Chocolate Caramels

What You’ll Need

This recipe’s ingredients list is a short one! Scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts.

• Butter – I always use unsalted butter.
• Cream – Heavy cream gives the caramels luscious flavor and creamy texture.
• Corn syrup – This adds sweetness and chewy texture.
• Granulated sugar – Light brown or dark brown sugar works too.
• Unsweetened chocolate baking bar – You can also use chocolate chips.
• Vanilla – For the best flavor, use pure vanilla extract.

How to Make This Chocolate Caramels Recipe

Grab a kitchen thermometer, to ensure your caramels come out perfectly. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe card.

• Prep. Generously grease a 9″x13″ pan with butter and set it aside. Line it with parchment paper if you want to be able to pull out the slab of caramel for slicing.
• Cook the chocolate caramel mixture. Mix the butter, heavy cream, corn syrup, sugar, and chocolate in a pot over medium-high heat, and stir continuously. Clip a candy thermometer to the pot – when it reaches 240°F, immediately remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract.
• Let set. Pour the chocolate caramel mixture into the prepared pan. Set it aside to cool completely before slicing.

Tips & VariationS

• Stir nearly constantly. Do not walk away from the pot on the stovetop. You’ll want to stir the chocolate caramel mixture gently, and quite constantly, the whole while.
• Use a candy/kitchen thermometer. Definitely use a thermometer to gauge the temperature. If the mixture is not heated enough, it will have a soft set and not keep its shape. If heated too much, it will be too hard.
• Want super clean cuts? If you want really clean cuts, line your pan with parchment paper first. Then just pull the whole slab of caramel out of the pan, set it on a cutting board, and cut with a long, sharp, non-serrated knife. Wipe the knife clean between cuts for the cleanest cuts. If the caramel has been in the refrigerator and is hard to cut, let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes first.
• Make different sized pieces. I like to cut these into 0.75″ x 1.75″ pieces (as shown in my photos) or 1″ x 1″ squares.
• Add nuts. For Christmas each year, my grandma always made one pan with nuts, one pan without. If you’d like to add nuts, stir in 1½ cups chopped roasted & salted nuts after you stir in the vanilla.
• Add salt flakes. Let the chocolate caramel cool slightly in the pan. While it’s still a bit soft, sprinkle some sea salt flakes, such as Maldon brand, over the top. Then let cool completely.

Packaging Them For Gift Giving

These chocolate caramels make the best homemade gifts. Just cut them into your desired size and wrap the pieces in wax paper, twisting the ends to make it look like a candy wrapper. Add them to small gift bags or boxes, and tie on a bow. Such a special, delicious gift!

How to Store Homemade Candy

The caramels are fine to sit out on treat trays during gatherings, but for longer term storage, keep the caramels in the fridge or freezer.

• Fridge: Store them in an airtight container for up to 1 month – either individually wrapped or still in the pan with a tight fitting lid.
• Freezer: Wrap each caramel in wax paper and then transfer to a freezer bag, or wrap the entire pan in 2 layers of heavy duty foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Set on the counter for 20-30 minutes to thaw.

Where This Recipe Comes From

For so many people, including myself, these caramels could be considered my grandma’s food legacy, the single recipe that we’ll always remember her by.

Each Christmas day, Grandma Klein would offer two pans of her homemade chocolate caramels. One pan with nuts, one pan without. I always went for the no-nuts, but if that pan was emptied I had no problem moving on to the one with nuts!

I smile to think about past Christmas memories:

• Playing at Grandma Klein’s house on Christmas day. Her little house at the end of the street was filled to the brim with cousins, plus Grandma, Mom, and many aunts bustling away in the kitchen, preparing the feast. Their happy chatter and laughter could rival my boombox any day!
• Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jesus at our small town church’s Christmas program, in the same angel costume I had worn the previous year. And the year before that. AND the year before that!
• Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Renelt at their winter Florida home, celebrating with a decorated Christmas palm tree instead of our usual evergreen.
• Slurping Grandma Renelt’s heavenly Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve.
• Making Christmas goodies with Mom and my sisters, including Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut Butter Truffles, and Marshmallow Caramel Rice Krispie Puffs!
• Making homemade ice cream, taking turns cranking the pail by hand. And taking that first spoonful…yum!
• Waking up on Christmas morning to Mom’s magnificently tender Caramel Rolls.
• Indulging in just one more of Aunt June’s Cream Wafer Cookies or one more piece of Aunt Donna’s Cranberry Cake. (Yes, I have LOTS of fond food memories!)
• Listening to Grandpa Renelt or my dad read the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas Eve, the room reverently silent.
• Looking out across the farm, at the lit star that Dad hung from the northward pointing peak of the barn, imagining that one bright star so many years ago…