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Easy 6-Minute Microwave Caramels. These sweet little caramel chews are sprinkled with sea salt and have the most delicious salty-sweet flavor and are perfect for gift giving during the holidays!
Hello Oh Sweet Basil readers! My name is Marzia and I blog over at Little Spice Jar about all sorts of easy, healthy, and flavorful meals and treats that are quick and simple to pull together. I’m a Chicagoan by birth, living in the great state of Texas, and a huge fan of one skillet dinners and slow cooker recipes. When i’m not pulling together a quick dinner, I love to decorate and tackle DIY projects. Oh and I love whipping up simple desserts and treats — like this recipe for easy 6-minute microwave caramels!
I was super excited when Carrian asked me to guest post today, 1.) because I love making new friends. I’m being totally presumptuous and hoping we can be friends and 2.) because I have the most delicious, easiest caramel chews to share with you. How perfect are these for this time of year? The best part — they only require 7 simple ingredients.
7 simple ingredients and 6 simple minutes to pull it all together.
My husband, Anees, and I have major sweet tooths. We were more than happy to polish off a few batches of these while I was recipe testing. Once the recipe was perfect, we shared them with family and everyone agreed, these are definitely addicting. They remind me of the Werther’s soft caramel chews from my childhood. Were you a fan? My grandpa would always keep a stash in his pockets to share with us grandkids. To make these a little more gourmet, I’ve added a generous sprinkling of sea salt to the top of mine to give them that sweet/salty flavor that’s so gosh darn addicting. I am such a sucker for sweet and salty desserts. Chocolate dipped pretzels anyone? Yes, please!
Homemade desserts are fun to whip up and share with friends and neighbors during the holiday season. I’m going to fill up big tins of these and share them with close family. Homemade treats like these microwave caramels add such a personal touch. The fact that you made something for someone from scratch says you really care. And these couldn’t be easier to pull together. It’s as simple as adding all the ingredients in a bowl, giving it a stir, and popping it in the microwave. You can cut them in any shape that you like using cookie cutters. So cut circles, squares, rectangles, or roll the rectangles into logs, like I did. If you’ve got little helpers, they can add their own personal touches too. A Batman shaped caramel? Why not?
Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you’ll make and LOVE these caramel chews as much as I do! And if you’ve got a second, I’d love for you to stop by Little Spice Jar and say hello!
Happy Holidays! 🙂
Are Caramels Gluten Free?
Caramels are made from sugar, water, vanilla, milk and salt.
They contain no gluten.
Caramels are gluten free.
How Long Will Caramels Last?
If caramels are properly stored, they will last 6-8 months.
They should be well wrapped individually and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
What Should Homemade Caramels be Wrapped In?
Caramels should be wrapped in wax paper and then stored in a sealable plastic bag.
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- All our CANDY RECIPES here!
Easy 6-Minute Microwave Caramels
Easy 6-Minute Microwave Caramels
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Light Corn Syrup, or golden syrup
- 6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
- ½ Cup Condensed Milk
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt, plus more for sprinkling on top
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- First, check the wattage on your microwave. This is usually on a label on the inside of your microwave door, near the serial number. This will tell us exactly how long you will need to microwave your caramels for. For 1000W microwave, it will take 6 minutes, for 800W it will take 8 minutes and for 600-700W it will take about 9-10 minutes.
- Line a 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. To keep the parchment paper from moving around, I used binder clips to hold it in place.
- Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray, set aside.
- Combine all the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and stir.½ Cup Light Corn Syrup, 6 Tablespoons Melted Butter, ½ Cup Condensed Milk, ½ Cup Granulated Sugar, ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar, ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt, ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Microwave the mixture for the required amount of time (see step 1), stopping every 2 minutes and stirring.
- Remove the bowl carefully as it will be hot, pour the caramel mixture into the prepared baking dish, and spread the caramel into an even layer using a rubber spatula.
- Sprinkle with additional sea salt, if desired.¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- Allow the caramel to cool in the refrigerator for 20-25 minutes or until it sets. Keep in mind, it will still be soft but it shouldn't be runny.
- Cut the caramels using a sharp knife that's been heated under hot running water. You can cut them into any shape you like. I cut mine into small rectangles and rolled the rectangles to make logs.
- Wrap them in small pieces of wax paper to keep them from sticking to each other.[br]
- Caramels are best stored in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
https://ohsweetbasil.com/no-bake-snickers-caramel-apple-pie-recipe.html
Do I need to make any adjustments if I add finely chopped pecans to the recipe?
It shouldn’t change anything. That is a great idea! Yum!
These caramel came out delish! Everyone in my family loved them. Thank you so much for sharing. I will be making them again. Very easy.
Thank you Rosalie! I love how simple these are!
Can you substitute honey for the corn syrup? I can’t get corn syrup here where I live in Hungary
Is this condensed milk sweetened condensed milk????
Yes, it’s the same
Hi there … I skipped over to this recipe from the creme brulee one, because I, too, am an “all things caramel” person.
In the recipe above, you give two different storage methods for the finished candies.
In the body of the lead up to the recipe, it states “If caramels are properly stored, they will last 6-8 months. They should be well wrapped individually and stored in an airtight container at room temperature”.
In the recipe itself, it states in point 11 …. “Caramels are best stored in the refrigerator”.
Not that any form of caramel would last around here for 6 – 8 months, but which method of storage is the correct/best one?
Thank you for the amazing caramel recipes — I’ve bookmarked your page for future reference! 🙂
Oops, that’s my mistake! They will last long term in the refrigerator. If you plan to eat them within a week or so, at room temperature is great!
These look like so much fun. I love caramels. Can you make these on the stovetop instead of microwave. Thank you!
You can make stove top caramels but they are a little different. I have a recipe we will post next Christmas for stove top caramels. It is more work though. Feel free to email if you need to use a stove otherwise these are all kinds of awesome!