Here is an easy, step-by-step guide on how to make a soft caramel candy recipe. This homemade caramel candy is perfectly sweet, silky smooth, and a delicious. All you need is a few simple ingredients, a little time and you'll have incredible caramel candy in no time.
Looking for an easy and delicious caramel recipe you can make at home? You've come to the right place. This homemade caramel recipe is perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth and impressing your family and friends. This recipe for caramel is versatile and oh-so-delicious! Let's make caramel together!
If you love caramel recipes, be sure to check out my caramel apple recipe, it's heavenly, and my caramel sauce recipe is a total hit for dipping apples, cream puffs, or drizzling on Homemade Apple Crisp. YUM!
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Homemade Caramel Video Tutorial
The Best Tools to Use for Homemade Caramel
- A large, non-stick pot is the best pan to make this caramel recipe. However you can make it without a non-stick pot, but it is much more difficult to keep your caramel from scorching.
- When cooking, your caramel will boil up about double the size, so ensure your ingredients have room to expand. A pan with handles is a must too.
- You will be pouring the hot caramel into a greased baking dish as soon as it has come up to temperature, so be sure your baking dish can handle the heat of the caramel.
- I like to use a wooden spoon with a flat bottom to stir the caramel. This way you can scrape the bottom of the pan in a verticle and horizontal pattern to be sure you are evenly stirring the caramel. This will ensure your caramel is cooking evenly and you don't scorch the bottom of the pan.
- A digital thermometer will make your candy-making experience much easier too. This way, you can be sure you reach the soft ball stage without over or under-cooking the caramel. This is the best soft caramel recipe! (You can manually test the caramel for doneness with a bowl of cold water-see the video listed above to learn this method)
If you see little spots in your caramel, immediately take the caramel off the heat and pour it into another clean, non-stick pan.
This means you are cooking your caramel too quickly, and the caramel is scorching. However, If you act quickly, you can save your caramel, and it won't have a burnt taste. You might, however, get a little bit of a grainy texture if this happens.
You won't have a problem if you are cooking the caramel on constant medium-low heat and stirring constantly.
As the sugar and butter mixture boil, the sugar concentration increases, and the temperature rises.
Be sure to make a mental note of caramel tempreture, the soft-ball stage is 240 degrees Fahrenheit. The caramel's highest temperature will tell you how firm it will be when it cools.
The softball stage will be soft and chewy but not too hard to bite when it's cool. Softball stage, 240 degrees, is the temp you will want your caramel for caramel candy or for caramel apples.
You'll need to cook this recipe for caramel while stirring until it reaches 240 degrees fairenheight. It's best to increase the temperature of the sugar and butter mixture gradually. Stir the caramel the entire time the sugar and butter mixture is on heat.
Sugar scorches easily, so it's best to use a wooden spoon with a square tip so you can scrape much of the bottom of the pan as possible while the caramel comes to a soft ball stage. (Stir in one direction, scrape around the pan's perimeter, and then scrape in the other direction.
1. To test for the soft ball stage, if you don't have a candy thermometer, all you need is a bowl of cold water. The caramel will go through a few stages.
2. In the first stage, it will just begin to boil, and little bubbles will start popping up. Keep the heat on medium; as the liquid evaporates from the caramel, it will become hotter and produce a rapid boil. (A rapid boil is when there are layers of big bubbles all over the surface of the caramel.)
3. The caramel will go from a light caramel color to a little more of an amber-colored caramel. This is close to the softball stage.
4. Use a small and add a couple of cups of cold water. Drop a tablespoon or so of caramel in the bowl of cold water.
5. Be careful not to burn yourself. Just roll the ball of caramel around with your fingers, and it should produce a soft "ball" of caramel. If the caramel runs through your fingers or doesn't hold its shape at all, keep cooking it.
Repeat this process every minute or so until you reach the softball stage.
Yes, you can add salt, nuts, or flavor extracts and other flavorings to customize the caramel to your preference.
Store the caramel in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. You can also store it in the fridge and then let warm to room tempreture before serving.
How to make salted caramel:
- To make salted caramel, add ½ teaspoon of salt to the caramel mixture when adding the sugars.
- Sprinkle Sea Salt Flakes on the caramel pieces after they've cooled. An important reminder, use salt flakes, not coarse salt.
You want your salt sprinkles to be delicate and dissolve quickly. This easy caramel recipe is gorgeous and so delicious!!
Ingredients in Homemade Caramel Recipe
- Butter: You can use no salt butter or salted butter; either works great.
- Sugar: just regular granulated sugar works just fine.
- Brown Sugar: light brown sugar is best.
- Karo Syrup/Corn Syrup: Light corn syrup is best. You can make this caramel recipe without corn syrup but corn syrup is a crystalization inhibitor. It will prevent you from having gritty caramel.
- Sweetened Condensed milk: This is important for this recipe. Do not substitute it for heavy cream or evaporated milk. This recipe doesn't allow for those substitutions.
- Salt: Sea Salt is best
- Vanilla: Pure Vanilla is best. For a flavor switch-up, use coconut flavoring. It's such a fun treat.
- Salt Flakes: This is optional. You can find salt flakes at a boutique grocery store or on amazon.
More Caramel Recipes
- A go-to caramel candy recipe for How to Make Caramel Apples, Caramel Apple Dip, Snowman Apples,
- Make a caramel sauce, don't cook it as long. Use the same ingredients and cook it until it reaches 220-230 degrees or coats the back of a spoon.
- Add caramel sauce and whipping cream to make a caramel sundae.
- Use it to make caramel candy such as Nilla Wafer Caramel Treats, Caramel Pretzels, and Caramel Popcorn.
- Caramel Cinnamon Rolls, Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread, and Caramel Coconut Popcorn.
- More Caramel Dessert Recipes.
Tips for Making Soft Caramel Recipe
- Use a non-stick pan to make the caramel
- Stir the caramel in a verticle pattern in the pan, around the perimeter, and then in a horizontal pattern. Be sure to scrape the entire bottom of the pan.
- Use a square-tip wooden spoon to be sure you are scraping off the entire bottom and edges of the pan.
- Don't stop stirring; again, don't stop stirring.
- Cook the caramel to 240 degrees Fahrenheit ( or use the cold water method as explained above)
- Soft-ball stage should barely hold its shape when removed from the water and formed into a ball, it should still be very pliable.
- Use butter, not non-stick cooking spray, to prepare the baking dish. (Butter is all you should taste here!)
- Don't cut the caramel until it has had a chance to cool completely and come to room temperature.
- If you plan to dip these caramels in chocolate, be sure to have them cut into pieces and then cooled in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, so the caramels keep their shape.
Troubleshooting:
- Grainy or Gritty Caramel: first of all, it's totally fine to eat it but the best caramel has that rich and buttery smooth texture. If you think it is a little crystalized, not scorched, you can reheat the caramel by adding it back into a clean non-stick pan. Add a few tablespoons of water, and slowly bring it back up to a boil while stirring. Do the softball stage test again. (or use a candy thermometer and bring it to 240 degrees) Pour it back into your baking dish and let it cool again.
- Layer of Butter on top of Caramel: This is most likely due to the caramel being cooled too quickly. Don't put it in the fridge to cool. It's best to let it come to room tempreture on its own. It's best for the caramel to heat up and cool down slowly to avoid the butter from solidifying at a different rate than the caramel.
- Overcooked Caramel: If your caramel is too hard, you can add a little water and reheat the caramel. This works great for softening the consistency of your caramel.
- Scorched Caramel: If you scorch the bottom of the caramel but haven't stirred it, you can quickly switch it to a different pot and continue cooking.
- Burnt Caramel: You can put a little caramel in a bowl of cool water to cool it down. If you can taste burnt caramel, I'm sorry, it's probably a goner. You'll have to start over. So sad, but it happens to all of us.
Wrapping Homemade Caramels
- After your caramel has cooled completely, you can dip your caramel candy in chocolate. If you decide to go this route, I've had good luck finding cute containers in the holiday section. Simply line with parchment and stack the candies inside the container.
- You can also wrap your caramel candy in parchment paper. It's a little thicker than wax paper, and better keeps the caramels from sticking. Or you can try some pre-cut candy wrappers from amazon.
- These make the perfect neighbor gift, teacher gift, or just a little something thoughtful all year long.
Easy Homemade Caramel Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar (white, granulated)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup karo syrup or sometimes called corn syrup
- 1 can sweetend condensed milk Be sure this is NOT evaporated milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- salt flake for the top of the caramel (optional)
Instructions
How to Make Caramel
- Prepare your baking dish. Grease a 9 by 13" baking dish with butter. Do not use non-stick cooking spray for this or it will give your caramel a strange flavor. Set it aside until the caramel is done cooking.
- In a large non-stick pan, add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, Karo syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and salt.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted.
- Stirring constantly, cook the caramel mixture until it comes up to 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. If you don't have a candy thermometer, use the cold water method. (put a couple cups of cold water in a cereal bowl. Drop a tablespoon of caramel into the cold water. move the caramel mixture around with your fingertips. If the caramel forms a "soft-ball" it's ready. If the caramel dissolves or runs through your fingers, keep cooking it.)
- Take the caramel off the heat immediately to stop the cooking.
- Add vanilla extract and stir until combined.
- Pour the caramel into the greased, prepared, 9 by 13" baking dish. Let the caramel cool before cutting.
- Sprinkle with salt flakes if desired. Cut into 1" pieces. Enjoy!
Notes
Tips for Making Homemade Caramel:
- Use a non-stick pan to make the caramel
- Stir the caramel in a verticle pattern in the pan, around the perimeter, and then in a horizontal pattern.
- Use a square tip wooden spoon to be sure you are scraping off the entire bottom of the pan.
- Don't stop stirring, again, don't stop stirring!
- Cook the caramel to 240 degrees Fahrenheit ( or use the cold water method as explained above)
- Use butter, not non-stick cooking spray to prepare the baking dish. (Butter is all you should be tasting here!)
- You can speed up the cooling process by sliding the baking dish of caramels in the fridge or a cool garage.
- Don't cut the caramel until it has had a chance to cool completely and come to room temperature
- If you plan to dip these caramels in chocolate, be sure to have them cut into pieces and then cooled in the fridge for at least 15 minutes so the caramels keep their shape
Nutrition
More Homemade Candy Recipes
- Ornament Oreos
- Dipped Chocolate Oreos
- Hot Chocolate Bombs
- Chocolate Fondue
- Saltine Cracker Toffee
- Homemade Peanut Brittle
- English Toffee
- More Candy Recipes
- More Dessert Recipes
Indulge in a sweet, soft caramel candy recipe? Look no further than this homemade soft caramel recipe! With our easy-to-follow recipe, you'll unlock the secrets to creating this delectable caramel dessert in no time. Don't settle for store-bought when you can savor the rich, buttery flavor of soft caramel made from scratch. So roll up your sleeves, gather your ingredients, and get ready to impress everyone with this deliciously simple candy recipe.
Ina Campbell
This recipe was great. I do have a problem. When my caramel formed up it still has a thin layer of butter on top. I used a candy thermometer to reach 240. I can't figure out what I did. It still taste good.
Jill Baird
If your caramel has a thin layer of butter on it, it is likely the cooking or cooling process was done a little too quickly. The butter will solidify at a different rate than the caramel mixture. Did you by chance put it in the fridge to cool?
Maria
I have made this recipe several times a big hit with everyone. I bought carmel wrappers from Amazon.
Can i top with chopped pecans while caramels are cooling?
Judy
How do you get the caramels out of the 9x13 pan? Thank you
Jill Baird
It's tricky to get them out when the caramels are really cold. Let it come to room tempreture and then use a metal spatula to scoop them out.
Lynette
Caramels are so good. Easy recipe … and perfect instructions. Thank you!
Sally H
This is the same recipe my mother had in the 50's, and I have been making this for years. It's one of the candies that Mom made for us during Christmas. Best recipe for caramels.
Elizabeth
This is the BEST TASTING AND BEST TEXTURED CARMEL EVER TO EXIST!!!!????
Jeremy
easy to follow instructions, and it came out perfect!
Maria
I've made this carmel recipe, came out perfect using the water testing method. My husband took them to work and everyone wants me to make more.
I have my second batch cooling now.
Bought wrappers so now I can give them to family and friends.
Jill Baird
Hooray, so glad it came out so well. Yes, such a gun gift for family and friends!
Robert
love this recipe tried it today awesome. only problem its real sticky. trying to wrap in parchment and wax and it sticks to everything. put in fridge and it firms up but gets real soft and sticky again as I'm wrapping it. need yo keep cold in between wrapping. wish there was someone to ask hope to fix it???
Jill Baird
Parchment paper will be much easier to use than wax paper. The caramel will come off much easier. You can always butter your hands a little when handling it too.
Santa
You didnt cook it hot enough. The hotter it gets the less sticky it gets. Maybe your thermometer is incorrect. Try going 10f hotter to 250f or 255 next time. Use cold water method and you should get a hard ball.
Maria
I bought wrappers clear ones on Amazon.
Jill Baird
Oh good! Glad you found some!
Dior
Amazing recipe. First time making it, came out perfect. I even wrapped them in parchment paper like factory make caramel! I didn't have a candy thermometer so I used to cold water method, but it still came out great.
Jill Baird
Hooray! So happy to hear this!
Karen Fathalla
Excellent! Thank you!
Michele
I want to try this recipe. I tried a different recipe last night and it was a complete fail. my question is do you use light brown or dark brown sugar? I used light brown in the other recipe and the color was extremely pale and not appealing.
Jill Baird
You can use light or dark brown sugar. I prefer light but if you're looking for more of a rich flavor, dark would work great.
Jocelyn
Jill, your caramel recipe sounds amazing. I never made candy before, so I'll let you know how it goes. I have a question, though. Do you think this caramel would be good to make Payday candy bars by adding peanuts on the bottom of the pan before pouring, aging into caramel once cooked, and adding peanuts after pouring? Also, I would like to make them shelf-stable. Would I use a 1:1 amount of Ghee to butter? Love how easy you make everything look. Keep on cooking!
Jill Baird
It would be great mixed with nuts. It's super versatile and is perfect for just about any caramel candy recipe.
Sheila
I love this recipe so much- it’s perfect! I have family overseas and corn syrup is not available at a reasonable price. Is there any substitute that they could use?
Jill Baird
I haven't tried it, but I've had readers report that they just leave it out and it tastes great!
Daisy
I made it as it said and put the right amount of vanilla in but as a finished result it tastes like there is way to much vanilla. What happened?
Jill Baird
Hmmmm, I haven't had any problems with this. I'd love to help you figure out what's going on. Are you using vanilla extract or imitation vanilla? Either should actually be okay but you'll get a much more rich flavor with a vanilla extract.
Muffle
If you notice in this recipe it doesn't actually tell you to do anything at all in the instructions with the vanilla so I don't know when to put it in
Jill Baird
Daisy, I'm so glad you let me know. That was an oversight. I've added it to the instructions now. You can add the vanilla after it's done cooking and before you pour it into a greased baking dish. Thanks for your response.
Mrs H
This recipe looks super yummy. I've heard that you shouldn't make candy in a nonstick pan. Do you have a recommendation for the pan you use?
Jill Baird
I haven't heard that about the non-stick pans. I just bought mine at TJ Maxx, nothing special. Just be sure to use a wooden spoon to stir it so you don't scratch the surface of the pan when stirring.
Stephanie P
If you are looking for the best caramel recipe on the planet...THIS IS THE ONE!! This is my first time making caramel and i can't get over how perfect it is. I will be following your other recipes. Thank you for posting this. The only modification I did was instead of butter I used Ghee which is clarified butter. This makes my caramels shelf stable and I don't have to refrigerate them at all. Major thanks.
Jill Baird
You are so kind! This made my day! Thanks for your reply!
Coramay
Can you add chocolate chips to this recipe to make chocolate caramel and can you add peanut butter to make peanut butter caramel. I want to swirl those two together and make for my grandkids
Jill Baird
I haven't tried that but I'd love to know how it goes if you try!
Jeanni
I would like to know if not adding the salt in the recipe would be ok....I like carmel but I don't like sweet and salty......thanks jeanni
Jill Baird
You can leave it out or maybe just vut it in half. This isn't a salted caramel recipe unless you add extra salt. The salt in this just helps to balance and enhance the caramel flavor. You don't even taste the salt in this recipe.
Dorothy
try it topped with finely chopped, toasted almonds. Nice recipe.
Jill Baird
Great idea, Dorothy! Sounds delicious!
Ted Hanneman
I have been looking for a straightforward caramel recipe that actually works and this is it! It's a dead ringer for the one we used in the chocolate factory to make coated caramels ... same taste, same color, same texture. The instructions are good but this recipe burns easily so stir, stir, stir! I used a wire whip and that worked well. If you don't have a thermometer, it's best not to make candy. The cold water test that Jill describes is correctly described, but takes a LOT of practice to do accurately, and even then the results are not as good as a thermometer
Susan
I made this tonight using your recipe and it came out perfectly!
Thank you for sharing!!!
Sherri Mullin
Thank you so much for your yummy Caramel recipe! I can't wait to send some to my kids.
One quick suggestion: The recipe calls for 1 tsp Vanilla and the video shows you adding it, but the recipe doesn't say when to add the Vanilla, so I never added it in, and didn't realize it until I was cleaning up. I believe step 5 should also say "Mix in the vanilla." at the end. The one good thing is that, bummer, I am going to have to make them again and we are going to have to eat them again! ; )
Isabel
Where i live they don't sell Karo syrup, is there something i can use instead?
The Carefree Kitchen
It may go by a different name, karo syrup, corn syrup, glucose syrup. Do any of those sound familiar?
Melissa
I made this today. Only I change I made was I used condensed coconut milk. Instructions were great. I definitely agree that you need to grease the pan well that you pour it into. Getting the caramel out of the pan was the most awkward for me. After I would cut it the caramel would remorph itself back together like it was before I sliced it. So I had to move quick. Luckily the caramel was mailable so I could reshape it as I needed to fit in its candy wrapper. I used wax paper. It worked well. It would be helpful for future readers to know how to slice and wrap. Maybe you can add that to the YouTube video? Or make a separate video just for slicing, salting and wrapping. Because that part took me 1-2 hours.
The Carefree Kitchen
I've never heard of condensed coconut milk. That sounds amazing!! Good idea on adding instructions on how to wrap the caramels! I'll do that!
Stella
My Carmel is to soft, my temperature was over 245 , what did I do
Wrong, they taste yummy and by far the best instructions
The Carefree Kitchen
Maybe your thermometer was a little off. I'm not sure why it was too soft. Try cooking it to 5 or 10 degrees higher. That should do the trick.
Jock
Awesome recipe real simple to make Thank you
The Carefree Kitchen
I'm so glad it worked so great for you!
The Carefree Kitchen
Awesome! So glad you like it!
Gwen
I made this recipe last night and it is amazing! Just the flavor I was looking for and grew up with! I cut and wrapped them in wax paper at first, but it kept ripping so I wrapped in parchment paper and that seemed to be my favorite. My question to you is how long can these stay out on the counter? Usually they wouldn’t last more than a day but I am making them as gifts for Christmas a few weeks away.
The Carefree Kitchen
They should be fine for up to a week on the counter. I think they'd stay good in the fridge for up to a few weeks. Can you store them in the fridge?
Madison
Can you wrap these in wax paper?
The Carefree Kitchen
Parchment paper works a little better but yes, it works great wrapped up as a gift.
Sue Nation
Your recipes are so amazing, i am making the caramel bites!!
The Carefree Kitchen
Thank you so much for your kindness! I really appreciate you!
Gina
My family loves this recipe! It was my first time making caramel and this recipe was very easy.
The Carefree Kitchen
Hooray! I love hearing this! Thank you for taking the time to tell me. It made my day!
Cassidy
Do you use dark corn syrup or light corn syrup?
Jill Baird
You can use either. They will both taste great but just know a light corn syrup will result in a lighter flavor and color and the dark corn syrup will have more of a deep caramel flavor and color. I personally prefer using light corn syrup in this recipe.
Jamie
just finished making these and so far they came out great! I used a candy thermometer and also the cold water method just to make sure they would set. once they are fully cooled and set I'm going to dip in chocolate.