Christmas is near and homemade gifts need to be finished! This year I am a bit behind so I am even more grateful for this simple, 5-ingredient soft caramels recipe!

My mom has made these caramels for years and they are always a hit! Easy to throw together and always well received.

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I love to toss a handful of these in with a gift, or make a small package of them for the mailman, bus drivers, etc. They make excellent teacher gifts as well!

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The only downfall of these caramels is they can be quite tedious to cut and wrap. Especially when you also have to cut squares of parchment! For example, the last batch I made yielded 135 caramels (this will vary depending on how thick you cut the caramel)! That’s a lot of paper!

Luckily, a kind lady in the checkout line (of all places) told me about these pre-cut wrappers you can buy. I might just have to check them out for next year!

If you do not get pre-cut wrappers, use wax or parchment paper and cut into approximately 4×4 squares.

Another tip- be sure to butter the pan VERY well, sides and bottom. Unless you want to hate life as you struggle to remove the caramels. Trust me.

See recipe notes for more tips on caramel making.

Don’t forget to print out my free Farmhouse Gift Tags!