Homemade Chewy Caramels. Maybe the easiest caramel candy recipe ever; a few simple ingredients and a little time is all you need to make this easy, buttery, delicious, irresistible, homemade caramel candy.
Homemade Chewy Caramels
These Homemade Chewy Caramels comes from the lost files of Rock Recipes. When you make and shoot photos of as many recipes as I do, one or two are bound to fall through the cracks.
A few years back somebody sent me this recipe that had been made in their family for years. It was always their Christmas favourite. The recipe seemed easier than some I’d tried and it turned out really well.
I always like to post recipes that are great for gift giving at the Holidays, like bottles of my Homemade Marmalade, or cellophane wrapped little packages of my White Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti. I took photos of my finished caramels and thought I would add it to my Holiday recipes when the time came around.
Homemade Chewy Caramels
The Christmas season does get very, very busy on Rock Recipes. In fact this year, we have broken several records in November and December. Our traffic is nearly double what it was last year at the same time. In the past 30 days alone, there have been 2 MILLION visits to recipe pages on RockRecipes.com.
It’s also the time of year, when I try to post as many new Holiday entertaining and baking ideas as I possibly can. In all that commotion, this recipe somehow got forgotten. I only realized this when I found the photos during a hard drive back-up on my desktop computer.
But never too late for a good thing, I always say. So, just in time for last minute gift giving, here’s this simple recipe for homemade chewy caramels. I’ve kept it mostly as it was first sent to me, except for a couple of tweaks to make the caramel just a little darker, as I like it.
Homemade Chewy Caramels
A candy thermometer, or one that goes to about 250 degrees F at least is going to be essential for this recipe, I think, but in a pinch, you just might get away with the ice water test. That’s where you keep a bowl of very cold water & ice next to the stove and drop about a half tsp of the boiling mixture into the cold water when you want to test it.
The cold water chills the sugar almost immediately, so after about 30 seconds, you can retrieve the little ball of caramel from the water. At this point you can squeeze the caramel ball between your thumb and forefinger and get a pretty good idea of what the consistency of the finished candies will be.
The one real caution here, is that you should keep in mind to watch the caramel carefully, especially toward the end of the cooking time. If the mixture goes to 250 degrees or higher, the caramel will turn hard. The temperature of the caramel mixture always determines the final texture of the candy.
Your final temperature should be somewhere between 245-248 degrees F. The hotter the mixture, the firmer the final caramel candies.
Homemade Chewy Caramels
When wrapped in little squares of parchment paper or wax paper, these delectable buttery smooth homemade chewy caramels make charming hostess gifts. A half batch in a festive tin or box makes a terrific gift too, for many people on your list.
Homemade Chewy Caramels
Like this Homemade Chewy Caramels recipe?
If you’re looking for other food gift ideas for the Holidays or just lots of seasonal recipe suggestions for both cooking and baking, be sure to browse our Christmas Recipes Category.
To keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes plus daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals, be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram.
You might also like our collection of No-Bake Cookies for Christmas!
20 no bake Christmas cookies or any time of year!
- 1 cup real dairy butter
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup whipping cream about 35% MF cream
- 1 cup dark corn syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
-
Lightly grease a 9x13 pan and line it fully with parchment paper.
-
Melt the butter over medium low heat in a large saucepan. This mixture foams up as it boils so a pan about 4 litres is good.
-
Add all the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT the vanilla extract.
-
Bring to a slow rolling boil over medium low to medium heat. Stir occasionally to ensure nothing is settling or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
-
Take readings on the candy thermometer at several points during the next 25-30 minutes or until the mixture reaches 245 to 248 degrees F. DO NOT GO PAST THIS POINT! (See notes) Don't worry if it takes longer than 25-30 minutes. The temperature is what's import, not the time.
-
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
-
Carefully pour the candy mixture into the parchment lined pan. Be very, very careful when pouring the caramel. This mixture is very very hot and will cause an immediate contact burn. Best keep little ones out of the kitchen while making this recipe.
-
Place the pan of caramels on a wire rack and cool completely at room temperature. I prefer to leave it overnight.
-
Cut into 1 inch squares and wrap in little squares of parchment paper or wax paper. Store in an airtight container.
Be very, very careful when pouring the caramel. This mixture is very very hot and will cause an immediate contact burn. Best keep little ones out of the kitchen while making this recipe.
A candy thermometer, or one that goes to about 250 degrees F at least is going to be essential for this recipe but in a pinch, you just might get away with the ice water test. That's where you jeep a bowl of very cold ice water next to the stove and drop about a half tsp of the mixture into the cold water when you want to test it. The cold water chills the sugar almost immediately, so after about 30 seconds, you can retrieve the little ball of caramel from the water. At this point you can squeeze between your thumb and forefinger and get a pretty good idea of what the consistency of the finished candies will be.
The one real caution is that you should keep in mind is to watch the caramel carefully toward the end of the cooking time. If the mixture goes to 250 degrees or higher, the caramel will turn hard. The temperature of the caramel mixture always determines the final texture of the candy. Your final temperature should be somewhere between 245-248 degrees F. The hotter the mixture, the firmer the final caramel candies.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Lawrie Melton
Sunday 17th of May 2020
Hi Barry, Just curious if letting the caramel go over 250° will ruin it or will it make it more of a hard candy instead of a chewy caramel. Either way it sounds delicious! Thanks! Lawrie
Cam
Thursday 21st of December 2017
Great idea with these homemade chewy caramels. And the preparation time is really short.