Looking for an easy and foolproof recipe to surprise your friends and neighbors during the holiday season? Look no further than this microwave caramel recipe!
With just a few simple ingredients like real butter, light corn syrup, light brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk – you’ll be making the best thing ever – soft and buttery caramels that are sure to become one of your favorite treats.
The best part? This simple recipe requires no candy thermometer and can be made in just a matter of minutes. All you need is a large microwave-safe bowl, some parchment paper or aluminum foil, and a greased pan. And if it’s your first time making candy, don’t worry – just follow the steps and the cold water test to know when your caramel mixture has reached the soft ball stage.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make Homemade Microwave Caramels, you will need the following ingredients:
- Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Light Corn Syrup
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to make Homemade Microwave Caramels
- Combine all ingredients in a microwaveable safe bowl until smooth.
- Cook for 6 minutes in your microwave, removing and stirring every two minutes.
- When caramel is done cooking, pour into a 9×13-inch baking pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- Let cool completely.
- Cut into pieces and roll up in wax paper.
Tips for making homemade Microwave caramels
- Be sure you use a microwave safe bowl, when making these caramels. I prefer to use a glass bowl.
- When making the caramels, it’s important to take them out of the microwave every 1-2 minutes. If you let the mixture cook for the full 6, the caramel will be burned in some areas, and not others.
- When I mix my caramel, I like to grease a rubber spatula with non-stick cooking spray, to avoid caramel sticking to my spoon.
- Be sure your 9×13 inch pan is also sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. You want to avoid all sticking, or your caramels will have a hard time being cut and removed from the pan.
- I cut up all my wax paper ahead of time, and wrap them all at once, in wax paper. I use the tootsie roll wrapping method.
Storing and Other Tips
If your Homemade Microwavable Caramels are not eaten within the first day, you can place them in an airtight container, or sealed ziplock bag, with all the air out of it.
I usually keep mine in a decorative bowl in my kitchen and my family will eat them throughout the week. They usually get a little more chewy by day 3 or 4, but they still taste amazing.
If you are making them more than a week in advance, you may want to put them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge.
Do I need a candy thermometer?
No candy thermometer is needed for this recipe. That’s what makes this recipe so simple! It requires no strange ingredients, or tools. Just a microwave and five basic ingredients.
As long as you follow the recipe directions, you will have no problem with these Homemade Microwavable Caramels.
Enjoy more Delicious Caramel Recipes
Making homemade candy makes us feel less guilty about our sweet tooth. Check out our comprehensive collection of candy recipes here.
- Chocolate Caramel Pecan Turtles
- Halloween Mickey Mouse Caramel Apples
- Homemade Caramels
- Homemade Chocolate Caramels with Sea Salt
Homemade Microwave Caramels
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a microwaveable safe bowl until smooth.
- Cook for 6 minutes in your microwave, removing and stirring every two minutes.
- When caramel is done cooking, pour into a 9×13-inch baking pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- Let cool completely.
- Cut into pieces and roll up in wax paper.
Notes
Nutrition
Video
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Love that you can make them in the microwave 🙂 Definitely making these for my husband!
Oh my gosh! Do you know how much my husband will LOOOOOOOVE this recipe? He is a caramel fanatic, but alas, I don’t know how to make them well! I do know how to punch start on a microwave, however! Thank you so much!!!
Do you melt the butter first? Yummy!
No, but be sure to stop and stir well every 2 minutes.
I have always been afraid to try caramels, and my husband always asks me to make them! I think I’ll have to save this one to try next week!
HOLY COW! These were so easy to make an taste so awesome! They will be family favorite from now on! Thanks.
Make sure you add some course salt immediately after you pour them into a pan to set. They will be irresistible.
I mean “coarse”.
These are sooo easy and delicious…I ate way too many though! 🙂 Amazing recipe!
Help it got too hard and was like toffee instead of carmel. What can I do?
Not sure what could have happened. Thinking maybe your microwave is hotter than ours if you only cooked it for the amount of time as directed in the recipe. So sorry about that! 🙁
I would LOVE to make these! But can I use something else in stead of corn syrup? I don’t know if I can buy that here… I have never seen it in the supermarkets here (I live in the Netherlands). Hope you can help!
Just made these and they turned out just amazing! I however FORGOT the butter, lol, and they are still delicious with a perfect caramel texture.
I made these today and they were very easy to make and soooo delicious!!!
I made these today and they were easy to make and soooo delicious!!!
Has anyone tried this recipe but add some flavored extract like butter rum maybe? Let me know how it turned out and how you altered the recipe please….
This is an excellent recipe as it is cheap, easy, delicious. I’ve made it twice this week and it’s perfect each time. This is a keeper.
I have a 1200 watt microwave. Is that the same wattage as yours CYD?
Corn syrup could be replaced with a homemade sugar syrup. Google to find a recipe. Or you could use equal amounts of cane syrup or honey.
I made 2 batches of this today for neighborhood Christmas treats! So easy and both batches turned out perfect and delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
I have seen similar recipes that add a tsp of vanilla after cooking so i’m sure it would be tasty with other flavors too. I plan to try it tonight!
My caramels are not hardening at all? Do I need to microwave them for longer?
If I double the recipe, should I double the cooking time too??
You shouldn’t need to double the cooking time, but it may take a little longer. Watch it closely.
Yes, mine is 1200 watts.
Made these 1/2 an hour ago. With homemade corn syrup. It looks like they turned out good. Can’t wait to cut them. Thanks for the recipe!
These are fantastic. Made 2 batches today and both were absolutely perfect. Smooth, soft, chewy and not super sweet. MMMMMM
Just made these and they were so so good. And very easy to make. Thanks for the recipe.
These were DELICIOUS and so easy to make! My 4 yr old son keeps asking for me to make more & even my mom was shocked that they were homemade
If your microwave is only 900 watts howmuch longer should I cook?
I have made these a few times and they are really good. I have added anise flavoring (black licorice) and they were amazing! I
How much coarse salt? What a smashing idea…
I just made the microwave caramels. They are still cooling. After I cut and wrap them, do I need to keep them in the refrigerator?
If not eaten in the first day or so, you may want to store them in the refrigerator.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was eating a Werthers! Sooooo good!
Thank you for this recipe!
Is it at cooked at 100% or less? Thank you will be making them shortly.
We cook it at 100%.
Thank you, love caramel anything will be making them soon
Mary.
I really like these! Much easier than the traditional way when you want a quick batch. I added 1/4 tsp or so of vanilla right before the pour (give it a good stir). I also used a smaller pan as I found a 9×13 was too large (caramel was super thin). Thanks for sharing!!!
I made this today in a 9x1e dish and I think the pieces may be too thin. I usually make them in a 8×8 dish. I ended up making one of each. Warning your dish coming out of the microwave will be very hot, so be careful! Very easy and fast to make!
Ok so these tasted great and were easy to make, but a 9 x 13 pan makes very thin caramels. I would use a slightly smaller one next time.
Try this!! If you run into the problem below of it being too hard when cooled try 70% power for each of the 2 min intervals should be muuuuch softer. But every microwave is different it is worth the tinkering trust me these are delicious 🤤
I will never make any other camramels again! This is so easy and delicious, I sprinkle some sea salt on top. and I found you can get wax wrappers pre-cut on Amazon!
Good to know about the pre-cut wax wrappers! Sea salt on top sounds delicious!
Sounds delicious, but I do not have a microwave. How would I prepare them?
These are microwave caramels so you may need to find another recipe. Here is one you may want to try – https://bellyfull.net/homemade-caramels/
Shoot, my caramels are delicious, but they aren’t really setting up. They have cooled completely. Any suggestions? I would love to be able to wrap them to give away.
I like the ease of this candy but mine got awful hard so I’d probably cut the cook time…
Your intro to the caramel recipe mentioned heavy cream but it wasn’t mentioned again in the actual recipe. Did you leave it out?
That should be sweetened condensed milk. Thanks for catching that.
Can you double this recipe?
You can double this recipe but the cook time may be longer. I would do the cold water test or us a candy thermometer to check the temperature to make sure it reaches the soft ball stage.
How do you keep it from sticking to the wax paper
I have made these a few times and haven’t had any trouble with them sticking to the wax paper. Make sure they are completely cool before wrapping. You may also want to try a heavier weight wax paper. Some are very thin and the wax coating is too light to work well for caramels. I wish I could be more helpful
They didn’t set at all
So sorry to hear that happened! Every microwave is different so it might be helpful to try the cold water test. Drop a little of this syrup in cold water and it will form a soft ball, one that won’t flatten when you take it out of the water, but remains malleable and will flatten when squeezed. If it just dissolves then it might need another minute or two in the microwave
Can you add pecans
So easy. No more watching movies while stirring and gazing at the candy thermometer 🤒
You sure can – I would add them after the cooking is done, stir them in before pouring them into the pan to set up
Made these tonight and they are delicious! Can’t stop eating them. I have been looking for a recipe that was simple and didn’t require a candy thermometer and this one is perfect.
Love the taste and they came out great but such a shame to pour them into a 9×13 which makes them way too thin.
These are fantastic! Probably need to tweak it just a little bit for your own microwave. Mine is two minutes star two minutes stir one and a half minutes. I stir in a teaspoon of vanilla and a half cup chopped pecans.
This is my new go to recipe! It’s requested every year at Christmas.
I have always made a caramel recipe from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookie/candy book. Start to finish it takes over an hour to make on the stovetop because of the constant stirring and lower temp so it doesn’t scorch. I am so excited to taste these. They look wonderful. I did microwave for an extra 20 seconds. I also did a cold water test to make sure they were firm enough. I added a little vanilla before pouring also. They look wonderful. Thanks for sharing your time saving recipe.
Pan size given is way too big! Should be an 8″x8″, or double the recipe for 9″x13″.
I have made 3-4 batches of these since Christmas and they are delicious. Everyone loves them and can’t stop eating them. Thanks for the recipe. So happy to not have to use a candy thermometer:)