Soft Caramel Candy

This Soft Caramel Candy recipe will have you all ready for fall and the holidays. It's sweet, buttery, and super soft and chewy for a delicious treat everyone will love.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

chill 1

Total Time 40

Servings candies

Calories 91kcal

Author Dina

Equipment

1 8x8 pan
1 Candy thermometer

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
Flaky sea salt for topping (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

A quick note before you start: Homemade caramels take a little time and patience, but I promise they are worth it! It can take about 20–30 minutes for the caramel to reach the right temperature, so don’t be tempted to turn up the heat to speed things along. Cooking it low and slow will give you perfectly soft and chewy caramels without scorching the mixture.
Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on the sides. Lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray. You can also use butter instead.
Add the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, heavy cream, and salt to a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Heat over medium-low heat, stirring until the butter is melted and everything is well combined. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the caramel reaches 242–244°F on a candy thermometer. This temperature will give you that perfect soft and chewy caramel that still holds its shape.
As soon as the caramel reaches the right temperature, remove it from the heat and carefully stir in the vanilla extract. Make sure to work quickly here so the caramel doesn’t continue cooking and get too hard.
Pour the caramel into your prepared baking dish and let it cool for about 30 minutes then lightly sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt (or as much as you want). You don’t want to add the salt too soon or it will sink right into the caramel instead of sitting beautifully on top. Let it cool completely at room temperature for about 2–3 hours. Tip: once the pan is no longer too hot to touch, you can place it in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. And to make it even faster, you can place it in the freezer as well. But don’t leave it in longer than 45 minutes, or it will be hard to cut through.
Once cooled, use the parchment paper to lift the caramel out of the pan. Cut it into small squares or rectangles using a sharp knife. Tip: I like to lightly grease the knife so the caramel doesn’t stick as much.
Wrap each caramel individually in small pieces of wax paper or parchment paper and twist the ends to close. These are so cute for gifting, especially around the holidays. Enjoy!

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