Soft, tender, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth caramels…all made in the microwave! (Did she just say…microwave??!!) Yep, the trusty ol’ microwave. Not kidding.

Couldn’t be easier and everyone just loves them!! Just too cool.

Though I made these for holiday gift bags at Christmastime, you could make these for any holiday or special occasion. Valentine’s Day is coming up, and a nice little drawstring bag of assorted homemade caramels would definitely have “I LUV U” written all over it! Flavor them or tint them any color you’d like for any holiday!

They’d be a nice addition for a Thanksgiving tray or party goodie for Halloween, too! 

I really enjoy this recipe, because it sure beats doing it on the stove and so much faster and easier! I made 5 batches total, one after the other, tinting and flavoring some, and it took almost no time at all!

The only tedious part is the wrapping. But grab a buddy and get a team going, and it goes a LOT faster!

This also goes fast if you have all of your waxed papers pre-cut, too. (*We cut ours into 4″ x 4″ squares and that worked really well.) But just cut them to whatever size that you need. 

This year I made Butter Rum, Licorice, Cinnamon and regular Salted Caramel, and they were all equally delicious! I actually salted all of them slightly, but the regular ones a bit more.

Next year I’ll do the same, because that salt really makes the flavors pop! I wasn’t sure how the salt would blend with all of the flavors, but it did just fine!

These can also be dipped in chocolate and chilled to set if you’d like also. Nuts or crushed pretzels can be sprinkled on the bottom of the pan before pouring, and holiday candy sprinkles can be added to the top after pouring.

All sorts of flavorings and coloring can be added, so just have fun with them and create your own unique flavors! Other flavors that I think would work well would be, coffee/espresso, orange, banana, coconut, almond, and, of course, apple!

So add this to your list for next year’s holiday goodies, or just make a stash for yourself. 😉 I won’t tell. 😉 Hope you enjoy, and let me know what flavors you come up with! Have a wonderful day all!

Yield: 24-36 caramels

Easy Microwave Assorted Caramels

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light Karo Corn Syrup
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, I use Borden’s Eagle Brand
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher or Sea salt
• 24-36 (4″ x 4″) waxed paper squares

Instructions

Line a bread pan with foil. Spray with butter-flavored cooking spray. Set aside.

In large heavy microwave safe bowl, add ingredients *except vanilla and salt. Stir to combine. (*Caramel bubbles up while cooking so make sure you use a large bowl!)

Cook on high for 6 minutes, stopping to stir every 2 minutes.

Remove bowl careful and quickly stir in vanilla.

Pour into prepared bread pan. Sprinkle top with Kosher or Sea salt to taste.

Let cool. Can be refrigerated for a few minutes of your kitchen is very hot.

Lift foil from bread pan onto cutting surface. Peel back foil and cut into pieces, wrap in waxed paper, twist ends to close, and store in airtight container.

*Variations:

For Butter Rum Flavor: After cooking, stir in 1 tsp. butter rum extract.

For Cinnamon Flavor: Before cooking stir in red paste decorator’s food coloring. (*It will all get mixed in as it cooks and is stirred during cooking time.) Once cooked, stir in 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon extract.

For Licorice Flavor: Before cooking, stir in purple paste decorator’s food coloring and 1 1/4 tsp. ground anise seed powder. *It will all get mixed as it is cooked and stirred.

Notes

All microwaves cook differently and have different power strengths. If they set up a tad too hard for your liking, simply decrease the time by about 20-30 seconds is all.