Gingerbread Caramels

These gingerbread caramels are absolutely amazing! All flavors of gingerbread wrapped in soft, creamy, crunchy homemade caramel.

These gingerbread caramels are just HOLIDAYS. and Christmas. Have a comfortable night in flannel pajamas. And don’t leave me alone for the whole batch. Otherwise you will run into problems.

The gingerbread flavor paired with creamy caramel is absolutely divine. Step-by-step caramel-making tutorial below!

How to make gingerbread caramel

I think making candies and caramels at home is horrible. But I promise with all the enthusiasm of my soul that this recipe is doable!

We went into a lot of detail on how to make homemade caramel like Rockstar in this definitive guide to homemade caramel, but we’ll walk you through the steps here as well.

These gingerbread caramel bases are my go-to caramel recipe. I’m the only one making it. I love it that way (no burn!), love it, love it, love it.

The recipe begins by boiling sugar, corn syrup, and water until the mixture turns a bright amber color.

The most important thing in making caramel at home is to keep the sides of the pan free of sugar crystals (sugar crystals can come back into the caramel mixture and crystallize the batch. ).

This is easily avoided by brushing the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water from time to time, if needed. There is none.

Once the sugar mixture reaches 325 degrees Fahrenheit, add warm cream, butter and salt. Bubbly and splash! And the temperature will drop slightly. Totally normal!

At this point, a notable addition for gingerbread caramel is to add molasses as well. Regular non-sulfided molasses (not Blackstrap).

Molasses adds delicious depth of flavor and color.

Bring the caramel mixture to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. The foam is thin and foamy at first.

When caramel is heated, it becomes darker in color and the bubbles grow larger.

Finally, the caramel will thicken and swirl, and large bubbles will burst on the surface.

best temperature for homemade caramel

Cook caramel to 244-246 degrees Fahrenheit.

That being said, the exact temperature really depends on several factors.

• your thermometer (and whether it is accurate/calibrated)
• Your altitude (I live at an altitude of 2,400 feet)

Here is a post with details on how to calibrate your thermometer and how altitude affects the boiling point of water and what that means for thermometers and candy making. Please read this information When Comment for some useful information!

Taking the time to adjust your thermometer can make a big difference in how your homemade caramel turns out!

I’ve long abandoned the traditional candy thermometer in favor of using an instant-read thermometer with a pan clip to attach to the side of the pan (or when you know it’s near (And sometimes grabbing it and dipping it in caramel.).

i have this thermo pop thermometer From Thermoworks. It is inexpensive and highly accurate.

gingerbread spice

In addition to molasses, this recipe relies on the following powdered spices to give these caramels the perfect gingerbread flavor.

• Ginger
• cinnamon
• allspice
• cloves

Finally, when mixed with hot caramel, the spices tend to clump together, so after repeated test batches, I discovered a useful trick to prevent clumps!

Stir spices in a small bowl with vanilla extract. This creates a pasty mixture that blends beautifully into the caramel.

No lumps is a very happy Mel!

How to cut homemade caramel

After the caramel has cooled in the pan, cut and wrap.

The easiest and best way to cut homemade caramel is bench knife {aff. link}Gently peel the entire slab of caramel out of the pan and place it on a cutting board.

A bench knife will help you cut the caramel into squares quickly.

best wrap for caramel

Gone are the days of cutting wax paper into squares.these are precut cellophane wrapper {aff. link} It’s a game changer!

They twist (and stay twisted) better than precut wrappers of parchment or wax paper.

Amazing gingerbread caramel

We don’t casually introduce new caramel flavors into our lives. Determining whether a caramel flavor cuts is a very serious process (and I’ve made and rejected many other caramel flavors over the years – Raspberry, I’m looking at you# tasteslikecooughsyrup #gag #nothanks )!

I can honestly say that these gingerbread caramels have skyrocketed to the top of my favorite caramels list.

they are very good

The gingerbread flavor is warm, cozy and delicious without being overpowering. The caramel flavor is perfect for this time of year. i love them so much We hope you will too!

gingerbread caramel

yield: 60 caramel

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Cooling time: 2 time

total time: 3 time

• 2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tea spoon vanilla extract
• ½ tea spoon grated ginger
• ½ tea spoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ tea spoon allspice
• ⅛ tea spoon ground cloves
• 2 ½ cup (530 g) Granulated sugar
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
• 6 tablespoon (85 g) butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (use salted butter)
• ½ tea spoon coarse kosher salt (use 1/4 teaspoon for table salt)

• Butter the bottom and sides (even the corners!) of an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan.

• Heat the cream in a saucepan or microwave until it starts to steam. keep warm

• In a small bowl, stir vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves. set aside.

• For caramel, in a large, thick-bottomed saucepan (at least 5 or 6 quarts), stir together sugar, corn syrup, and water. Be careful not to splatter the mixture on the sides of the pan. If using a candy thermometer, clip it to the side of the pan.

• Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat without stirring or moving the pan. When it starts to boil, fill a cup with water and use a pastry brush to rinse the sides of the pan. The sides are cleaned well). This will keep the caramel mixture from crystallizing in later steps.

• Cook until the boiling sugar turns a light amber color and thermometer registers 325 degrees Fahrenheit, about 15 to 20 minutes.

• Slowly pour the warm cream over the caramel. It foams up and produces a lot of steam! Add molasses, butter and salt. The mixture will be highly bubbly during this step, but will dissipate after a few minutes.

• Begin stirring the caramel with a heat-resistant rubber spatula, scraping down the bottom of the pan (but be careful not to scrape the sides of the pan too much). 244-246 degrees Fahrenheit, about 10-20 minutes. Remove from heat immediately.

• Remove from heat and scrape the vanilla and spice mixture into the caramel, stirring gently until well blended.

• Pour the caramel mixture into the prepared pan. Let the caramel cool completely at room temperature.

• Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the caramel into squares. Wrap the caramel and store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

elevation: I live at an altitude of about 2,400 feet. This recipe has been tested at that altitude. You may need to adjust the temperature and/or thermometer reading based on the altitude where you live. Here’s an article that goes into detail about calibrating and adjusting altitude for candy-making thermometers.
Gingerbread flavor: For more gingerbread flavor, double the spices.

Serving: 1 caramel, calorie: 86kcal, carbohydrate: 13g, protein: 0.2g, thick: Fourg, saturated fat: 3g, cholesterol: 12mg, sodium: 14mg, fiber: 0.01g, sugar: 13g

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Recipe source: From Mel’s Kitchen Cafe