Easy Homemade Caramels Recipe (2024)

Have you been searching for the perfect easy Homemade Caramels recipe that does not contain corn syrup so that you can get a start on some holiday treat-making? This is our favorite recipe for homemade caramels; you only need a few ingredients to make it.

Easy Homemade Caramels Recipe

There is nothing better as we enter the holiday time of year than all the yummy homemade baking. It just wouldn’t be the same if you bought things from the store! At least not in my house.

We always like to pick out several cookies and treat recipes that we want to make for the year and make them throughout December (instead of having a TON of cookies to be made simultaneously, we spread them out). Not only do we make cookies, we like to make various other treats, too! Like:

• The Best Bad-For-You Fudge Ever
• Caramel Chocolate Popcorn
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
• Maple Syrup Candy Recipe

Yum! That’s enough to get your mouth watering! One of the new recipes we are making this year is this easy Homemade Caramel recipe. This soft caramel candy recipe is made withoutcorn syrup, and we use raw sugar instead of processed sugar to make it as natural as possible. make a chewy caramel recipe without condensed milk

Caramels are my very favorite (I like them more than chocolate!) so I’m always excited about making up a few batches of these and giving a few batches for gifts. If I decide to, we can give some away! Here’s how to make a chewy caramel recipe without condensed milk or corn syrup.

Ingredients for Easy Homemade Caramels

What You Need:

• Heavy cream. You can use heavy whipping cream or heavy cream in this recipe. You can also use cream skipped off the top of raw milk.
• Raw or brown sugar. I’ve made this recipe both ways, and it works, so you can use what you have.
• Sea salt. Any salt will work here, but I prefer sea salt in this recipe.
• Vanilla. You can use homemade vanilla extract or store-bought.
• wax paper
• candy thermometer

Instructions for Making Caramels Without Corn Syrup

Pull out all your ingredients. Start by preparing a good-sized piece of parchment or waxed paper on your table or in a bar pan.

You can place this on a cookie sheet or a baking sheet if you need to move the caramels from your table at some point (since they need to sit before you can put them away).

In a saucepan, mix the cream, sugar, and salt. Cook in a small pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until boiling. Just stir as needed until the mixture reaches 250 degrees F. You need a candy thermometer for this recipe; it will not work on a guess. Luckily you can grab one for just a few dollars here.

Tip: Save your leftover cream in the freezer withCream Cubes for use later.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract until incorporated. Pour the mixture onto your waxed or parchment paper on your table or baking sheet. I use an Unbleached Wax Paper. You can also pour the caramel into a shallow baking dish if you don’t have a sheet.

After your caramels have sat for at least 8 hours, use a knife coated in butter and cut out the shapes of your caramels. Use a sharp knife if a regular butter knife isn’t cutting through them well enough for you.

This will give it a nice buttery flavor plus help you cut through the caramel.

Using more wax paper, wrap each piece individually so they can’t stick together. Store the caramels at room temp. They won’t last more than a week, so make sure you don’t make more than you can eat or give away during that time. Enjoy your yummy treat!

Print this Soft Caramels Recipe here:

How to Store Leftover Homemade Caramel Candy

Place any leftover caramels in their wax paper wrappers in an airtight container in the fridge. Remove them from the fridge for a few minutes before enjoying them so they are not too hard. You can also store them at room temperature if your kitchen isn’t too warm.

Common Questions About Caramel Making

Tips to Make This Recipe With What Already You Have

This recipe is made with commonly found ingredients, so you can source everything you need fairly easily, even in a small town.

You could also make this recipe with frozen Cream Cubes if you don’t have fresh cream.

If you have your own cow that produces milk or get raw milk from someone, you can skim the cream off the top and use it in this recipe.

Use any kind of salt if you don’t have sea salt.

You can make your own brown sugar if you don’t have any. Combine 1 cup of white sugar with 1 Tablespoon of molasses and mix until coated.

Leave out the vanilla if you don’t have it. It will just give it a different flavor. Still very good!

More Caramel Recipes

• Easy Homemade Caramel Sauce or Dip
• Old Fashioned Caramel Icing
• Caramel Popcorn in a Jar
• Caramel Chocolate Popcorn
• Chocolate Caramel Rolls

Find even more Desserts and Treats Recipes on Little House Living!

Do you have a special easy Homemade Caramels recipe that your family likes?
How many different kinds of treats do you make this time of year?

Merissa Alink

Merissa has been blogging about andliving the simple and frugal life on Little House Living since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to freedom on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from theContact Page.

This Easy Homemade Caramels without Corn Syrup Recipe was originally published on Little House Living in November 2013. It has been updated as of October 2023.