The perfect combination of salty and sweet, millionaire candy has been a favorite in the South for decades. A filling made with caramel and pecans is dunked in chocolate and sprinkled with flaky salt for an easy homemade candy recipe that earned rave reviews from our recipe testers. Our millionaire candy recipe is a shortcut take on the classic.
What Is Millionaire Candy?
If you grew up in the South, you may have seen boxes of millionaires in the chocolate candy aisle of your local grocery store. The candies are made with layers of caramel, pecans, and chocolate. Hugh T. Pangburn created the recipe and served it at his drugstore located in Fort Worth, Texas. The treat was so popular, he expanded his enterprise to include a candy factory. The business was sold to Russell Stover in 1999 and you can still buy Pangburn's Millionaires in stores today. The sweet is often called Texas millionaires candy.
Millionaire Candy Ingredients
Here's a quick look at what you'll need to make our take on the original millionaire candy recipe at home.
- Butter: This helps keep the candies from sticking to the pan as you assemble them. Be sure the butter is soften for easy spreading.
- Caramels: You'll need 55 unwrapped caramel candies. This is about two 11-ounce packages. We'll melt these to create one layer of the candy.
- Cream: Heavy cream helps the caramels melt until smooth.
- Pecans: For the richest candies, toast the pecans before adding them to the caramel mixture. Roasting the nuts helps intensify the flavor.
- Chocolate: You can use either milk or dark chocolate in this homemade candy recipe. Our recipe testers were split on which they liked best—both were great! Choose a high-quality melting chocolate like Ghirardelli brand.
- Salt: A pinch of flaky salt on top helps balances the sweetness.
How to Store Millionaire Candy
Store the chocolate candies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Ingredients
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1 tablespoon butter, softened
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55 soft vanilla caramels (such as Kraft), unwrapped
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3 tablespoons heavy cream
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2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
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15 ounces milk or dark chocolate melting wafers (such as Ghirardelli)
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Flaky sea salt (optional)
Directions
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Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; butter parchment. In a medium heavy saucepan cook and stir caramels and cream over medium heat until smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Let stand until set, about 30 minutes.
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In the top of a double boiler melt chocolate over medium, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Using a fork, dip caramel mounds into chocolate, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Return mounds to prepared baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt. Chill candies 10 to 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| 163 | Calories |
| 11g | Fat |
| 11g | Carbs |
| 2g | Protein |
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 30 | |
| Calories 162.6 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 10.6g | 14% |
| Saturated Fat 3.7g | 19% |
| Cholesterol 6mg | 2% |
| Sodium 20.2mg | 1% |
| Total Carbohydrate 11.4g | 4% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.2g | 4% |
| Total Sugars 9.1g | |
| Protein 1.9g | 4% |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Vitamin C 0.1mg | 0% |
| Calcium 34.3mg | 3% |
| Iron 0.5mg | 3% |
| Potassium 97mg | 2% |
| Fatty acids, total trans 0g | |
| Vitamin D 0.9IU | |
| Alanine 0g | |
| Arginine 0.1g | |
| Ash 0.4g | |
| Aspartic acid 0.1g | |
| Caffeine 2.8mg | |
| Carotene, alpha 0mcg | |
| Choline, total 9.8mg | |
| Copper, Cu 0.2mg | |
| Cystine 0g | |
| Energy 680.2kJ | |
| Fluoride, F 1.6mcg | |
| Folate, total 4.3mcg | |
| Glutamic acid 0.1g | |
| Glycine 0g | |
| Histidine 0g | |
| Isoleucine 0g | |
| Leucine 0g | |
| Lysine 0g | |
| Methionine 0g | |
| Magnesium, Mg 18.8mg | |
| Manganese, Mn 0.4mg | |
| Niacin 0.2mg | |
| Phosphorus, P 51.9mg | |
| Pantothenic acid 0.1mg | |
| Phenylalanine 0g | |
| Proline 0g | |
| Retinol 17.6mcg | |
| Selenium, Se 1mcg | |
| Serine 0g | |
| Starch 0g | |
| Theobromine 29.1mg | |
| Threonine 0g | |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.2mg | |
| Tryptophan 0g | |
| Tyrosine 0g | |
| Valine 0g | |
| Vitamin A, IU 65.6IU | |
| Vitamin A, RAE 18mcg | |
| Vitamin B-12 0.1mcg | |
| Vitamin B-6 0mg | |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 1.1mcg | |
| Water 5.5g | |
| Zinc, Zn 0.7mg | |
*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.