Coconut Caramels Recipe (2024)

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!

I tried this with golden syrup instead of corn syrup and it came out wonderfully!

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

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.

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.

Hi! The video of her making the Coconut Caramels is here:https://youtu.be/xH0-Zx8JvQoEnjoy!

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.

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.

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.

You can line the pan with parchment paper (baking paper if you’re British) or aluminum foil.

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.

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!

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 :/

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.

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.

Hi! The video of her making the Coconut Caramels is here:https://youtu.be/xH0-Zx8JvQoEnjoy!

The caramel is slightly crystallized, what did I do wrong?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Many of you mentioned a video, but my recipe doesn’t seem to have one. Where did you find it?

Followed the recipe exactly. Took it off right at 250 degrees. Left it to sit overnight. It’s a gooey mess!

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