Simple Homemade Caramels (And the cleanup hack that helps you finish the dishes before it’s even time to cut the caramels) (2024)

Scotch-Brite Scrubbing Dish ClothsThis shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ScrubSeason#CollectiveBias

Car-mels? Care-a-mels? It’s been a pretty consistent argument in this household since we first started making the sweet treats… you’ll hear someone sneak into the fridge and grab a homemade caramel, only to hear “You know they’re called care-a-mels, right?!” Our family has a history of bickering over thepronunciation of words that can be pronounced either way, usually for the sole purpose of annoying each other to bits. But either way you pronounce it, these homemade caramels are simple to make, and the cleanup? It’s just as easy.

Start by melting 1 cup of butter in a large pan. You’ll want it to be a large pan, because as your caramel mixture boils, it’ll expand before reducing back down, so you want something that holds triple the amount of your ingredients. Next, add 1 cup of granulated sugar, 2 cups of packed brown sugar, and 1 cup of light corn syrup to the melted butter.

Pour in 1 can of evaporated milk and 1 pint of heavy whipping cream. Finish with 2 teaspoons of sea salt and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture until all of the ingredients are combined, then cover the pot for about 2 minutes to allow it to heat up enough to melt any lingering crystals off of the side of the pan. If you don’t cover it, you’ll have little sugar crystals on the side that won’t caramelize, and trust me, you want every drop of this mixture to become sweet, heavenly homemade caramels.

Growing up, I always assumed a candy like caramels would be really hard to make, but after the initial ingredient mixing, it’s really just a matter of playing the waiting game. You let the mixture bubble, stirring it every few minutes to prevent scorching over medium-low heat. You do this until the mixture reaches about 247-250, right around hard ball stage for candy making. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, it’s basically the stage of candy making where if you drop a piece of the candy into a glass of ice water, it’ll form a hard ball that’s still slightly pliable, like a caramel, when you remove it. Simple. It’s literally just waiting, stirring, waiting, so pull up a barstool and grab a good book or turn on your favorite show while you make it and you’re golden.

Once it’s ready, simply pour the mixture into a parchment-lined 9×13 baking dish and place the mixture on the counter to cool for about 15 minutes before refrigerating for another 10 minutes.

Did you hear that? You now have 25 minutes of cooling time… and trust me, you’ll have the whole mixture cleaned up well before then!

For me, the biggest downside to caramel (car-mel?) making has always been the cleanup. It’s sticky, and it usually involves a TON of elbow grease. So, I generally make the deal with my family that I’ll make the homemade caramels if they do the cleanup.

The perk, however, of cleaning it yourself is the Side Caramel. What’s Side Caramel, you might ask? It’s all of the ooey-gooey caramel left behind after you pour the mixture out of the pan. It’s all that stuff stuck to the sides that’s super delicious. And this time, I was determined to be the one to get the Side Caramel, so I had to do the cleanup. To easily clean the pan, the first rule is that you have to eat the Side Caramel. If your family fights you on this, just tell them that it’s yours, because you’re doing the dishes. Then don’t tell them how easy the cleanup is. Boom. Suddenly, it’s all YOUR Side Caramel. Trust me.

After you’ve eaten all of the Side Caramel, pull out your secret weapon. This is the tool that’s going to make cleaning up that sticky mess a 2-minute task. I’m not joking. TheScotch-Brite® Scrubbing Dish Cloth is a dish cloth, reinvented. It has the scrubbing power with the scrubbing dots that originated from Scotch-Brite® sponges on one side, and a soft premium-weave cloth on the other. And it tackles stuck-on junk like a PRO, so caramel cleanup is no big deal.

You can find these brand new scrubbing dish cloths with the dish cleaning supplies at your local Walmart store, and they come in a ton of great colors– 5 altogether– so you’re sure to find some that will look perfect in your kitchen, just like these tan ones matched mine. The other perk is they won’t scratch your pan, because no caramel is worth a scratched-up pan, is it?

Look at those scrubby little dots! Look at them! They’re what’s going to do all the work for you while you tell your family that you’re slaving over dishes (so you can get the Side Caramels). You’re not going to have to sacrifice your nails scraping at the sides of the pan anymore– this is going to do it for you.

Add soap and the hottest water you can stand to use into your pan, then give it about 30 seconds to a minute to soak and loosen up any of the caramels. Then, take the scrubby side of yourScotch-Brite® Scrubbing Dish Cloth and scrub at the caramel on the inside (and sometimes exterior!) of the pan. Seriously, am I the only one who manages to get caramel all over the outside of the pan in the process of making caramels? Because I do. All the time.

Once you’ve scrubbed everything off (which took me all of a minute, no joke), use the other side of the cloth to wash any residue off. Give the pan a good rinse, and your cleanup is DONE before it’s even time to cut into the homemade caramels.

When the caramels are mostly firm but not too hard, it’s time to pull them out of the parchment-lined pan by lifting the parchment up and out. Spray a knife with cooking spray, and it’ll cut right through the caramels. Or, do my favorite trick– cut the caramels into strips with a knife, then use a pair of new, clean kitchen scissors to snip them into bite-sized pieces before wrapping. Of course, I followed the cutting method of cut two, eat one, cut two, eat one, but you do you on that one…

These caramels make the perfect hostess gift or neighbor gift during the giving season, that is, if you can save some for giving. (And if you can, please share some of your willpower with me…). The good thing, though, is that cleanup is really easy if your first batch goes fast and you have to make another one.

What’s your favorite holiday treat, and do you have a special trick for cleaning up? Also, how do YOU pronounce caramel? Let me know in the comments below,and be sure to head to Walmart to pick up Scotch-Brite Scrubbing Dish Cloths– you can even save $1 on any two Scotch-Brite Products (Scrub Sponges, Lint Rollers and Scrubbing Dish Cloths) with this coupon offer! While you’re at it, check out other great recipes and clean-up hacks here!