This Polar Bear Paws Candy recipe is a copycat version of See’s Candies that you can easily at home! They’re sweet and salty, filled with roasted nuts and soft caramel, then coated in white chocolate!
Polar Bear Paws are a gooey caramel candy filled with salty peanuts, and covered in white chocolate almond bark. The shape and color of the candy resembles a white polar bear paw and is a classic Holiday treat.
Loved by kids and adults, these candies make the best Holiday gifts or party treat that will be the first thing to go at your dessert table. And when you see how easy they are to make, you’ll want to keep a batch on hand all winter long!
Why You’ll Love This Polar Bear Paws Candy Recipe
- Quick and Easy – No need for a candy thermometer or making homemade caramel—these cadies are made by melting down store-bought caramels with some butter, cream, and salty peanuts. Then spooning the mixture into clusters before covering in the white chocolate. So simple and fun to make!
- Cheaper than Store-Bought – We love the See’s Candies polar bear paws, but they can be pricey, so this is a copycat version you can make at home to save you some cash (and probably get more!).
- Easy to Customize – I love these white chocolate covered caramel nut clusters because it’s so easy to customize to your tastes, and you can decorate them for any Holiday using festive sprinkles.
Ingredients Needed
Just a handful of common ingredients (get the full amounts in the recipe card below).
- Caramels – Make sure you are using soft caramels.
- Heavy cream – this is combined with the caramels.
- Butter – I like to use unsalted butter because you are getting salt from the peanuts.
- Peanuts – 1 ¼ cup peanuts, I used roasted peanuts, but you can also use cocktail peanuts
- Vanilla almond bark – for easy melting, consistency and flavor.
- Coconut oil – This will help melt the chocolate
How To Make Polar Bear Paws Candy
These polar bear paws will take about 15-minutes to make along with the cooling time of about 45-minutes.
- Melt the caramels, heavy cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Then stir in the peanuts and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
- Drop the mixture onto parchment paper and let it cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate and dip the cooled clusters into the chocolate until coated.
- Let harden and then place the clusters into the fridge for abour 45 minutes.
Tips and Variations
Caramels – I used soft-wrapped caramels such as Werther’s Original. If you are using old and hard caramels, they won’t melt as smoothly.
White Chocolate – Vanilla almond bark is just one option that we happen to use for this recipe, but white chocolate chips or white chocolate wafers are also fine to use. If using white chocolate chips, make sure to add the coconut oil to insure a smooth consistency. If you’re not a fan of white chocolate, you can use milk chocolate or even dark chocolate.
Peanuts – Roasted peanuts are used in my recipe, but feel free to use any other peanuts. Honey roasted peanuts would be great. Any other nuts would also work well like, pecans, cashews, walnuts or almonds.
Nut-free option. If you (or your kids) have nut allergies, consider using pretzel pieces instead!
Decorate for the Holidays – You can easily decorate this candy using a drizzle of colored candy melts (or chocolate) and also add any sort of sprinkles on top that you prefer.
Storing and Freezing
- Storing. This candy should be stored at room temperature (or refrigerated) in an airtight container and enjoyed within 2-3 weeks.
- Freeze. Polar bear paws can be frozen for longer storage! Place the candies into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 6 months.
Polar Bear Paws Candy
Ingredients
- 11 ounces soft caramels
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 1/4 cups roasted peanuts
- 10 ounces vanilla almond bark
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the unwrapped soft caramels, heavy cream, and butter.
- Place over medium heat and stir frequently until the caramels are fully melted and the mixture is smooth and uniform.
- Remove from the heat. Add the roasted peanuts and stir until they are evenly coated. Allow the mixture to cool for 20–25 minutes, stirring once halfway through to prevent the bottom from setting too quickly.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Using a medium cookie scoop (1½ tablespoons), portion the mixture into mounds on the prepared sheet. The cooler the caramel is when scooped, the less the clusters will spread.
- Let the clusters cool completely until firm. To speed this up, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator or freezer. Thanks to my warm kitchen in Florida, I have to refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Place the vanilla almond bark (or candy coating) and the oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20-second intervals, stirring thoroughly after each, until completely melted and smooth.
- Using a fork, dip each cooled cluster into the melted almond bark, letting excess coating drip off, then return it to the lined baking sheet. Once all clusters are coated, refrigerate again briefly if needed until the chocolate is fully set.
Last Step:
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