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.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Caramel peanut candy
Equipment
- high heat spatula or wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 12 oz evaporated milk 1 , 12 ounce can
- 1 pint heavy cream 1 full pint (2 cups)
- 56 grams butter 6 tablespoons
- 200 grams sugar 1 cup
- 400 grams corn syrup 1 ¼ cup
- 4 grams baking soda ¼ teaspoon
- 8 grams salt 1 teaspoon
- 300 grams salted cocktail peanuts 1.5 cups
Instructions
- Prepare a 9" x 13" sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a thick bottomed, heavy duty pot, combine evaporated milk, heavy cream, butter, white sugar, corn syrup, salt, and baking soda.
- Over medium heat, stirring constantly, dissolve ingredients and bring mix to a boil.
- Once caramel is boiling, you may increase heat to medium high if desired.
- Boil and stir until temperature reaches 236F. Turn off heat. Add in peanuts and stir until fully combined.
- Pour on prepared parchment. Once caramel has cooled for ten minutes top it with an additional piece of parchment paper to cool completely.
- Cool caramel for a minimum of 6 hours before cutting and wrapping.
- Cut and wrap into 2.5" length x 1" wide strips. Store in an airtight container.
Ali
I made this caramel peanut candy. It came out amazing.
I didn’t want as many peanuts so I added about half of what it asked for.
Cooking the caramel took a lot longer than I expected.
But in the end it turned out delicious!