Love homemade caramels but don't want hundreds of pieces? This small batch homemade caramel recipe is for you! Makes just enough but not too much!

I love to have an assortment of Christmas candies, but I don't like how a lot of recipes seem to make a year's supply of candy! I just want enough for my little family. My Small Batch Homemade Caramel recipe makes 60 pieces of caramels. This is about 10 pieces more than what comes in a 14 oz bag of Kraft crafts and they are each roughly the same size as the Kraft caramels. Plus, they are not hard to make. I am not a pro candy maker at all so don't worry if you're not either. If you need a couple more easy Christmas candy type treats check out my Easy Turtle Pretzels and Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Ritz!

How to make this easy caramel recipe:

Line an ⅛ size (10 x 7 x 1 inches) (affiliate link) with foil and grease it well with softened butter. If you don't have a pan that size scroll down and I'll explain what to do.
Put the sugar, corn syrup and cream in a non-stick medium pot.
Have your candy thermometer, (affiliate link) cubed butter and vanilla right there ready to add when it's time. It's important to have the butter cubed so it doesn't cool the hot caramel so fast that it can't all melt.
Bring the contents of your pot to a boil over medium heat stirring here and there so the sugar incorporates and doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.
Once boiling, attach the candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue to cook the caramel until it reaches 250 degrees for a softer caramel or to 260 for a firm caramel.
Continually to stir frequently especially as the caramel gets closer to the desired temperature.
Once the desired temp is reach remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter cubes and vanilla.
Whisk until all the butter is incorporated. This may take a minute or so of stirring.
Pour the caramel into the prepared pan and allow to cool on the counter top for a few hours.
Lift the caramel out by the foil and cut into pieces using a sharp knife. It may be helpful to chill your caramel in the fridge just until cold to make the cutting easier.
Wrap each caramel in a foil candy wrapper. (affiliate link)

How long do homemade caramels last?

If wrapped up properly these caramels last a month or so at room temp or up to 6 months if stored in the fridge.

How do you wrap homemade caramels?

I always by candy wrapping foil from a kitchen store where I live because I've had terrible luck with wax paper and I don't want to take the time to cut up a bunch of foil. Here is an Amazon link to the exact wrappers you see in my picture. The description says that they aren't for caramels, but I've wrapped my caramels in them for 2 years in a row with no problems.

Should I refrigerate my caramels?

Caramels don't need to be refrigerated but it does extend the shelf life. I sometimes pop my caramels in the fridge to get cold before I cut them up because chilled caramel is easier to cut.

I don't have that size of pan! What can I use?

For this recipe I highly recommend an ⅛ size (10 x 7 x 1 inches) baking sheet (affiliate link). It is half the size of a 9x13 pan. I use mine ALL the time. It's the perfect size to reheat stuff or cook small amounts of food. I totally recommend them, but if you don't want to buy one you can use a bread loaf pan. It will just make the caramels thicker so when you cut them up you'll be cutting them into thinner strips and your caramels will be more rectangle shapes instead of cube shapes.

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Small Batch Homemade Caramels Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Mindee
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes (doesn't include cooling time)
Yield: 60 Caramels 1x
Category: Candy
Method: Boiling
Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Description

Love homemade caramels but don't want hundreds of pieces? This small batch homemade caramel recipe is for you! Makes just enough but not too much!

Ingredients

Scale

1 Cup Sugar
½ Cup Corn Syrup
1 Cup Heavy Cream
½ Cup Butter, cubed
1 tsp Vanilla

You will also need:

½-1 Tbs softened butter to grease the foil in the pan.
A candy thermometer.
At least 60 Foil Candy Wrappers

Instructions

Line an ⅛ size (10 x 7 x 1 inches) with foil and grease it well with softened butter.
Put the sugar, corn syrup and cream in a non-stick medium pot.
Have your candy thermometer, cubed butter and vanilla right there ready to add when it's time.
Bring the contents of your pot to a boil over medium heat stirring here and there so the sugar incorporates and doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.
Once boiling, attach the candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Continue to cook the caramel until it reaches 250 degrees for a softer caramel or to 260 for a firm caramel.
Continually to stir frequently especially as the caramel gets closer to the desired temperature.
Once the desired temp is reach remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter cubes and vanilla.
Whisk until all the butter is incorporated. This may take a minute or so of stirring.
Pour the caramel into the prepared pan and allow to cool on the counter top for a few hours.
Lift the caramel out by the foil and cut into pieces using a sharp knife. It may be helpful to chill your caramel in the fridge just until cold to make the cutting easier.
Wrap each caramel in a foil candy wrapper.

Keywords: caramel, easy caramel, christmas caramels

This recipe was adapted from Soft'n'Chewy Caramels.

This recipe contains Amazon affiliate links. For more info see my disclosure policy here.

Any nutritional analysis on this Site is based on an estimate, calculated by Nurtifox plugin (or other third-party source) from the individual ingredients in each recipe. Variations may occur for various reasons, including product availability and food preparation. We make no representation or warranty of the accuracy of this information.