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This caramel peanut candy recipe features a sweet, soft, caramel packed with salty, crunchy peanuts.

Soft and smooth caramel with peanuts are a beautiful balance of sweet and salty, with deep notes of caramelized sugar and peanut butter. These peanut caramel candy bars are everything you’d expect from caramel, and then some! They have the perfect soft and silky texture. The caramel is balanced out with course sea salt, and they are accented with deep peanut flavor from the roasted, salted peanuts in caramel.

Caramels are such a wonderful candy to make. If you are looking for some other caramel ideas, check out these easy salted caramels or vanilla cream caramels.

Ingredients

With just a few simple ingredients, this caramel peanut candy comes together very quickly.

corn syrup
white sugar
heavy cream
evaporated milk
table salt
baking soda
butter
peanuts
optional - course sea salt for topping

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

The peanut caramel candy bars are simple and quick to make. The longest part of this process is waiting for the caramels to cool and set up. Caramels must rest a minimum of 6 hours (12 is better, 24 is best) before cutting and wrapping.

Cooled caramel is referred to as a "slab."

Cut the caramel slab into 1" caramel strips.

Cut the caramel strips into 2.5" pieces

Wrap each caramel piece individually using candy cello wraps, wax paper, or parchment paper.

Hint: Pre-cut cello candy wrappers save time and are easy to use. You can find them on amazon or at most craft stores that also have a candy making section. For a piece that is 2.5" long, look for a 5" x 5" square.

Substitutions

Glucose syrup -glucose syrup can be used in place of corn syrup
Brown sugar - use brown sugar instead of white white sugar for a very deep flavor and darker color.
Chopped pecans - pecans can be used in place of peanuts. Look for the chopped size and not whole pecans or diced pecans.

Candy making is very scientific. I do not recommend making any other substitutions

Variations

If you are looking to add a bit more flavor to this caramel peanut candy, give these ideas a try:

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes after cooking to imbue heat into the dish
Cinnamon - Up to one tablespoon of cinnamon

Equipment

thick bottomed, heavy duty pot
candy thermometer
9" x 13" sheet pan
high heat spatula
parchment paper
knife for cutting
5" x 5" candy wrappers (cello, wax, or parchment)

Storage

Store wrapped caramels in an airtight container at room temperature. Caramel peanut candy has a shelf life of 4-6 months before texture changes, and 9+ months before flavor changes.

Top tip

Have all of your ingredients weighed out and ready to go before you begin adding them to the pot. Make sure you have enough space to pour the hot caramel into the pan lined with parchment paper. You will be stirring the whole time for this recipe.

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