Classic chewy caramel squares get a pumpkin spice flavor profile. This is one of my favorite fall candies to make!
Ingredients
1.5cupssugar
1/4cupwater
1/4cuplight corn syrup
1/2cupheavy cream
3/4cupcanned pumpkin puree
4tbspunsalted butter
1/4tspsalt
1/4tspground cinnamon
1/16tspground allspice
1/16tspground ginger
1/16tspground nutmeg
1/2tspvanilla extract
good quality sea saltfor sprinkling
Instructions
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
Place the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan (don’t stir it together) and cook over medium heat until amber colored (approximately 10 minutes). Again, don’t stir during this process (you risk crystallizing the caramel), just swirl it gently in the pan if you need to move it around a bit.
In the meantime, heat the cream, pumpkin puree, butter, salt, and all the spices together until melted, either in a saucepan or in the microwave.
Once the sugar syrup has turned to an amber color, slowly and carefully pour in the pumpkin cream mixture, being aware that the caramel will bubble up a lot (wear oven mitts if you’re concerned).
Return the pan to medium heat and cook for about 15 more minutes until it reaches 248 on a thermometer (the soft ball stage), adding the vanilla extract right before it reaches 248. Pour into the parchment lined dish and refrigerate for a few hours until hard enough to cut into squares, then sprinkle the tops with a little bit of sea salt. Enjoy!
Notes
You can substitute the spices in this recipe with 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice if you have that on hand. I’ve made this both with an electric stove and a gas stove, and as expected, cooking with a gas stove will go much quicker. Be sure to keep your eye on the caramel.