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6 Ingredient Salted Maple Caramels

Homemade Maple Caramels require 6 ingredients and are so easy to create! Top them with sea salt and these chewy caramels make great teachers gifts, neighbor gifts or tasty treats to munch on all year round!

 

Maple Caramels

 

Maple Caramel Candy is a personal weakness of mine.  Chewy caramels with the sweet flavor of maple, make for a great treat! 

Have you ever wondered ‘at what point in history did someone create Caramels’? And more importantly, how did they come up with the worlds greatest candy?

I certainly have.

After digging into the topic a bit, I’ve come to find out a few things that I never knew. The inventor of Caramels is unknown.

 

Maple Caramels

 

No one really knows who or when caramels made their debut. Clearly the person who did create them didn’t instantly turn their amazing treat into a billion dollar business. But instead, must have passed along the recipe to a friend, neighbor or relative, just as I’m doing now.

What we do know is that hard candies were created in American homes over the fire starting around 1650. Then, over the next 200+ years the greatest inventor of all time created Caramels.

 

Maple Caramels

 

When, where and what that exact recipe was, will forever be a mystery. Homemade caramel candy was invented somewhere between 1650 and 1880.

Talk about a large mystery gap in history!

It was in the mid 1880’s that homemade caramels began to show up in candy shops along side the classic hard candies. However what surprised me most in my research, was that Hershey’s Candy Company actually started out as Lancaster Caramel Company.

 

Maple Caramels

 

Milton Hershey didn’t discover chocolate until he was searching for a coating for his caramels.

Fast forward in history, Milton sold Lancaster Caramel Company and started up Hershey’s as we know today.

Call me crazy but to think that caramels and chocolate have only been around for 100 years or so is crazy to me. I can’t even begin to understand or imagine what the world will look like 100 years from now and how they will one day look back on us and our backward ways.

 

Maple Caramels

 

I for one am glad to be alive today. And one of those reasons is because of the ability to enjoy a bounteous supply of baked goods, candy and especially homemade caramels!

Over the last year I’ve been on a how to make caramel journey. I’ve started to lose count how how many batches of caramels I’ve attempted to make.

Most have been edible, and yet some (like today’s attempt) were utter failures.

 

Maple Caramels

 

This Maple syrup Caramel recipe though is one of my tasty success stories!  They turned out so delicious and are a fun twist on the classic caramel candies.

CAN I USE REAL MAPLE SYRUP IN THIS RECIPE?

Yes you can!  Instead of adding maple extract, you can certainly use real maple syrup.  In fact I’ve tried myself this method.  What I discovered is that the real maple syrup flavor can’t compete with the rich caramel flavor.  Thus the real maple syrup flavor is almost nonexistent.   I found that you really do need the concentrated extract to bring the flavor of maple syrup to these caramels.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I USE FAKE MAPLE SYRUP INSTEAD OF CORN SYRUP?

Great question!  Fake Maple Syrup found at the grocery store is predominantly corn syrup.  So I tried using it instead of corn syrup in this recipe.  If you like science experiments and don’t care about tossing a full pan of caramels, then you should try this.  Really it’s the oddest consistency and texture of any foods I’ve ever made.  It was gel like.  Cooking this recipe with fake maple syrup turned out.  And they were edible.  However, they were such an odd consistency when cooled that we tossed the whole pan.  

If you want to eat them, use corn syrup.  If you want to play with them for a fun experiment, use fake maple syrup. 

 

Maple Caramels

 

WHAT OTHER FLAVORS OF CARAMELS COULD I MAKE?

WHAT OTHER THINGS CAN I MAKE WITH MAPLE CARAMELS?

 

Maple Caramels

 

HOW LONG DO CARAMELS LAST?

In my house they last only a few days.  However if you’re looking to make these ahead of time, we’ve had good success with these lasting up to a month.  Any longer though and they start to get hard.

HOW DO YOU WRAP HOMEMADE CARAMELS?

Cut a piece of wax paper 4x as wide as your caramel and 2x as long as your caramel.  The idea is to wrap the wax paper around your caramel and then twist each end.  Wax paper is the best option for keeping these from sticking to the paper.  

WHY ARE MY CARAMELS TOO HARD OR SOFT?

The final cooking temperature will determine how hard or soft your caramels are.  If your caramels come out too hard, then cook them to a lower temperature. If your caramels come out to soft, then cook them longer, to a higher temperature.  Personally I like my caramels at 241*F.

 

And so my dear friends, I come to you with this delicious version of Maple Caramels that are easy to make and oh so tasty!

We are huge caramel lovers in our home and after wrapping hundreds, if not thousands of caramels this year, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what a good caramel tastes like versus a bad one. These Maple Caramels are a favorite among our family and friends. Plus they make your kitchen smell amazing.

Homemade maple caramels are a favorite of ours and something we look forward to making every year!

 

Yield: 70+ Caramels

Maple Caramels

Maple Caramels - sliced caramels on cutting board ready to be eaten!

Homemade Maple Caramels require 6 ingredients and are so easy to create! Top them with sea salt and these chewy caramels make great teachers gifts, neighbor gifts or tasty treats to munch on all year round!

Cook Time 45 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup white Karo syrup
  • 3 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 teaspoons maple extract
  • Candy thermometer or digital thermometer. I prefer a digital meat thermometer.
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Instructions

  1. Line a 9x13 casserole dish with parchment paper that you spray with cooking spray or nonstick foil. Make sure liner comes up over the edges of the pan on all sides.
  2. In a LARGE pot mix sugar, salt, corn syrup and whipping cream.
  3. Clip a candy thermometer onto the pan if your pan allows. If not, you'll have to check the temperature regularly with your thermometer then rinse it off after each time.
  4. Cook caramel mixture over medium heat (I like to cook mine at a 7.5 level on my stove) until caramel reaches 241*F. Caramel should cook at a heavy simmer / boil and will double, if not triple, in volume from the bubbles.
  5. Stir caramel mixture every few minutes to prevent from scorching the bottom of the caramel.
  6. The mixture will come to 218*F pretty quickly, so don't panic. Between 218*F - 241*F will take a little while.
  7. As you cook and stir, the caramel will start off white, then a light caramel then eventually a rich caramel color.
  8. Once caramel reaches 241*F, remove from stove.
  9. Stir in 2 teaspoons of Maple Extract.
  10. Pour mixture into prepared pan and allow to cool for 1 hour or more, until caramel has set.
  11. If caramel is still sticky when cutting, it's still slightly warm in the center. Caramel should cut without sticking to knife.
  12. This mixture can also be refrigerated to cool faster but it's best if you let it cool naturally.

Notes

Do NOT double the recipe. When the mixture comes to a boil it will double, if not triple in size and even a large pan is not big enough to contain a double batch boiling. Stick to a single batch.

Nutritional information is estimated.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

70

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 4Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 1mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g

 

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Todd Radke

Sunday 24th of March 2024

Instead of maple extract, can I use pure maple syrup, instead of the caramel syrup

Renae

Wednesday 20th of December 2023

When do you sprinkle the sea salt on top? The quantity is in the ingredient list - and it is mentioned in the introduction - however there is no mention in the recipe when you sprinkle it on. When it’s hot or when it has cooled?

Num's The Word

Friday 22nd of March 2024

I would do it when it's still warm!

Sam

Saturday 11th of January 2020

So if I were to try it with the maple syrup instead of or as well as extract, how much would I want to use?

Janelle

Thursday 27th of August 2020

I have no idea. Fake Maple Syrup will give it a jelly like substance and real maple syrup is too bland of a flavor. However if you were to do it, I honestly don't know how much. I'd say the same ratio so you don't change the consistency of the recipe too much.

K Stem

Wednesday 2nd of October 2019

Your recipe says 2 teaspoons of maple extract but then the procedure says 2 tablespoons.. Please clarify. Thanks!

Janelle

Wednesday 2nd of October 2019

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! It's 2 teaspoons, not Tablespoons! Thank you so much for pointing that out!! I hope you enjoy it!

Brit

Wednesday 6th of March 2019

Thank you however, if I was searching for a history lesson on where caramels came from I would have searched for that on my own. Your recipe is great, it would be even better if I didn't have to sift through paragraphs of fluff to get to it!

Janelle

Thursday 7th of March 2019

Brit, thank you for being patient when using my recipe! I am glad it turned out for you and that is was successful. Thanks for your comment and information.

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