By Yewande Komolafe
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(423)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Making your own candy may seem daunting, but time and attention are all you need. This recipe calls for two sugars: granulated, which provides the base for your caramel, and an inverted sugar, corn syrup, which stabilizes and keeps the caramel from crystalizing. The line between soft-chewy and hard candy is a delicate one, so a candy thermometer is recommended for precision. Ginger and cardamom will add a nice zing, but lean into other warm spices, such as cinnamon, black pepper or chili powder, if that’s what you have on hand. A final coat of toasted, finely shredded coconut lends an almost buttery crunch, and prevents the pieces from sticking. Wrap up individually if you have the time: These are made for sharing and can be frozen for up to a month.
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Ingredients
Yield:About 72 pieces
- 1cup/85 grams shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes
- Coconut oil or nonstick cooking spray, for greasing the pan
- 1(13-ounce/390-gram) can coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk
- 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/60 milliliters corn syrup
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼teaspoon ground cardamom
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
307 calories; 16 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 39 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 106 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut flakes in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast until light golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
Step
2
Brush an 8-inch baking dish generously with coconut oil or coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle about 3 to 4 tablespoons of toasted coconut in an even layer on the bottom of the pan, and set aside.
Step
3
In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the coconut cream, sugar, corn syrup and sea salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil, stirring frequently especially toward the end, until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees and caramel is a light golden brown and thickened, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the ginger and cardamom.
Step
4
Pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Once the caramel stops bubbling and the surface forms a thin skin, about 3 minutes, sprinkle another 4 tablespoons toasted coconut across the surface. Allow to cool at room temperature and set completely, about 2 hours.
Step
5
Run a spatula around the sides of the baking dish, loosen and lift the caramel, and move onto a board or clean surface.
Step
6
Slice the caramel into 8 (1-inch-wide) strips, then across into ½-inch pieces, so you have about 72 caramels. Roll the sides of each piece in more toasted coconut. Wrap as individual sweets using 4- to 5-inch squares of parchment, wax paper, or cellophane, or use store-bought candy wrappers, twisting the ends to seal. Store at room temperature in a cool dry place. Caramels will keep stored at room temp for up to 7 days or frozen after wrapping for up to 1 month.
Ratings
4
out of 5
423
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Cooking Notes
Marissa
Pastry chef here! Just wanted to say, coconut milk and coconut cream are not really interchangeable, especially if the coconut cream you're using has added sugar. If your caramels are really hard, the extra sugar could be the reason. If they're grainy, some unmelted sugar crystals might've made their way in - they encourage the rest of the sugar to also crystalize.I made these using about half the amount of coconut milk, and glucose syrup instead of corn syrup. Hope this helps!
Julian
I tried this with golden syrup instead of corn syrup and it came out wonderfully!
Cameron A
Novice baker here. Some tips after a failed attempt (crystalized): - A candy thermometer is your friend- Cook the caramel to 240 F. Don't try to focus on color unless you have experience with caramel. Then remove thermometer and cover for 1 minute on the heat to melt any undissolved sugar crystals on the pot- Skip the coconut in the pan and on the surface while its cooling. You can just roll the caramels in the coconut later - Add some flakey sea salt to each caramel for flavor a explosion
Kate
I made this, followed exactly. Not a degree over 250 on a calibrated thermometer. Couldn't get it out of the pan. It was a solid, hard candy brick. Maybe 250 is too high and it should actually be about 240 at soft ball stage... But it's gonna take a month of soaking to get this out of the pan.
Pam,LI
I think the reason some people had a problem with these being too hard is because caramels should be cooked to 242-248 degrees. 250 degrees will yield a harder candy. I cooked them to 243 and they were chewy. Otherwise prepared exactly as instructed. I did line the pan with parchment and they came out easily.Although I can appreciate that these are a traditional recipe, I did find them to be very sweet and lacking enough coconut flavor. I may make a few changes next time.
GC
Hi! The video of her making the Coconut Caramels is here:https://youtu.be/xH0-Zx8JvQoEnjoy!
Angel
for this recipe honey or agave nectar would be good substitutes. It would change the flavor a bit but both would go nicely with coconut. Hope this helps.
Anne
I think something about adding the ginger and cardamom at the end caused the sugar to crystallize. Before that the texture was perfect, gooey caramel - after, it turned grainy. I love the flavor of cardamom and ginger but I’m going to try it again without, or perhaps I’ll just add vanilla instead, as in a traditional butter caramel recipe.
Grace
I’ve attempted this recipe three times, and not once has it turned out to be the right consistency/texture. I first thought I hadn’t been diligent enough about the temperature, but the following two attempts (where I removed the mixture from heat immediately upon reaching 250°) were no better. I also had great difficulty removing the caramels from the pan.
Ellen N.
You can line the pan with parchment paper (baking paper if you’re British) or aluminum foil.
Betsy
Made these as presented in recipe. Went to 240 on thermometer. I wanted them chewy. They were amazing! Chewy and rich. Came out of the pan fine. Cut and wrapped in parchment. Next day - all had crystallized- crunchy. Really unfortunate. Was looking forward to sharing in my bag of holiday treats.
Emily
If you’re like me and you accidentally over-cooked your caramel, don’t worry! I was able to save the hardened caramel. After the hard caramel cooled, I broke it back into smaller pieces, put the pieces in a saucepan with 3 or so tablespoons of water. I cooked and stirred until the caramel and water were incorporated. When the caramel reached “soft ball” stage, I removed it from the heat and immediately poured it into my prepared pan. It cooled and became soft, perfect caramel texture!
hungryfootballer
Really wish I had read the comments on this one! These tasted fantastic, but heating to 240° instead of 250° is definitely the move. I had to soak my caramel out of the Pyrex instead of cut and eat it :/
Mikey
I was a bit worried but they turned out great. As I have in other caramel recipes, I boiled the sugar and corn syrup down with a little water first first,then added coconut milk and butter. Didn’t use a thermometer, just did the cold water test until it reached soft ball stage. I wouldn’t recommend this to inexperienced caramel-makers, but the flavors are wonderful.
David
This recipe was a huge disappointment and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. I carefully (and liberally) greased my 8 inch by 8 inch baking dish with coconut oil and sprinkled toasted coconut on the bottom, as directed. I only took the caramel mixture up to 245 degrees, noting the comments from others. The hardened caramels were totally impossible to extract from the baking dish -- a huge mess. In addition, the caramels were WAY too hard. It will take days of soaking to clean my dish.
GC
Hi! The video of her making the Coconut Caramels is here:https://youtu.be/xH0-Zx8JvQoEnjoy!
Penelope
The caramel is slightly crystallized, what did I do wrong?
PA
The flavor was amazing, but the texture was not so great. It ended up being quite, uh, chalky? Is that a way to describe caramel? I think it crystallized. After reading the comments I sprinkled coarse salt on top of the candies,(delicious), and will try again without the spices.
WahooU
Please remember corn syrup (here in the South it’s just Karo) is not the same thing as “high fructose corn syrup” which is definitely a bad thing. No need to hate it.
Kate
I just made this with coconut sugar instead of refined sugar and brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup !! And it worked! It’s dark and earthy and nicely sweet. Definitely required a thermometer because the color was so dark - can’t really see any color change as the caramel cooks - but I I felt it thickening and took it off the stove when I saw a measurement of 238°. My husband and four-year-old daughter approved. They helped me wrap them. Very pleased with this recipe. Video helped tons.
Anne
I think something about adding the ginger and cardamom at the end caused the sugar to crystallize. Before that the texture was perfect, gooey caramel - after, it turned grainy. I love the flavor of cardamom and ginger but I’m going to try it again without, or perhaps I’ll just add vanilla instead, as in a traditional butter caramel recipe.
Evie
This also happened to me! The entire batch was crystalized after adding spices. I havent been able to find any resources on why this happened or how to correct it.
Pam,LI
I think the reason some people had a problem with these being too hard is because caramels should be cooked to 242-248 degrees. 250 degrees will yield a harder candy. I cooked them to 243 and they were chewy. Otherwise prepared exactly as instructed. I did line the pan with parchment and they came out easily.Although I can appreciate that these are a traditional recipe, I did find them to be very sweet and lacking enough coconut flavor. I may make a few changes next time.
Jeanette
My journey to making these caramels was long and a bit silly. Followed the recipe except for adding butter (because I like it?), not using the full amount of corn syrup (I ran out), using half brown sugar, and stirring the coconut in when the caramel finished. Alas, my caramel crystallized! So I chopped it up, put it back in the pan with a little cream, melted it down and then back up to 250, poured into the dish and huzzah! Throw some flaky salt on top and you're in business.
Liz
Many of you mentioned a video, but my recipe doesn’t seem to have one. Where did you find it?
woodstockjcg
Followed the recipe exactly. Took it off right at 250 degrees. Left it to sit overnight. It’s a gooey mess!
Cameron A
Novice baker here. Some tips after a failed attempt (crystalized): - A candy thermometer is your friend- Cook the caramel to 240 F. Don't try to focus on color unless you have experience with caramel. Then remove thermometer and cover for 1 minute on the heat to melt any undissolved sugar crystals on the pot- Skip the coconut in the pan and on the surface while its cooling. You can just roll the caramels in the coconut later - Add some flakey sea salt to each caramel for flavor a explosion
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