Salted Chocolate Covered Bourbon Caramels

Soft and chewy homemade caramels with a hint of bourbon flavor dipped in dark chocolate make these bite-sized treats perfect for the holidays.

Who doesn't love candy? But what about homemade candy? I always thought candy making was too much work. And yes while these take more time than just buying something at the store, where is the fun in that?

Part of what I love doing is creating things that you buy at a store, whether it is a recipe like homemade vanilla extract like or a project like a beer caddy.

Gifts this time of year don't always have to be costly or extravagant. Sometimes it just means more to give something to someone made by hand. Homemade caramels are something you can make a huge batch of, wrap up and give as gifts to everyone.

And these bourbon caramels dipped in chocolate will have your friends and family wanting more. Or if you're looking for another option, you can never go wrong with maple walnut fudge.

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredients
• How to Make Homemade Caramels
• How Do I Know the Caramel is Ready?
• Variations
• The Caramel is Too Soft
• What Happens if You Cook Caramel Too Long?
• Packaging Homemade Caramels
• Can You Freeze Caramels
• Top Tips/Recipe Notes
• Other Dessert Recipes
• Salted Chocolate Covered Bourbon Caramels

Recipe Ingredients

• Granulated sugar - sweetens the caramel.
• Light brown sugar - gives the caramel a deeper flavor.
• Heavy cream and unsalted butter - helps make the bourbon caramels softer to chew.
• Light corn syrup - sweetens the caramel while also helping with consistency.
• Bourbon - complements the caramel with its strong notes of oak and vanilla.
• Vanilla extract - enhances the other flavors.
• Quality chocolate (milk, semi-sweet, dark) - creates the coating the caramels are dipped in.
• Sea salt - brings out the flavor of the bourbon caramels.

How to Make Homemade Caramels

1. Lightly oil an 8 x 8 inch pan then measure and cut a piece of parchment paper that will fit inside the pan and come up the sides by at least 1 inch. Next, lightly oil the parchment paper and place into the pan. Set the pan aside. Place the sugars, heavy cream, butter, corn syrup and bourbon in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Place over medium heat and attach a candy thermometer to the edge of the skillet with the tip touching the ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally and then reduce to medium-low. Allow the mixture to simmer until it reaches between 238°F and 245°F. The lower the temperature the softer the caramel. The moment it reaches your desired temperature, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared dish and allow to cool for 4 hours.
4. Once the caramel is hard, unmold it. If it is too soft to work with, place in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes to help it firm up. Then use a knife to cute into 1 x 1 inch squares.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Chop the chocolate into fine pieces add ⅔ of it to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate has melted. Add the remaining chocolate and stir until it is smooth and shiny. Use two forks to dip each bourbon caramel into the melted chocolate then place onto parchment paper.
6. Sprinkle a little salt on top and allow the chocolate to set.

How Do I Know the Caramel is Ready?

It is very important for these homemade bourbon caramels to use a candy thermometer as it can be difficult to determine the temperature otherwise. The higher the temperature the harder the caramel gets so if you want a soft caramel, stop cooking at 238°F and if you want a harder caramel, stop at 245°F.

You can test if the bourbon caramels are ready by spooning a small amount into a cup of ice water. The ice water will cool the candy quickly, which allows you to pop it in your mouth to see if it has the texture you like.

Variations

As with anything you can vary the flavor with these homemade caramels. Some of the ways include:

• Alcohol - it doesn't have to be bourbon. You could try rum which almost makes a hot buttered rum taste.
• Chocolate - if you don't love dark chocolate, semi-sweet or milk chocolate works great as well. You could even try white chocolate. You also don't even need to dip bourbon caramels in chocolate if you prefer.
• Taste - if you don't want alcohol you can omit and replace the bourbon with something like apple cider.

The Caramel is Too Soft

If the homemade caramels are too soft, it meats, you didn't cook to the correct temperature. You can either reheat until it reaches at least 238°F or just eat them and enjoy!

What Happens if You Cook Caramel Too Long?

Cooking to the right temperature is super important for homemade caramels. If you cook took long, it will end up hard and not be chewy. It basically turns into a candy that you can suck on but not something that is great with a chocolate coating on around it.

Packaging Homemade Caramels

After the bourbon caramels have been dipped in chocolate and are set, you can wrap them in wax paper and twist the ends to secure. Once packaged, they'll last about 6 months.

Can You Freeze Caramels

These bourbon caramels freeze well. Just wrap them in a freezer friendly bag and freeze up to 3 months. Once ready to eat, let them come to room temperature, otherwise you might break a tooth!

Top Tips/Recipe Notes

• Use a candy thermometer to get an accurate temperature of the caramel.
• Use bourbon that you enjoy as it contributes to the flavor.
• If caramel is too soft to dip, place in fridge for 30 minutes before dipping in chocolate.
• Quality chocolate makes all the difference in the taste of the bourbon caramels so use blocks or bars.

Other Dessert Recipes

• Homemade Oreos
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites
• Chocolate Caramel Tart
• Chocolate Cream Puffs
• Chocolate Pumpkin Cups
• Chocolate Hazelnut Bars

If you’ve tried these bourbon caramels or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.