These Christmas Caramels are definitely my favorite caramel. They make your house smell amazing and they taste like Christmas to our family!
I have so many Christmas memories of wrapping these Christmas caramels in wax paper for our neighbors. The house would smell like sweet caramel, the kitchen would be covered in pots and bowls, Christmas music would be playing… and we would be cutting up pieces of wax paper and wrapping these caramels like elves in Santa’s sweet shoppe. Of course when our mom wasn’t looking we would pop one or two (one less to wrap and a quick sweet treat — win-win). We would usually go to bed with sick stomachs. You would think we would get sick of them.. but we never did. We looked forward to them every year… and we still do!
These Christmas Caramels are definitely my favorite when it comes to caramels, nothing else even compares. I’m not even sure how long my family has made these, but we have had them at Christmas time as far back as I can remember. We are so excited to share this recipe with you– and your family.. and friends and neighbors.. will love these! Plus they are SO easy– only 4 ingredients and 2 of everything (2 sticks, 2 cups…)! My mom doesn’t even have this recipe written down – she knows it by heart and it is perfect EVERY time. You will see… 😉
Mom’s Christmas Caramels
Prep Time:
5 mins
Total Time:
5 mins
These Christmas Caramels are definitely my favorite caramel. They make your house smell amazing and they taste like Christmas to our family!
Course: candy
Servings: 24
INGREDIENTS (with Amazon Links)
- 2 sticks (1 cup) real butter NOT margarine
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups Karo syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a large pan.
Stir and bring to a boil and continue boiling until candy thermometer reaches 240 degrees.
Pour into a large, greased cookie sheet and cool.
Once cooled cut into bite size squares and wrap in wax paper.
Tabby says
no stirring required? do you butter the pans?
Emily says
Fixed it, thanks!
Emily says
And, no, you don't need to butter the pan. If you cook it to the right temperature and let it cool, it should come up on easily.
thinklovesleepdine says
Sometimes I think we grew up in the same family. That's why I love your blog. So many recipes remind me of home.
Mandy says
Looks delicious! I was wondering if you might have a good recipe for frosting for Gingerbread houses? Something good and strong to hold them together? If you could let me know that would be great. I have a gingerbread house party tonight and would a recipe if you have one 🙂 Thank you
Emily says
Sorry Mandy, I don't have a great recipe for that! Let me know if you find one.
Porter's says
Mandy- I made these yesterday and there seems to be a problem with them. They have been cooling for about 16 hours now and they still haven't set enough to cut and wrap. What happened? Maybe I didn't boil it long enough?
Emily says
You didn't boil them long enough, if they don't get to a high enough temperature they will be sticky and un-wrappable. You want to make sure they are a light brown caramel color before taking them off the stove. Sorry your first attempt didn't turn out!
chad says
what do you mean by cube of butter? I’m assuming tablespoon.
Erica says
A cube is a stick or 1/2 cup
Evelyn says
Have made a similar recipe but without the butter. This would seem to be creamier. Originally recipe read to bring to a boil of 246 but after making the first batch of candy due to it being hard, we went only to 240. Thanks.
Lindsey says
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Emily says
you can use either, I prefer the unsalted.
Tracey says
Are these caramels hard or chewy? Also, how long do they last-if I was making them for a Christmas gift?
Erica says
They are chewy and they last a long time.. a couple weeks at least!
Tracey Huebshman says
Light or dark caro syrup?
Erica says
light
lisa ringuet says
Can’t wait to try your recipes. It is 9:20pm here in Texas and I cannot go to bed without making these. Will let you know how they turn out.
Erica says
I hope they turned out great!
Kendall says
I made these yesterday and it took me three attempts. First I tried 240 degrees, but it came out mushy. I re-melted it and then tried 245 but it was still way too soft to keep it’s shape. The third time was just right at about 253 degrees (on the candy thermometer it was the point just below hard ball). Perfectly firm yet chewy. They taste delicious and my family agrees. Definitely a winner! Thanks!
Yvette says
The problem that people are having is that they need to check their candy thermometer. Water boils at 212 degrees, if your water boils at 210, then you subtract 2 degrees from the recipe. Or it it boils at 203, then subtract 9 from the recipe, etc. This makes a HUGE difference!!! I always test my thermometer before making candies, weather, altitude, etc make a huge difference!!
Erica says
Thank you Yvette! That is a good rule of thumb! You are SO right about the weather.. last time I made them it was raining and they didn’t quite turn out right… weird huh?!
Tiffany says
This sounds great! Erica, do you have a suggestion for a dairy free whipping cream option?
Erica says
We haven’t tried making it dairy-free so I am not sure what to suggest so it will turn out right :/
Penny says
What size pan are you using 9×13 or 15×10?
Thank you
Echo says
We use a 15 x 10 jelly roll pan. Thanks for asking!
Cindy says
I just made these…they were EXCELLENT!….Question….how do you cut them? I tried a knife, heated knife and ended up with kitchen shears…but it was difficult.
Favorite Family Recipes says
Yes, scissors definitely make it easier if a knife isn’t cutting it (no pun intended lol)
Cindy says
How do you cut them? They were very hard to cut…tried a heated knife and ended up using kitchen shears.
Favorite Family Recipes says
We actually use kitchen shears to cut if it doesn’t cut easily with a knife! It is usually faster!
Shirley says
I make caramels with a very similar recipe every year. My family love to get these as gifts at Christmas. I find them easier to cut if I turn them out onto a large cutting board. I line the pan with foil or parchment to make if easier to lift them out if the pan. A favourite treat at Christmas.
Favorite Family Recipes says
Thank you, Shirley! That is a great suggestion!
Constance A Blair says
No vanilla added ? also I see you used 2 cups white sugar I presume, can you use 1/2 white and 1/2 brown? Also would this be ok as the carmel base for turtles?
Favorite Family Recipes says
No vanilla is right, but it would be fine if added. We haven’t used half brown sugar before because we love this recipe as-it. If you try it, let us know how it turns out! Yes, This would be perfect for turtles 🙂
Mariah says
I added about a teaspoon of salt and HOLY CRAP, THEY’RE AMAZING. In the future, I’d probably use a bigger pot, but otherwise it was so easy!
Also, the total time is DEFINITELY not 5 minutes. It took me about an hour to cook the caramel. Luckily I didn’t have anywhere to be!
Favorite Family Recipes says
Mariah– that is so funny that you say that you added salt. This year was the first time I added some course sea salt to the top of the caramels and it was like caramels 2.0! I will be adding the idea to the recipe because it turned out SO stinkin’ good!
Also, I didn’t realize the total time was only at 5 minutes.. good catch. I will try to get that fixed too.