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These Homemade Caramels are perfectly soft and chewy and easy to make with a few pantry ingredients. We love to gift them to friends and family.
Want more candy recipes? I love these Chocolate Turtles, Buckeyes, Homemade Almond Joys, Chocolate Fudge, and Rocky Road!
Why I love these caramels:
- Family Tradition – This is my Mom's homemade caramel recipe we've been making at Christmas time for decades. They were always our food gift for friends and neighbors during the holidays.
- Perfect – They really are soft, chewy, melt-in-your mouth delicious caramels! They truly couldn't be any better! This is a treasured family recipe.
- Easy – This easy caramel recipe only uses pantry ingredients and the steps are simple. But the magic is in the cooking process – it's important to not rush these! Read my tips below for the best caramels every time.
How to make Homemade Caramels:
Combine: Add butter, sugar, and karo syrup to a large heavy-bottom saucepan then stir over medium heat until mixture begins to boil, about 5-10 minutes.
Add Evaporated Milk: Gradually add the evaporated milk, one can at a time, taking about 12-15 minutes PER CAN, while stirring constantly. Make sure the mixture maintains a constant boil, otherwise your caramels can curdle.
Caramelize: Stir the mixture constantly, scraping the sides occasionally, until it reaches a firm ball stage. I don't rely on a candy thermometer. I use the ice water test: Drop a spoonful of the hot caramel into a cup of ice water then mold the caramel with your fingers into a ball. You will know the caramels are ready when they feel pretty firm and pliable. Remove from heat then stir in vanilla.
Cool: Pour caramels into prepared pan then refrigerate until cooled and hardened. (Best if you refrigerate them overnight, or for several hours. They will be easier to cut and wrap).
Cut: I like to use a stainless steel scraper to get perfectly even lines.
Wrap: The caramel will seem hard in the fridge after they're set, but they should be soft at room temperature. Cut soft caramels into small pieces then wrap like a tootsie roll in wax paper, if desired.
Tips for Perfect Caramels Every Time:
- SLOWLY stir in evaporated milk: This should take about 15 minutes per can, pouring in a little bit at a time (or warm your evaporated milk a little, to make the process faster). The caramel must maintain a constant boil the entire time.
- Maintain steady heat: Keep your burner/stove on medium heat to avoid any changes of temperature. Maintaining heat the same is why the milk gets added so slowly.
- Candy Thermometer vs Ice Water Test: I personally don't trust candy thermometers. Unless you take the time to calibrate yours, they can often be “off”. And depending on your location (altitude and humidity) 238°F may not be the perfect temperature for you. The best (and easiest) way I've found is using the ice water method. Drop a spoonful of the hot caramel into a cup of ice water then mold the caramel with your fingers into a ball. You will know the caramel candy recipe is ready when they feel pretty firm and pliable.
- Wrap them cold – I like to make them 24 hours ahead of time so they can get nice and cold in the fridge, making them easier to cut and wrap.
Make Ahead Instructions:
To Make Ahead: These easy homemade caramels will keep well in the fridge for several weeks. Take them out to come to room temperature for them to be soft and chewy.
More Caramel Recipes:
- Caramel Apples
- Caramel Popcorn
- Caramel Sauce
- Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
- Chocolate Covered Marshmallows
- Salted Chocolate and Caramel Pretzel Bars
Homemade Caramels
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, (2 sticks)
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups light corn syrup
- 24 ounces evaporated milk*, (2 cans)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line a 9×13” pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper. (If you don't have parchment paper you can generously butter the pan.) Either size pan will work–9×13” will yield thicker caramels.
- Add 2 sticks butter, sugar, and karo syrup to a large heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Stir over medium heat until mixture begins to boil, about 5-10 minutes.
- Gradually add the evaporated milk, one can at a time, taking about 12-15 minutes PER CAN to slowly add it, while stirring constantly. You want to make sure the mixture maintains a steady heat and constant boil (no drastic changes in temperature) otherwise your caramels can curdle.
- Stir the mixture constantly, scraping the sides occasionally until it reaches a firm ball stage (about 240-245 degrees F on a candy thermometer). It takes patience and time, but it's sooo worth it! (Also, I don't really trust or rely on a candy thermometer–I like to test it the old fashioned way. Drop a spoonful of hot caramel sauce into a cup of ice water and mold it with your fingers into a ball. When ready it will feel pretty firm and pliable, but still slightly sticky.)
- Once you reach 240-245 degrees F / or the firm ball stage, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
- Pour caramels into prepared pan. Refrigerate until cooled and hardened. (Best if you refrigerate them overnight, or for several hours. They will be easier to cut and wrap).
- The caramel will seem hard in the fridge after they're set, but they should be soft at room temperature. Cut caramel into small pieces and, if desired, wrap like a tootsie roll in wax paper.
Notes
- Candy Thermometer: I don't always trust candy thermometers, and depending on your location (altitude and humidity) temperature will vary. A good way to test them is the ice water method. Drop a spoonful of the hot caramel into a cup of ice water and mold the caramel with your fingers into a ball. The caramel should feel pretty firm but pliable in the ice water.
- Caramel is too soft after it has set up: It needed to cook longer. You can pour the whole batch back in to a pot and warm it up again!
- Caramel is too hard: it cooked for too long. Use the ice water method to avoid this.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe November 2017. Updated May 2020 and November 2023.
Yep, that’s the best recipe.
Pure yum!! I made these today and I added heavy cream as well as the milk and it was pretty awesome! I split my batch and added chopped, salted almonds to 1/2, and left the rest as the recipe intended., turned out amazing. I will be making this recipe again. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us all ❤️
Not a very strong caramel flavor to me. I really appreciated the detailed recipe and tips though.
After reading the comments about caramel taste, I substituted 1 cup of light brown sugar in place of 1c of granulated. I also combined the butter and sugars over medium low heat first (about 2 mins, stirring constantly) to develop the flavors and then added the corn syrup. It tastes great! Far better than any commercially made I’ve ever eaten. Thank you for this recipe.
These are so good! It is an easy to follow recipe, thank you for that!
I’ve made caramels for years, using brown sugar in place of 2 cups of granulated. Mine are sought after by everyone. That may be the problem with lack of caramel flavor with your recipe, just a thought…
I made ‘this’ recipe last year, but I’m pretty sure it changed. I remember 2 tbsp of butter, not 2 sticks. The butter was added near the end of the process. I tried it anyway, following each step closely. At the end I got caramels that had the right texture and color, but the caramel flavor was very weak. Plus there was a puddle of butter fat on top of the caramel when I poured it into the pan. Either I did something very wrong or the current recipe is bad.
This is the same recipe that’s been passed down in my family for decades. The amounts listed are correct and have never been changed.
This recipe is great! I used dark karo syrup instead of the light karo. They seemed to be a little richer but still taste great. The family loves them and want me to make more! Hehe
I made these last week for Christmas and they turned out well. The first batch was a little too gooey (undercooked the caramel) so I reheated the caramel the next day and dipped more pretzels, they turned out perfect . Refrigerated the pretzels and realized that the caramel was too hard to eat and needed to be brought back to room temperature to serve. What is the best way to store the pretzels so that they remain crisp but the caramel not too hard?
Hi! I made these yesterday! They’re delicious. Wondering how long they’ll keep in the fridge?
They’ll keep for several weeks!
One month in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer.
I can find 0 (zero) bagged caramels that don’t have Palm Oil in them. I will not use any product with palm oil due to the environmental issues (read about it and it’s effect on orangatans). I’ll be using this recipe for caramel apples!
Thanks Terry! Be sure to refer to my post about Perfect Caramel Apples 🙂 https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/caramel-apples/
I’m reading the comments here. I want to make turtle fudge and this recipe looks great. Some people have mentioned not a strong Carmel flavor, I wonder why that would be. Also I think I’ll throw the pecans in as it’s ready and then swirl it into my fudge, pour and pray it works ! Curious how to make sure the Carmel flavor is good. Thanks!
Wondering if anyone has ever tried heating up the evaporated milk before adding it to the caramels to help prevent the drop in temperature when adding it? Just wondering if that would work well.
Many caramel recipes use a combo of these ingredients. I use an old family recipe which uses condensed milk instead of evaporated and also a half cup of heavy cream. All of the ingredients are put together, except for the vanilla extract, at the very beginning, so they heat up together. I really see no point in waiting to add the evaporated milk later which would definitely cool down the other ingredients.
PS My family’s recipe also includes a cup of milk, in addition to the heavy cream, also added at the very beginning.
Erin, That is exactly what I did. I melted the butter and karo syrup in a large pot I heated the evaporated milk in a small pan. Then I added the sugar to the Kari. When the sugar mixture just started to boil I added the preheated milk. Constantly slow stir and washing the sides. Removed caramel @242. Poured caramel into a greased jellyroll pan. Came out delicious, smooth and creamy. Good