Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy
Indulge in soft Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy with this 5 ingredient recipe. No thermometer is needed to make this homemade caramel candy recipe!
If you’re looking for more delicious caramel recipes, check out Caramel Chocolate Oreo Icebox Cake, Homemade True Caramel, Salted Caramel Cake With Buttercream Frosting, Homemade Caramel Sauce with Bone Broth, Homemade Chewy Coffee Caramel Candies, or Caramel Apple Pie.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy
- Ready In: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Makes: 36 candies
- Main Ingredients: cane sugar, salted butter, heavy whipping cream, Dutch cocoa powder, chocolate
- Flavor Profile: Rich chocolate meets sweet caramel with a sprinkle of sea salt
- Dietary Info: naturally gluten free
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: If you love Riesen candy, you'll love these!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- 5 Ingredients: This homemade caramel candy recipe only has 5 organic ingredients!
- No Corn Syrup: No corn syrup needed to make this homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy. I use a true caramel method with minimal organic ingredients.
- No Candy Thermometer: You do not need a thermometer to make this homemade chewy caramel candy recipe!
- True Caramel: This method makes a “true caramel” by dry burning the sugar until it caramelizes. This is an old fashioned technique that many people don’t use anymore, but this results in a better flavor with minimal ingredients!
- Rich Chocolate: I add in rich dark chocolate and cocoa power to give these chewy caramel candies a rich chocolate flavor.
- Homemade Caramels: If you like Riesen candy, this is a homemade version of the soft caramels that tastes very similar but made with much better ingredients! No soy or seed oils needed for delicious chocolate caramels.
I have been getting asked to make a chewy chocolate caramel candies for a while now. You all love my Homemade True Caramel and this recipe is a chewy chocolate caramel candy version!
My taste testers (friends and neighbors) have all said this reminds them of Riesen caramels. Which I have never even had. So, if you have ever had those, you will love this recipe!
If you love chocolate and caramel, be sure to check out other recipes like Chocolate Caramel S’More Bars, Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies with Homemade Caramel, Gingerbread Caramel Sauce, or Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies.
Ingredients
- Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar which caramelizes so beautifully due to less processing. This also creates a darker more flavorful caramel.
- Butter: I use organic salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you prefer. If so, just add 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt to the finished caramel before pouring into the pan. You need to make sure you are using a sweet cream butter with ~80% butterfat. Stay away from European butters with higher butterfats as that will cause the caramel to burn (and it won't even be your fault!). Check out the Best Salted Butter for Baking for even more info!
- Dark Chocolate: I use organic mini dark chocolate chips, for ease. These are great for melting and melt super easily! But, you can also use a chopped up dark chocolate bar too.
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: Use Dutch cocoa powder as opposed to natural, this is more rich in flavor and lends better to this caramel.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker’s Tips for Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results. Because this is a true caramel recipe, the ratios of sugar, butter and cream really matter to get the right texture. So, using a scale will really make a difference.
- Make sure to use a high heat spatula so your spatula doesn't warp or melt off into the caramel!
- Use a saucepan that conducts heat well, I really love the Our Place Titanium Pot for this!
- I use mini dark chocolate chips for ease, but you can use a chopped dark chocolate bar. Just be sure the chocolate you are using is free of stabilizers so it melts easily. (Stabilizers include things like soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin).
- Sift the cocoa powder before adding into the caramel, this will ensure there are clumps.
- If you don’t have an 8×8-inch square pan you can use a 9×9-inch square pan too, but the caramels will just be a bit thinner.
- The sea salt flakes are totally optional, so feel free to leave it off if you prefer.
How to Make Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy
- Line a 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper. (Binder clips help hold up the parchment paper).
- In a 3-quart pot add the sugar. Put over low/medium heat.
- Heat until the sugar begins to melt, stirring it to prevent burning. Continue to cook into the sugar is completely melted into a liquid and there are no sugar clumps.
- Once the sugar is completely melted, add in the butter and stir to combine it completely. Be careful as steam will rise up, ensure you’re stirring constantly to incorporate the butter.
- Add in the heavy cream, a little at a time while ensuring to stir the entire time.
- Continue to do so until all the cream is combined.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and add in the dark chocolate and cocoa powder.
- Stir to combine it completely.
- Transfer the chocolate caramel to the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Let it cool for at least 4 hours or even overnight.
- Remove the caramel from the pan and using a sharp knife, cut into 36 squares (or rectangles or however you like)! These are about 1.3-inch squares. Sprinkle them with a little bit of flaky sea salt (optional).
Recipe FAQ’s
True caramel means the sugar is dry burned to caramelize, which is what gives the caramel its flavor. This is an older technique and how caramel originated and how the flavor was created! Other “caramels” that tell you to add a bunch of ingredients into a pot are mimicking the flavor of caramel as they are not actually caramelizing the sugar.
You want to use a pot that conducts heat well. Recently, my favorite caramel pot has been the Our Place Titanium Pot as this has such good even heat! But, I also use stainless steel and even ceramic which all work too. Using a pot that conducts heat will will give you an even heat and and help prevent the caramel from burning.
With this true caramel recipe, we are using the old school method of dry burning the sugar. I add in butter and cream in stages, so you can visibly see when you are ready to move to the next stage, based on the ingredients. This method does not require a thermometer, because we are adding ingredients in one at a time, so you know when it's time to move to the next stage.
Ratios of sugar, butter and cream are off if your caramels are too soft. If they are too soft, it probably meant that more cream was added than needed. It's important to weigh and measure ingredients properly, especially for this caramel recipe that that highly depends on the right ratios to yield the correct texture.
Ratios of sugar, butter and cream are off if your caramels are too hard. If they are too hard, it probably meant that you didn't have enough cream. It's important to weigh and measure ingredients properly, especially for this caramel recipe that that highly depends on the right ratios to yield the correct texture.
Using the right ratios of sugar, butter and cream is what will determine if your caramel is chewy versus hard. So, it's important to follow the recipe, weigh ingredients and measure properly to get the desired caramel consistency.
If your caramel burned, then the heat was too high or you left it unattended. You can't leave the stove when making caramel, be ready to stand over it the entire time. All stoves are different when it comes to heat, so it may take you a couple tries to get the heat that is right for your range. The trick to caramel is getting it hot enough to melt and caramelize the sugar, but not too hot that it burns. This is usually around medium heat. But, if you have a powerful range (gas ranges are usually more powerful) then I recommend being more towards low.
Use the right amount of heat. Hot enough to melt and caramelize the sugar, but not too hot that it burns. You should be around low/medium depending on your range and how powerful it is.
If your caramel is grainy, the heat wasn't hot enough to melt and caramelize the sugar completely. Turn up the heat next time just a little bit!
Unfortunately, no. Once the sugar burns, that burnt flavor will transfer into the caramel. If you do burn the sugar (you may smell that) you can just dump it and start again so you don't waste the butter, cream or chocolate.
Yes, you can melt chocolate using a double boiler (or in the microwave) and dip and coat these completely for chocolate covered chocolate caramels! Wow, that's a mouthful. You could even use white chocolate or milk chocolate for chocolate coating too!
Yes, if you prefer to use milk chocolate instead you can for a lighter chocolate caramel.
Don't skip the cocoa powder as this helps bring the caramel to the right soft texture. Without it, you could end up with caramels that are too soft and don't set up properly. This is because we're already adding melted chocolate and the cocoa powder adds bulk and helps firm up the caramels with that addition of melted chocolate.
Use a sharp knife. And if you have problems with the caramel sticking, you can grease the knife with butter to get super clean cuts.
Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. You can freeze them for even longer in an airtight container. Just thaw and enjoy!
How to Store
- You can wrap these individually with wax paper (like I do in the video). Doing this is great if you are adding into Christmas cookie boxes, they make a great filler for DIY Christmas Cookie Box.
- You can also put these in candy cups, which is how I like to serve them if I’m serving for a party as they are easy to grab.
- You can also store them in a Tupperware, just be sure to place a piece of wax paper in between each layer so they don’t mold back together!
- These do not need to be stored in the refrigerator, but they can be kept in the fridge if you want them to last longer. You can also freeze them too! Just put in an airtight container with a lid.
And, if you love making homemade candy, these recipes are sure to become favorites too! Try Homemade Marshmallows Without Eggs, Strawberry Chocolate Bars, Healthy Almond Joy Bars, Honey Sesame Dark Chocolate Bark, Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters, or Pink Peppermint Ice.
More Caramel Recipes to Love
Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- 3-Quart Pot
- High Heat Spatula
- 8×8-inch Baking Pan
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 340 grams cane sugar
- 113 grams salted butter
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 57 grams dark chocolate
- 28 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper. (Binder clips help hold up the parchment paper).
- In a 3-quart pot add the sugar. Put over low/medium heat.
- Heat until the sugar begins to melt, stirring it to prevent burning. Continue to cook into the sugar is completely melted into a liquid and there are no sugar clumps.
- Once the sugar is completely melted, add in the butter and stir to combine it completely. Be careful as steam will rise up, ensure you’re stirring constantly to incorporate the butter.
- Add in the heavy cream, a little at a time while ensuring to stir the entire time. Continue to do so until all the cream is combined.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and add in the dark chocolate and cocoa powder and stir to combine it completely.
- Transfer the chocolate caramel to the prepared pan and spread it out evenly.
- Let it cool for at least 4 hours or even overnight.
- Remove the caramel from the pan and using a sharp knife, cut into 36 squares (or rectangles or however you like)! These are about 1.3-inch squares.
- Sprinkle them with a little bit of flaky sea salt (optional).
- Wrap each one in wax paper for individual caramels. Or place in a candy cup if adding into a chocolate box.
- Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results. Because this is a true caramel recipe, the ratios of sugar, butter and cream really matter to get the right texture. So, using a scale will really make a difference.
- Make sure to use a high heat spatula so your spatula doesn't warp or melt off into the caramel!
- Use a saucepan that conducts heat well, I really love the Our Place Titanium Pot for this!
- I use mini dark chocolate chips for ease, but you can use a chopped dark chocolate bar. Just be sure the chocolate you are using is free of stabilizers so it melts easily. (Stabilizers include things like soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin).
- Sift the cocoa powder before adding into the caramel, this will ensure there are clumps.
- If you don’t have an 8×8-inch square pan you can use a 9×9-inch square pan too, but the caramels will just be a bit thinner.
- The sea salt flakes are totally optional, so feel free to leave it off if you prefer.
- High Altitude — Follow the recipe as noted.
Nutrition
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