Maple Bourbon Caramels
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Maple syrup and a splash of bourbon give these soft and buttery homemade maple bourbon caramels the most incredible flavor! Recipe makes 30 homemade caramels.
Why you’ll love these homemade caramels:
I have a confession to make. Remember those salted caramels from earlier this week? Not a single one made it to a neighbor or friend; we demolished the batch and never looked back. To offset the guilt over consuming the gift, I made another batch (and we liked these even better than the first!).
If you are powerless to resist the charm of soft and buttery caramels, do not make these. Maple syrup and a splash of bourbon give the caramels such an incredible flavor that you’ll never be able to stop at just one. Trust me.
Maple Bourbon Caramels
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 30 caramels
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Maple syrup and a splash of bourbon give these soft and buttery homemade maple bourbon caramels the most incredible flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 Tbsp bourbon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup dark amber maple syrup
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- flaky salt
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Combine heavy cream, butter, bourbon, and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Once mixture boils, immediately remove from heat and set aside.
- Combine maple syrup and sugar in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat and heat to 280°F. Stir just at the beginning with a heatproof spatula; stop stirring once sugar begins to melt. Continue cooking without stirring until the sugar mixture reaches 280°F.
- Carefully pour heavy cream mixture into saucepan (stand back; the ingredients will bubble and spatter). Continue to cook mixture until it reaches 250°F, stirring the mixture with a heatproof spatula to prevent scorching and burning (don’t scrape down the sides of the pan).
- When the mixture reaches 250°F, pour the caramel into prepared pan and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Place uncovered pan in the refrigerator and cool for 2 hours to set.
- Lift parchment to remove caramel from pan and place on a cutting board. Spray a sharp knife with nonstick spray and trim any ragged edges; cut into 30 caramels.
- Wrap caramels individually in wax paper and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 weeks.
Keywords: Homemade Caramels, Maple Syrup, Bourbon
loved this recipe! wondering how you get the colour consistent throughout the caramel with such infrequent stirring? mine came out delicious but colour varied heavily after pouring into dish.
★★★★★
Hi Cleo, so glad you tried this recipe! Once the sugar/maple mixture reaches 280°F and the heavy cream mixture is added, you can stir the mixture with a heatproof spatula. The key is just to stir the mixture and the bottom of the pan without scraping down the sides (to avoid any sugary crystals that may be sticking to the pan from falling into the caramel and ruining the texture).
I hope that helps for the future, and thank you for the great question which prompted me to update the recipe instructions. 🙂
I made these caramels…..oh my gosh….they were wonderful wonderful!! Recipe is a keeper!
Thanks Joan, so glad you tried them! 🙂
I ended up with a tasty caramel sauce instead of chewy caramels. I doubled the recipe and used granulated sugar because the recipe didn’t specify if it was brown. Did I assume wrongly? :/ I even tried cooking it further and stirring more because so many other recipes say to stir. That helped but didn’t do the trick. Any suggestions?
Hi Beth, you were right – the recipe uses white sugar. I think that making a double batch was probably the issue – it would take much longer for the mixture to reach the correct temperature, and doubling the recipe can affect both cooking time and the end results. Next time I’d try them just as a single batch. Hope that helps!
Hmm ok maybe I’ll give it another shot. It did get up to temperature but I wasn’t sure if doubling it would change things.. maybe it did! Thanks for responding 🙂
Just made these babies this afternoon . Wow. Melt in your mouth pleasure! Can’t wait to share them tomorrow . Thanks!!
Thanks for the feedback, Joan! So glad you liked the caramels! 🙂
they were a big hit, unbelievably creamy and smooth… i will make them again. i’m drooling just thinking about them. thanks for the recipe!
I already can’t resist buttery caramel but maple and Bourbon? Fantastic!
I see your recipe has no corn syrup which is what I was looking for. I’ve always made my caramels with corn syrup, but I want to try without. I tried to use this recipe, but I kept coming out with grainy caramels. Any suggestions?
Hi Amina, there are three causes for a grainy caramel:
1. They’ve been undercooked or overcooked, so it may be an issue with your candy thermometer.
2. Stirring after the mixture boils causes crystallization, so stop stirring as soon as the sugar begins to melt.
3. Humidity – humid weather can also negatively affect the texture of your caramels.
Hope these tips will help you! 🙂