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I love caramel. In any form. And these caramel clusters from my childhood are delicious. Soft and chewy with a little crunch.
And they are so easy to make. Only 4 ingredients! The hardest part is not eating the caramels as you unwrap them. I have never accomplished that, so I dare you to try.
These babies are pretty popular in our family because we are pretty much all caramel lovers. They certainly don’t last long.
I hope you find them as irresistible as we do!
NOTE: This recipe has been updated so that the cookies are less sticky, as some have noted.
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Soft and Chewy Caramel Clusters
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 30-34 Clusters
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Soft and Chewy Caramel Clusters are a classic childhood drop candy shaped like a cookie. They’re made from cornflakes and premade caramel candy for a slightly crunchy texture and rich caramel flavor. They’re the perfect treat for caramel lovers!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 14 oz bag Kraft caramels, wrappers removed (about 50 caramels)
- 5 cups cornflakes, can add up to 6 cups if needed
Instructions
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Put milk, butter and unwrapped caramels into a large pot on medium heat. (The pot needs to be big enough to accommodate the caramel mixture and up to 5-6 cups of cornflakes and be stirred easily.) Allow everything to melt, stirring often so that the mixture doesn’t boil.
- When the caramel is melted down and everything is well mixed, add the cornflakes. Start with 5 cups and add up to 1 more cup if there appears to be excess caramel. Mix well so that the flakes are all well coated.
- Scoop out spoonfuls of the coated cornflake mixture onto the prepared baking sheets (use a heaping tablespoon to make 1-inch scoops). You should get about 30-34 clusters.
- Allow to cool fully on the counter. As they cool, they will harden into a soft and chewy cluster.
- Store clusters in a parchment lined air-tight container. If the clusters need to be stacked, place an additional layer of parchment paper between them to prevent sticking. Best when eaten within 7 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cluster
- Calories: 127
- Sugar: 9.3 g
- Sodium: 130.2 mg
- Fat: 3.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.1 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 7.2 mg
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Wasn’t that easy! And soooo yummy!
Have you, or anyone, tried mini chocolate chips as a mix in – or a chocolate drizzle?
Not that I know of, but a chocolate drizzle should work. Mixing them in might melt them.
Do the caramel clusters freeze well?
I don’t think I’ve ever tested that, but I’d expect it to be fine.
anyone tried making these with frosted flakes?
Not that I know of but that should be fine.
After making these, I left them set, in clusters, out on the counter to cool and set up for about 3 hours – put them in a sealed container and they all stuck together – they were sticky – but upon pulling them apart, they had the feel of sticky but actually didn’t stick to your fingers. They have a very good flavor – just wondering what I should have done different?
I usually put layers of parchment paper between the layers of cookies because they will stick to each other. But as you noted they don’t stick to your hands. So they should be ok.