Black Pepper and Bourbon Caramel Chews Recipe (2024)

These were great but I couldn't taste the bourbon at all. Next time, I'll use 1/4 cup bourbon (4 tbsp) and reduce it down on its own to a light syrupy consistency to cook off the alcohol and add it at the end with the butter.

I followed the 4 tbs bourbon advice and increased to 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt.Good, soft, sweet and savory.What’s not to like?!

100% agree on using a larger pot than 2 qt. This will come close to doubling in size while boiling. It probably took 30+ minutes for it to come to temp, on the largest burner at the highest temp.If the wrapping aspect is frustrating, it might help to freeze them briefly before cutting.

The temp is way off in this recipe. If you bring it to 250 and let cook for a minute or two you get a better consistency. Just keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. You can even go as high as 275 for a caramel that’s easily cut into small squares.

I've made Ina Garten's caramel candy for years and will try to blend her recipe with this one. Her recipe requires the caramel to be chilled; cutting is easier and wrapping always takes a while. Buy candy wrappers instead of cutting parchment or wax paper. The money spent is well worth the time.

Make sure you use a 3-qt or larger saucepan--I started in a 2-quart pan and had to switch to a larger one because the mixture was boiling over. These are good, but cutting and wrapping them was a sticky and fairly time-consuming process. Wish the bourbon taste came through a bit more.

Highly recommend using corn syrup instead of honey- don't panic- not high-fructose corn syrup, just regular ol' Karo. I promise it won't hurt hurt you. It really helps to elevate the bourbon and pepper flavor- honey is a bit overpowering. Oh, also, double the booze! And mix in about a teaspoon of flaky salt along with the pepper (in lieu of the salt indicated in the recipe). Heat to around 255-260, and sprinkle with more flaky salt about 20 minutes after pouring into the baking dish. Divine!

Fabulous taste! Unfortunately I was unable to set the caramel despite 4 hours in the freezer and a previous 8 hours in the fridge, which was all subsequent to cooling in the room. I set aside the candy wrappers for small plastic disposable Tupperware and called it sundae sauce. When life gives you lemons... next time I will bring the temp to 275 as the notes suggested.

nutsnbolts, I'm not an experienced candy maker. I was surprised how long it took the caramel to get to the right temp - and by that point it'd been boiling for a long while so I think any alcohol would evaporate and be undetectable. I thought of maybe adding the alcohol after the caramel reaches the correct temperature, but I wonder if that would affect the consistency. They're already pretty soft.

These were so successful. I doubled the recipe without any issues. As advised by the notes, I added double the bourbon. I also sprinkled salt on top of the finished caramels. I found that heating the caramel to 260 degrees produced a perfect caramel. They set in about an hour and were simple to cut through- not sticky at all, melt in the mouth chews.

I reduced the pepper to 1 1/2 t and liked it - I think 2 t would have been a bit much for my taste. The bourbon flavor is, disappointingly, undetectable. But the pepper gives it a unique enough flavor that I really like the caramels and would make them again.

My 8”x8” pan produced a 7.5”x7.5” slab of caramel. To get 50 pieces I cut them in 1.5”x.75” pieces but I think I could have gone smaller. Erred on the side of caution and cooked to 250° which produced a medium-firm caramel. Next time will try to 245° as written and will reduce pepper by at least a quarter. Flavor was good, but I thought the spice was a little too strong. Bourbon not detectable.

For those noting that it takes a good long while for the mixture to come to temp, yes. The water portion of the cream and bourbon has to reduce way down and a small 2 qt pot has a larger volume compared to the surface area of the bottom of the pot, which means it takes longer still. Bravo to those who suggested using a 3 qt pot, that did the trick! Interesting flavors and I've purchased some bourbon extract to add to the mix to bump up the bourbon flavor next time I make these.

I heated to 255 as recommended by many commenters, and the caramels are not soft. I’m going try again and heat just to 245 as prescribed in the recipe for soft caramels. I purchased silicone caramel molds from Amazon so the shapes are perfect and no need to mess with cutting. I did spray the silicone molds with cooking spray.

This never set, unfortunately. Smelled great but will use other recipes going forward.

Made for the first time today and turned out great! Giving as office gifts, so swapped out the bourbon for 4 tbl orange zest and kept the black pepper at 1.5 tsp. Turned out balanced and very tasty. Definitely agree with others about getting to at least 250F and use a much larger pot. I used my 4 quart Dutch oven and even that felt perilously close to bubbling over.

I made 2 batches. The first per the recipe but I heated to higher than 245 as some suggested and they came out edible but too hard. Honey flavor strong, quite peppery, bourbon very faint. Second batch is the keeper: used Karo instead of honey per another commenter’s suggestion, reduced pepper to 1 1/2 tsp., added 3 Tbs bourbon at beginning, and a fourth very gradually just before 245. Removed from heat and stirred in the butter and pepper. This batch perfect consistency and dangerously yum.

PS good topped with flaky salt. Scant teaspoon.

On my candy thermometer, 245 degrees was exactly right. Look for a golden caramel color and do a taste test. If the syrup start to set on your stainless steel spoon before you get it to your mouth, it’s ready. I increased bourbon to 4 tablespoons and added it very slowly at the very end. Added a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt to the top and chilled it in the fridge for 2 hours before cutting. Have your candy wraps ready and work fast. These were really good.

Highly recommend using corn syrup instead of honey- don't panic- not high-fructose corn syrup, just regular ol' Karo. I promise it won't hurt hurt you. It really helps to elevate the bourbon and pepper flavor- honey is a bit overpowering. Oh, also, double the booze! And mix in about a teaspoon of flaky salt along with the pepper (in lieu of the salt indicated in the recipe). Heat to around 255-260, and sprinkle with more flaky salt about 20 minutes after pouring into the baking dish. Divine!

Doubled the bourbon and still didn’t taste it. Too much pepper for my taste. In addition to that the recipe doesn’t work. Too chewy and after I wrapped them individually with wax paper they crystallized (this could be because I added more bourbon but still thought I’d mention).

Doubled recipe, including bourbon, but limiting pepper to 3 tsp. Cooked it in aDutch oven and spread finished caramel in 9 x13 baking dish). Took about 1 hour to reach 148. Caramel seemed to soften too much after adding butter and pepper (I checked it using the cold water test), so I put it back on stove to cook back to 148. Perfect chewiness after sitting out at room temperature for a few hours. These will pair nicely with gel de sel salted caramels in gift baggies.

These were so successful. I doubled the recipe without any issues. As advised by the notes, I added double the bourbon. I also sprinkled salt on top of the finished caramels. I found that heating the caramel to 260 degrees produced a perfect caramel. They set in about an hour and were simple to cut through- not sticky at all, melt in the mouth chews.

I have made caramels in the past-and they have to sit for 24 hours before cutting, or at least overnight; also, make sure you make them on a dry day.

Can you use half and half instead of heavy cream? I always have that on hand. Want to make this but not have to run to the store.

Has anyone used Lyle's Golden Syrup in place of the honey?