reaches 245 degrees, the firm ball stage.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla if your using. We made it with and without and the family preferred the flavor without the vanilla added.
- Pour into your prepared pan and Let your caramel rest for at least 8 hours or overnight before cutting.
- To cut, Slide spatula under caramel slab and remove to lightly oiled cutting board. Using an oiled knife, cut as desired. If knife starts to stick, rub with more oil.
Notes
recipe source ChocolateChocolateandmore.com
Melt chocolate in double boiler
Now make your candy pretty, Just drizzle more chocolate over your candies, this will also hide any imperfections.
Oh and all that chocolate drizzle on the parchment paper didn’t go to waste, I had children just waiting for me to finish so they could have that paper!
Lynne @ 365 Days of Baking says
I WANT, I WANT, I WANT!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!
Joan@chocolateandmore says
Lynne, I’ll have to whip up a batch just for you!
Jenni says
Makes sense not to have butter in them. Butter+sugar=butterscotch or toffee flavored. Pure caramel=no sugar. Great that you found that recipe, and thanks for sharing it!
When working with sugar syrups, I always slap a lid on for a couple of minutes when it comes to a boil. That way, all the crystals are washed down the sides by the steam condensing, and you don’t have to worry about them at all! 🙂
Joan@chocolateandmore says
Thanks for the tip Jenni, will have to give it a try!
Jennifer says
Just made mine and it is cooling down for dessert tonight! 🙂 I am going to dunk it in chocolate too! yummy!
Thanks for posting this, and you are right, it was very easy to make.
The not cooled version also reminded me of a butterscotch like taste with it, that or its such a pure caramel, that I forgot how it could be this good! I am thinking of making some and shipping to my Dad for Father’s day 😀
I also used Turbinado sugar instead of white, and sucanant instead of brown, so the flavors are probably much stronger than the original recipe b/c those sugars still have the molasses flavor in them.
Either way, AWESOME!
Joan@chocolateandmore says
Jennifer, I’m so glad it turned out for you! I made myself sick eating these. Looking forward to cooler weather to make another batch. It’s just too hot here already to play with chocolate 🙁
Have a great day!
Anonymous says
Hiiii 🙂
want to try this in sha Allah…..just have a question if we reheat it then will it come back to liquid form??? can we use as a spread in between the cakes or cupcakes??
momina says
Hiiii 🙂
want to try this in sha Allah…..just have a question if we reheat it then will it come back to liquid form??? can we use as a spread in between the cakes or cupcakes??
Wendy Rusch says
Hi! I just love your site/blog… I love the humor you add into your recipes…I make caramels, numerous kinds, but I must add into my recipes the part about allowing pan and caramels to cool a bit then sampling whats left in the pan lol…that was my friends, family and employees favorite part about me making caramels! :o)
Tanya-Lemonsforlulu.com says
Oh Joan these are amazing! Love them dipped in the lovely chocolate (which I reminds me, I too need to go to Sams!!!). You totally bring me back to my childhood with that Whitman’s Sampler!! I only wanted the caramels and have been known to take a bit of each candy until I found the caramels! Thanks for linking up to Iron Chef Mom!
Joan Hayes says
My sister and I used to poke holes in the bottoms of the candy in those samplers to find them!
Anonymous says
love caramels and i cant wait to try making these but i have two questions..first can i use a non stick pot for these ? and do you need to use only a wooden spoon for stiring..i only have plastic or metal…but if you say i have to i`ll gladly go buy some..thank you.. jaynie
Joan Hayes says
A non-stick pot is fine, that’s what I use. As for the spoon, my grandma used to always caution against using metal spoons in cooking, said it changed the taste, but really it should be fine. I’d be careful using plastic as it might melt due to the high temperature.
whitmanse says
Hi there! I’m excited to make these! Can you tell me the amount of chocolate that I should use for a batch of caramels this size? Thank you!
Joan Hayes says
I used half a package of the chocolate for these, what was leftover in my pan, I added peanuts to then dropped the peanuts onto waxed paper by the spoonful and made peanut clusters. I never waste chocolate.
Paul Flogeras says
Hi Joan, these look Awesome I dont cook much but so want to try these. After putting the caramel in the pan did you put it in the fridge to let it set. So these caramels hold their shape pretty well at room temperature do they? I am curious, can caramels be made using a mold (which I have never done) or is dipping into chocolate the best method. Lastly is Ghirardelli a chocolate you often use. If I were trying to make chocolate bars and possibly sell at my local market, would you recommend Ghirardelli. Thanks so much, keep up the great work.
Joan Hayes says
Hi Paul, I did not refrigerate my caramels, this recipe does hold it’s shape. I don’t know about using a mold, I’m sure you could, make sure to use a metal mold. As for the chocolate, I do enjoy Ghirardelli but my choices for candy making chocolate are also limited.
Sherri @ The Kitchen Prescription says
I recently tried an apple cider caramel version I found on Pinterest, and you are absolutely right, all I could taste was the butter and when it sat out at room temperature, it was too soft for my taste. I loved the fall flavor of them, so I’m going to incorporate this recipe. Naturally, I’m also going to have to try the chocolate covered caramels as well. Looks heavenly!
Joan Hayes says
I’ve been wondering about the apple cider caramels, good to know. I’ll be watching to see your results!
Jodi says
Oh, my Dad loves a good caramel so I’m going to be making these to surprise him with! Been looking for a homemade caramel recipe that has nuts in it, too. I had some once that we bought while on vacation, but can’t remember what kind of nuts they had or where we were. Maybe pecans go with caramels?
Joan Hayes says
Jody, add add whatever nuts are your dad’s favorite. I would recommend sticking with a softer nut like Pecans or cashews.
Sophie says
Hi, yesterday I tried making these delicious looking caramels. When I tried cutting them today, they didn’t hold their shape 🙁 Do you have any tips for when I try making them again? Is it possible that I used the wrong kind of cream (only 35% fat)? Or did I not heat the mixture enough (thermometer did say 245, though)? If you have any ideas that can help me improve the shape-holding qualities, I’d love to hear them.
The caramels taste amazing, so I’d love to make them again and try to improve my caramel-skills 🙂
Thanks!
Joan Hayes says
Hi Sophie, you should have been fine on the cream. Can I ask, were your caramels runny or just soft? If it was just soft, It might be your thermometer is off a bit? I’d just cook it to 250 next time, as long as you don’t get to “hard ball” stage you’ll be fine.
Sophie says
Thank you very much! Next time I will try that. The caramel was just a bit too soft, so when I cut it, it just melted into one big piece again. I could sort of shape the caramel, but it wouldn’t hold shape en become a blob after leaving it for a while.
Also, I was wondering how these are best stored, do you have any experience with that? Or did they disappear too fast to find out a good way of keeping them fresh? 😉
Brenda @ SweetSimpleStuff says
Love it … saved it and pinning! I will be making these for the holidays!
henahan712 says
These look delicious! How do you store them? How long do they last? Can you freeze them?
Joan Hayes says
I store them in an airtight container with wax paper between the pieces so they don’t stick together. I’ve never tried to freeze them, they don’t last long enough so I honestly don’t know if you can or not.
Cheryl says
I have made these they are like little drops of heaven on my tounge. I have experimented quite a bit I have place pecans on the Carmel while it is still warm then cut and cover in chocolate, I have put round pretzels on the Carmel and covered in chocolate, and I have done square pretzels with peanut butter smeared on the pretzel then place on Carmel and finally dipped in chocolate. The most recent one i did was use apple flavored licorice and pit it on the warm carmel and push it in with a butter knife almost covering the licorice completly. that was may sons favorite! I have also made them just the good old fashion Carmel.
Sarah says
I just wanted to Thank You for sharing this recipe! For years I’ve been trying different caramel recipes & this is by far the best! I will be using this recipe for the rest of my life! And as a bonus – I am a potato candy making fool around the holidays but have been trying to figure out how to make it with caramel instead of peanut butter to no avail. This recipe will be perfect for it! My only problem is whether I should put it on top of the potato candy or on bottom before rolling it up. 🙂 Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
kris says
These caramels are the best. When they were done we had a few and they were so good. Later, I packed them in some Tupperware. When we got them out again we ate one and it was grainy already. This is just one day later. Could you help me figure out what I did wrong? I followed the recipe to a “T” and they had a perfect consistency, texture and flavor at first. So I was wondering did I store them wrong? Where should they be stored? In the refrigerator or room temp.? Thank you for taking the time to look at this and help out. Much appreciated.
Joan Hayes says
Sounds like moisture got to the caramel when you stored it. Were they completely cooled before you sealed them? When I have foods that are moisture sensitive, I’ll usually fold a paper towel and put it on the bottom of the container then a piece of wax paper on top of the paper towel. There is no need to refrigerate the caramel, room temperature is best.
Deb says
Hi. I experienced the same thing with the grainy-ness. It was like biting into a chunk of crystalized brown sugar that tasted somewhat buttery. (I didn’t use any butter, just followed your recipe)
I stored them after they cooled and put waxed paper in between layers. I could not even serve them. I wondered if I could melt them down again and try again or do I have to just throw them out?
Thanks.
uca says
Can I do it if I don’t have a thermometer?
Joan Hayes says
I wouldn’t recommend it. There is a water test you can do to see if you’ve reached the soft ball stage but I never trust it.