Need some fun treats this holiday season to give away as a gift to a co-worker, to a neighbor, or a good friend who is always there for you? Well, I have the perfect recipe for your holiday making pleasure, Chewy Chocolate Caramels…YUM!! A great gift to give for the holiday season or really anytime of the year, I mean, who doesn’t love getting sweets as a gift, right?
You need a candy thermometer to make these candies, but let me tell you THEY ARE WORTH IT! Making caramels is such a fun science experiment to me, it’s totally neat to see this simple liquid mixture become a chewy caramel. They really don’t take that much effort to make and when you gift a jar full of caramels you are sure to impress all your friends. Make that chocolate caramels and, well, who knows…it may just land you on the Most Awesome Friend Ever list for life 🙂
Chewy Chocolate Caramels
Recipe Type: Dessert
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 8 0z bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and then lightly spray again with the cooking spray, set aside.
- In a medium saucepan bring cream to simmer over medium heat.
- Add chocolate and stir until melted. Once melted, stir in sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, still over medium heat, and continue to boil until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees (the Hard-Ball stage). This will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes.
- Then, remove from heat and stir in butter and salt.
- Pour caramel mixture into prepared pan without scraping the saucepan and let stand uncovered for 8 hours or until completely set.
- Lift caramel out of pan via parchment paper and cut into squares with a sharp knife. Wrap pieces in waxed paper and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Here is everything you’ll need to make these babies!
Alright, so first spray your pan…line with parchment paper…and spray again!
Finely chop your bittersweet chocolate…
Add your chocolate to your simmering cream…
Once your chocolate is melted, add the sugar and corn syrup…
Let boil until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees…the Hard-Ball stage!
Okay, so what is the Hard-Ball stage you ask?
It’s when you drop some of the caramel mixture into a bowl of cold water and the caramel forms a hard ball. This ball can be squished with firm pressure, like the picture above!!
Next, pour the caramel mixture into your prepared pan and let it set up (cool!) for about 8 hours.
Then, cut your caramel into pieces and wrap in waxed paper. Me really likey the look of the natural brown waxed paper…it feels so old skool candy shop to me.
Fill up a glass jar with a generous amount, add a bow on top, and you have yourself a pretty little gift for holiday gift giving!!
Or you could just open up that jar and unwrap a piece for yourself…
YUM…now doesn’t that look good!
Have yourself a little bite…
And smile…chocolate just does that to us, doesn’t it?
And Chocolate Caramels could just put me over the edge!
And Chocolate Caramels could just put me over the edge!
XOXO,
a quick question do you stir it the whole time while it is boiling?
karen b bkbowman91@centurylink.net
Nope Karen, just let it boil!! If you want you can stir it at random intervals 🙂
These look divine! One of these days I will learn to make candy and this will definitely be on my “to do” list. Great tutorial thank you!
Maggie, these sound wonderful. I always love to visit here. I always leave with a recipe or cooking tip for my kitchen cache. I hope you have a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
I’m pretty sure I just gained five pounds looking at this post. Better buy a candy thermometer. . . .:)
Do these taste like reisen candies?
Well, reisens have that chocolate coating on them but other than that I would say yes!
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I’m curious about the small amount of butter in these caramels. The recipe I currently use calls for 1cup of butter.
I’m thinking about using my standard caramel recipe and just subbing 8oz of butter for the 8oz of chocolate…
I have a hard time bring myself to “experiment” with my caramels as it would suck to have an off end result when you put so much time (and somewhat pricey ingredients into it!
I’m not sure Clarabelle as I’ve only made these chocolate caramels this particular way, sorry to not be of much help!