These gingerbread cookies are absolutely amazing! All the flavors of gingerbread wrapped in a creamy, chewy, and soft homemade cookie.
These gingerbread cookies scream the holidays. Christmas. Cozy afternoons in your flannel pajamas. And don’t leave me alone with everything or there will be trouble.
The gingerbread flavors mixed with the creamy caramel are absolutely heavenly. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to make the caramel!
How to Make Gingerbread Caramels
I know that making caramels and sweets at home can be intimidating, but I promise you with all the fervor of my soul that this recipe is doable.
I’ve gone into a lot of detail in this ultimate homemade candy guide on how to make homemade caramels like a rock star, but I’ll walk you through the steps here as well.
The base for these gingerbread caramels is my favorite caramel recipe. It’s the only one I make now. I love the method (it never burns!) and I love, love, love the flavor.
The recipe starts with boiling sugar, corn syrup, and water until the mixture turns a light amber color.
The most important part of making caramel at home is making sure that the sugar crystals don’t stick to the sides of the pan (if they fall back into the caramel mixture, the mixture can crystallize).
This can easily be avoided by brushing the sides of the pan occasionally and as needed with a pastry brush dipped in water. It only takes a few passes, so no need to watch or worry too much!
When the sugar mixture reaches 160°C, add the warm cream, butter and salt. It will bubble and fizz! And the temperature will drop slightly. Totally normal!
At this point, the notable addition to the ginger candy is molasses as well. Just regular, unsulfured molasses (not blackstrap molasses).
The molasses adds a delicious depth of flavor and color.
Gently bring the caramel mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. At first, the bubbles will be frothy and soft.
As the caramel matures, the color will become darker and the bubbles will become larger.
Eventually, the caramel will become thick and curvy and large bubbles will form on the surface.
The Perfect Temperature for Homemade Candy
Cook your caramel to 244-246 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, the exact temperature depends on several factors:
- Your thermometer (and if it is accurate/calibrated)
- Your altitude (I live at 2400 feet)
Here is a post with details on how to calibrate your thermometer and also details on how altitude affects the boiling point of water and what that means for thermometers and candy making. Read this and the comments for helpful information!
Taking the time to calibrate your thermometer will make a huge difference in the outcome of your homemade caramel.
I have long since abandoned traditional candy thermometers in favor of an instant-read thermometer with a clip to hang on the side of the pan (or sometimes I just grab it and dip it in the candy when I know it is getting hot).
I have this Thermopop thermometer from Thermoworks. It is economical and very accurate.
Gingerbread Spices
In addition to molasses, this recipe relies on the following ground spices to give this dessert its perfect ginger flavor:
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Allspice
- Cloves
Since spices tend to clump together when mixed with the hot caramel at the end, after several test batches, I discovered a handy trick to make sure that doesn’t happen.
If there are no clumps, Mel will be very happy!
How to Cut Homemade Candy
Once the caramel has cooled in the pan, it’s time to cut and wrap it!
The easiest and best way to cut candy at home is with a table knife {linked}. I carefully remove the entire caramel slab from the pan and place it on a cutting board.
A table knife allows you to quickly cut the candy into squares.
Best Candy Wrappers
Gone are the days of cutting wax paper into squares. These pre-cut cellophane wrappers {affiliate link} are a game changer!
They curl (and stay curled) better than pre-cut parchment or wax paper wrappers
Amazing Gingerbread Candy
I don’t introduce new candy flavors into my life lightly. It’s a very serious process to decide whether or not a candy flavor is right for you (and I’ve tried and rejected many other candy flavors over the years – raspberry, I’m looking at you! #knowhowtotalk #argh #notthanks)
And I can honestly say that these gingerbread candy have soared to the top of my all-time favorite candy list.
They’re so good.
The gingerbread flavors are warm, inviting, and delicious without being overpowering. They’re the perfect candy flavor for this time of year. I love them so much and I hope you do too!
Gingerbread Candy
Yield: 60 Candy
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Cooling Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 1/2 cups (530 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup molasses (not blackstrap molasses)
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I use salted butter)
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt (use 1/4 teaspoon table salt)
Instructions
- Grease the bottom and sides (and get into the corners, too!) of an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. (Alternatively, you can line and butter the parchment paper; this can make it easier to remove the candy bar from the pan after it cools for cutting and wrapping.) Reserve.
- Heat the cream in a saucepan or in the microwave until boiling. Keep warm.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Reserve.
- For the caramel, in a large, heavy-bottomed pot (at least 5 or 6 quarts), whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, and water, being careful not to splash the mixture onto the sides of the pot. Place a candy thermometer on the side of the pot, if using.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat without shaking or disturbing the pot. When it starts to boil, fill a cup with water and use a pastry brush to scrub the sides of the pan until there are no sugar granules clinging to the sides of the pan (you probably won’t need to repeat this after the sides are very clean). This prevents the caramel mixture from crystallizing in the subsequent steps.
- Cook until the boiling sugar turns a light amber color and registers 325°F on a thermometer, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Slowly and carefully pour the warm cream into the caramel. It will bubble and create lots of steam! Add the molasses, butter, and salt. The mixture will bubble a lot during this step, but it will calm down after a few minutes.
- Begin stirring the caramel with a heatproof rubber spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan (but avoid scraping the sides of the pan too much). Continue cooking, stirring constantly and slowly, until the mixture reaches 244-246°F, about 10 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove from heat.
- Turn off the heat, add the vanilla and spice mixture to the caramel, and stir gently until well combined.
- Pour the caramel mixture into the prepared pan. Allow the candy to cool completely to room temperature.
- Cut the caramel into squares with a sharp knife or spoon. Wrap the candy and store in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to two weeks.
Note:
Altitude: I live at about 2,400 feet. This recipe was tested at this altitude. You may need to adjust the temperature or reading on your thermometer depending on the altitude you live at. Here is an article that talks more about how to calibrate candy thermometers and how to adjust them for altitude.
Gingerbread Flavor: To make the gingerbread flavor more pronounced, you can double the spices
