Homemade Milk Duds Recipe

Like your favorite movie theater candy, perfected.

By
Stella Parks
Stella Parks
Stella Parks
Editor Emeritus
Stella Parks is a CIA-trained baking nerd and pastry wizard, dubbed one of America's Best New Pastry Chefs by Food & Wine. She was the pastry editor at Serious Eats from 2016 to 2019.
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Updated Apr. 15, 2020
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Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Cooking over medium heat ensures that the sugar completely dissolves before the water boils off.
  • Minimal caramelization matches the flavor of real Milk Duds.
  • A generous dose of cream makes the caramels soft but chewy.
  • Coating the caramels by hand is super fast and keeps the shell thin.

Neat freaks, watch out: This recipe's a little messy. That's because homemade Milk Duds are best dipped by hand, which lets you coat all the pieces in a thin chocolate shell without spending an eternity fishing each one out with a fork. But really, there are worse fates than being covered in your favorite dark chocolate. Such as living without a batch of chewy, chocolaty, bittersweet caramels.

Recipe Facts

5

(1)

Active: 60 mins
Total: 3 hrs 30 mins
Serves: 50 pieces

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Ingredients

For the Caramel:

  • 4 ounces water (1/2 cup; 115g)

  • 8 1/2 ounces sugar (1 1/4 cups; 240g)

  • 3/4 teaspoon (3g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume or use the same weight

  • 6 ounces heavy cream (3/4 cup; 170g)

For the Chocolate Coating:

  • 8 ounces finely chopped dark or milk chocolate (1 1/3 cups; 225g), such as Callebaut or Valrhona; do not use chips

Directions

  1. For the Caramel: Nestle a large sheet of parchment paper into an 8-inch cake pan to roughly cover the bottom and sides. In a 2-quart stainless steel saucier, combine water, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Stir with a fork until sugar is fully dissolved and syrup comes to a rolling boil, about 4 minutes. Simmer, without stirring, until syrup is honey-gold, roughly 7 minutes. Immediately add cream and reduce heat to medium-low, adjusting the heat lower if needed to keep caramel from foaming too high. (This is more likely on an electric stove due to residual heat.) Stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula, simmer until caramel registers 260°F (127°C) on a digital thermometer, about 7 minutes. Immediately pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil, and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

  2. Peel caramel from parchment, transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 50 pieces (approximately 1/4 ounce or 7g each) with a sharp knife; don't worry about being too precise with their shape or size. If you like, use your fingers to mold the pieces into a more oval, Milk Dud–like shape.

  3. For the Chocolate Coating: Line a baking sheet with parchment. Temper chocolate according to one of the methods described here. Fold all caramel pieces into tempered chocolate. With a clean hand, scoop up pieces like handfuls of marbles, then slide each one over your index finger with your thumb into your other hand (think of how you'd dole out a handful of M&M's) and arrange on prepared baking sheet. Let stand at room temperature until fully set, about 15 minutes, then transfer to an airtight container.

Special equipment

8-inch anodized aluminum cake pan (round or square), 2-quart stainless steel saucier, heat-resistant spatula, digital thermometer with clip-on attachment

Notes

For the most authentic flavor, choose a dark chocolate with 65 to 72% cocoa solids. Brands like Callebaut or Valrhona are easiest to temper, but any high-quality chocolate made with real cocoa butter will do.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
55 Calories
3g Fat
8g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 50
Amount per serving
Calories 55
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 3%
Saturated Fat 2g 8%
Cholesterol 5mg 2%
Sodium 28mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 11mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 20mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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