Learn how to make your very own delicious, chewy cannabis caramels at home with either cannabutter, cannabis sugar, or both for a sweet treat that makes it easy to enjoy your cannabis at home or on the go.
How to Make Cannabis Caramels
This recipe comes by way of popular requests by the members of my Well With Cannabis Community.
While not a traditional healthy recipe, these delicious melt-in-your-mouth cannabis caramels rank right up there with my brownies and chocolate chip cookies.
Made with your choice of either cannabutter or cannabis sugar - or both, you can choose how you want to infuse this recipe.
Perfect for a simple sweet treat that can be enjoyed at home or on the go, you can easily individually wrap these caramels for perfect portioning and easy portability.
Below I will go over all of the important things you need to do before preparing this recipe, including making your cannabutter or cannabis sugar at home.
I will also share some important tips and tricks to help you make the best, most delicious cannabis caramels possible.
Looking For More Support?
Join thousands of members inside my private Well With Cannabis Community to ask questions, find support, and share your edible creations!
Caramels Made with Cannabutter
Cannabutter, also known as cannabis butter, is one of the most common cannabis-infused staple recipes.
It is one of the best ways to infuse this recipe with cannabis, and it's is also what gives this recipe its delicious, buttery taste.
If you don't have your cannabutter prepared, you're going to want to make sure you prepare it before diving into this recipe. You can make cannabutter in a crockpot or Instant Pot.
If you plan on making your cannabis caramels with just cannabis infused sugar, and not cannabutter, you can simply use non-infused, unsalted butter in place of the cannabutter called for.
Caramels Made with Cannabis Sugar
Using homemade cannabis sugar is another delicious way to infuse this caramel recipe.
Cannabis sugar is a delicious, versatile recipe that is made using white sugar and a cannabis tincture.
It can be made with either a traditional Green Dragon tincture or a Golden Dragon QWET tincture.
In this method, the tincture is poured over the sugar and the alcohol is completely evaporated off, leaving behind the cannabinoids attached to the sugar crystals.
You will need to have your cannabis sugar prepared ahead of time for this recipe. If you've never made it before, be sure to follow my complete guide to making cannabis sugar here.
It is totally up to you whether or not you want to use cannabutter, cannabis sugar, or both in this recipe. Just remember to choose the option that is right for you and your own personal tolerance levels.
Caramels Made with Cannabis Concentrates or FECO
If you are an experienced cannabis consumer and know you have a high tolerance, you may want to consider making your cannabis caramels with cannabis concentrates or FECO for a more potent end product.
Using cannabis concentrates is great because it not only helps to create a more potent final end product, but it also has less of a prominent cannabis taste as compared to cannabutter.
When using concentrates to make your caramels, add them in step 5 when you add the vanilla extract. Be sure to stir well to ensure even distribution throughout the candies.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
Making caramel is not exactly a beginner-friendly recipe. Not to say you can't do it, but just to let you know that it does take some time and patience to get this recipe to turn out right.
Below I will share some of my most helpful tips and tricks below to help ensure your process goes smoothly and successfully.
Run a Non-Infused Test Batch First
Depending on your skill level in the kitchen, I highly recommend running a *non* cannabis-infused batch of caramel first so you can get used to the process.
This ensures that you are able to get comfortable with the process, and can work out any potential kinks, before making an infused batch.
Just in case anything goes wrong the first time, you will be safe knowing you didn't 'ruin' anything.
Maintain Proper Temperature Control
When making this recipe, it is extremely important to take your time and be patient. It takes quite a bit of time to bring the mixture to temperature, upwards of thirty minutes.
While it may be tempting to blast the heat and try to get the temperature up fast, it is not the best approach.
A low and slow heating approach will ensure you have the best possible final product. Too fast heating, or a lack of patience, may resort in a burned or scorched batch of caramel.
Does The Heat Destroy the Cannabinoids?
Many people get nervous about bringing the infused cannabutter or cannabis sugar to a high temperature like the 245°F required in this recipe.
Rest assured, this temperature is not too hot, and will not destroy all of the cannabinoids in this recipe.
Helpful Kitchen Items
Choosing the right kitchen items will help make this recipe process go much more smoothly. The most important thing is to use a large enough saucepan.
As the caramel boils, it will boil up the sides of the pan. If you use a pan that is too small, you will end up with a sticky mess all over your stove.
You can avoid this by starting with a large enough saucepan in the first place. For this recipe, I recommend a 6-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan.
It is also very important to use a thermometer to help track the temperature of this recipe. I recommend a candy thermometer that can attach to the side of your saucepan for a hands-free way to easily monitor the temperature of the candy.
How to Determine The Dosing
Want to get a more accurate guesstimate of the potency of your cannabis infusions and extractions? Try our popular edibles calculator!
Not sure what your perfect dose is? Learn more here.
More Cannabis Recipes You Will Love
Don't forget to top your caramel with a bit of cannabis-infused sea salt!
My Edibles Made Easy Online Cooking Course will teach you how to make cannabis edibles and topical recipes at home with ease. This step-by-step video course will teach you how to infuse, extract, and create edibles with many different product types - all from the comfort of your own home.
Learn more and enroll today →
Chewy Homemade Cannabis Caramels
Ingredients
- 1 cup cannabutter
- 4 cups white, granulated sugar or cannabis sugar
- 2 cups light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt optional
- 24 ounces evaporated milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt optional for topping
Instructions
- Prepare a 9x9 sized baking pan by lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add the cannabutter, sugar, corn syrup, and kosher salt to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and stir well. Heat until the mixture begins to boil, about 7-8 minutes.
- Slowly and gradually add the evaporated milk, making sure the mixture stays at a constant boil. This can take upwards of 10-15 minutes per can of milk.
- Add a candy thermometer to the pan and secure it to the side. Constantly stir until the mixture reaches 245° F.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the caramel into your prepped pan and top with sea salt, if using.
- Refrigerate the caramels for a few hours, overnight is ideal.
- Once the caramels are cool and set, cut the caramel into bite-sized pieces and wrap it individually in wax paper if desired.
Emily Weisenburger
I made the test run today. I am making these for a loved one with cancer and I want to get it right for them. The one thing I changed is the pan size. 9x9 pan is for brownies, not 80 pieces of caramel.
Emily Kyle
That is so sweet of you to make these for a loved one with cancer ❤️ I had no problems making (80) 1" pieces with the 9x9 pan, but feel free to use any size that works best for you!
Mary
I used cannabis butter for this caramel candy recipe. Why would the oil from the butter sit on top of the caramel when I poured it into the pan and not infuse with the caramel?
Emily Kyle
Hello Mary, I am sorry to hear that happened; I haven't had this experience. Did you use a calibrated thermometer to achieve the right temperature? This recipe can be very temperamental if the temperature is not correct during the cooking process.
Joan
Hi love your site
What is the dose per piece
Tawana
Can you use store brought caramels and just melt in some cannabis butter?
Emily Kyle
It may work if you use just a tiny bit of butter, but if you use a lot, you will probably have some separation. Let us know if you try it 🙂
Emily Kyle
Hi Joan, thanks! That will depend on the strength of the cannabutter (or other infusions) you start with. You can use the edibles dosage calculator to help you guestimate.
Nia
I'm trying the recipe tomorrow. Can you tell me what's the mg for each piece in the finished product? Also, for those having trouble with separation, adding lecithin will stop that.
Emily Kyle
Helli Nia. The final mg will depend on how many mg you started with in your cannabutter (or other infusion). If you know that number, simply divide it by the total number of pieces you make, and that should give you your final mg number.