Mom’s Homemade Caramels

5 from 20 votes

Homemade Caramels made with just 4 ingredients! Buttery, rich, and melt-in-your-mouth perfect every time. A true, classic family favorite!

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: candy

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Caramels, Christmas Treat

Servings: pieces

Calories: 67kcal

Grease a large cookie sheet with butter and set aside.
Combine all ingredients in a large pan.
Over medium heat, stirring continuously, bring to a boil and continue boiling and stirring until the 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.

We recommend using a candy thermometer for this recipe, but if you don't have a candy thermometer or are just old-school, you can always do the "soft ball stage test" or the "cold water test". Using a clean spoon, carefully take a little of the cooked caramel from the saucepan and drop it into the bowl of very cold water. Reach into the bowl with your hands and see if the caramel can be molded into a soft ball. If it's pliable and soft, the caramel has reached the softball stage (234 – 240 degrees F).
USE MEDIUM HEAT STIRRING CONTINUOUSLY. If you turn the stove top high, it will burn the caramel leaving you with little brown pieces throughout.
If your caramels are too soft, that means they didn’t get up to the correct temperature. It needs to be 240 degrees F before removing it from the pan. You can place the caramel back in the pan and re-heat it to bring it up to temperature if needed.
For salted caramels, try stirring a splash of vanilla extract in with the caramel before pouring it into the baking dish. Then, sprinkle some pink Hawaiian sea salt or coarse Kosher salt over the top after you have poured it into the pan and it has cooled for about 15 minutes. That way the salt will stick to the top and not get absorbed into the caramel.