Dark Chocolate Caramels with Sea Salt
My gift to you today: A recipe for love in the form of homemade dark chocolate caramels. Made with soft and creamy caramels, dipped in ghirardelli dark chocolate, and sprinkled with sea salt. Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!
Today we’re taking the caramels we made in yesterday’s post and turning them into chocolate candies. If you haven’t already made your caramels, head there first! Or, if you want to do the super easy version, you can also use store bought caramels.
Candy making can be intimidating, but let me set your mind at ease. Caramels are not hard to make. And once you’ve got them made and cooled, the dipping is the easiest part of the whole thing.
Let’s make dark chocolate caramels!
Besides the caramels, all you need is chocolate & sea salt.
Tools? Wax paper, a bowl, and a fork.
I used ghirardelli dark melting wafers. They can be found in the baking section of most grocery stores. They’re so easy to use! If white or milk chocolate is more your thing, they also have those flavors. You can make all three if you like! Today, I’m going with dark as these are a Valentine gift for my dark chocolate loving hubby.
Here’s what to do:
Heat the wafers in a microwave safe bowl, 15-20 seconds at a time until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Stop to stir in between each increment. Don’t be tempted to heat them for a whole minute to get them melted quicker; it’s way too easy to scorch your chocolate. Then you’ll have to start over.
Dipping time
One at a time, dunk your caramels into the chocolate. Give them a spin around to make sure they’re covered, and then use your fork to lift them out of the bowl. Scrape the bottom of the fork along the edge of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate.
Tilt the fork until the chocolate meets the wax paper and then gently slide the fork from underneath the candy. If you like, you can swirl the fork around to the top to create decorative lines across the candy.
Now it’s time to sprinkle with sea salt! I would dip 3-4 candies, place them on the wax paper, then sprinkle, then do another 3-4. This chocolate cools fast, so if you’re using extras like sprinkles, sea salt, or chocolate shavings, put those on those as you go. If you wait until you’ve covered all of the caramels, the chocolate will harden before you get to add anything.
Tips for how to gift your candies
Once the candies have hardened, they can be wrapped in candy wrappers or put in a cute box for gifting! These chocolates also make a great addition to a cookie & candy tin at Christmas time, or anytime you want to make someone feel special! Seasonal cupcake wrappers can make cute dividers for treat boxes. Below is one way I’ve packaged these candies for a Christmas treat box.
I hope these posts will help you feel confident to take on making homemade caramel & chocolate candies. Good luck friends!
If you aren’t ready for candy making and need an easy Valentine’s Day treat, try these super easy heart shaped homemade donuts.
