This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Copycat See’s Bordeaux recipe recreates the famous See’s Candy bon bons at home.
Made with brown sugar, butter, cream, and a hint of coffee, each bite melts into a sweet, creamy center coated in rich chocolate. Perfect for gifting or enjoying during the holidays, these homemade candies taste just like the real thing.
Reasons You’ll Want to Make Them
If you grew up loving See’s Candy, this recipe will bring back memories. It’s a spot-on recreation of the original Bordeaux, with that signature buttery brown sugar filling and smooth chocolate shell.
They’re surprisingly easy to make and store beautifully for the holidays. You can even adjust the flavor by using dark or milk chocolate, or adding coffee for a little extra depth.
What You’ll Need To Make Them
The complete recipe with ingredient quantities is listed in the recipe card below, but here is a quick summary.
The filling is made from simple ingredients: brown sugar, butter, and cream, which cook together to create a caramel-like sweetness. A bit of instant coffee (optional) adds depth and enhances the chocolate. The outer coating is melted chocolate with a touch of butter for smooth dipping.
Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles or drizzle extra chocolate on top for that classic Bordeaux look.
How to Make Copycat See’s Bordeaux
This is a quick overview. Full ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Start by boiling brown sugar and butter until smooth and caramelized.
- Stir in cream, coffee, and salt, then add powdered sugar to form a soft dough.
- Once cooled and firm, roll the mixture into small balls and chill.
- Melt chocolate with butter, then dip each candy until coated.
- Let them set on wax paper, drizzle extra chocolate if desired, and enjoy once firm.
Substitutions and Variations
These homemade bon bons are easy to customize.
• Use milk chocolate instead of dark for a closer match to See’s version.
• Skip the coffee if you want the traditional flavor.
• Add a dash of sea salt on top for a modern twist.
• Try shaping the filling in silicone molds for perfectly uniform candies.
Leftovers and Storage
Store Bordeaux candies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or refrigerate for up to two weeks.
For longer storage, freeze them for up to two months. Just let them come to room temperature before serving to avoid condensation dulling the chocolate. This is what happened in my photo below.
Learn From Me
I’ve made these candies many times, and a few small tips make all the difference.
- Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan to prevent the sugar mixture from burning.
- Let the filling cool until firm enough to roll. If it’s too soft it won’t hold shape.
- When dipping, freeze the centers briefly for easier handling, and if the chocolate loses its shine, just drizzle more on top. They’ll still taste incredible.
Similar Recipes You’ll Love
Making a special holiday platter or looking to gift homemade goodies? I have so many candy and holiday treat Christmas recipes, but here are a few of my absolute favorites:
- Five Minute Microwave Fudge
- Peanut Brittle
- Homemade Candied Pecans
- Peanut Butter Balls
- Salted Mocha Caramels
Pin this now to save it for later
Pin ItCopycat See’s Bordeaux
Ingredients
Inside filling:
- 1 cup golden brown sugar packed, C&H brand recommended, other brands may result in a more grainy texture
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee (finely ground) Optional, See's Bordeaux does not have coffee, but I liked the flavor it added (I used Starbucks Via)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
Outer chocolate coating:
- 12 ounces dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Using a heavy bottom saucepan, melt 8 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 cup golden brown sugar together over medium high heat and bring to boil. Allow to boil for about two minutes.
- Stir in 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon instant coffee (finely ground) (if using), and a 1/8 teaspoon salt and allow to come to a boil again for about 30 seconds while stirring constantly to avoid scorching. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar to mixture and stir in well until a consistent dough is formed. Chill until mixture holds shape similar to play dough, about 2 hours.
- Roll sugar dough into 1-inch balls and set on a wax paper lined sheet. Freeze for about 10 minutes for easier dipping.
- Melt 12 ounces dark chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter at 50% power in 1 minute increments in microwave, stirring after each minute, until melted.
- Dip candy balls into melted chocolate and allow to set on the wax paper. Either sprinkle with chocolate cake sprinkles or pipe a very thin stream of chocolate on top, if desired.
- Store in airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a great recipe. My family loves it. My niece say’s Sees isn’t Bordeaux. That’s the best compliment an aunt can get.
Has anyone asked or tried how well this recipe will hold up if you used this as a filling within a chocolate cookie and baked it?
No one has ever asked but now I’m salivating at the thought. I think it would melt if baked, but if there was a way to shove it in the middle of a hot cookie fresh out of the oven, it might be heaven.
Hello, I tried your recipe without the coffee and I loved it. Thanks for the easy recipe. I would really like to find a copycat recipe for Sees Pecan Roll, my absolute favorite. I think the center of the Bordeaux might be the same. Any thoughts?
Oh man, that would take some thought on my part and a lot of pecan roll testing!
After reading all these replies, I can’t believe how rude some of you people are. Its a copycat recipe, not an authentic recipe. Leave the girl alone.
Thanks for coming to my defense! I would say 95% of my blog comments are nice. It’s that other 5% that have taught me to have a thick skin. I get some real doozies!
Howdy!
I’ve made these since you first posted this recipe! And every year until 2022. I’m just not well enough to cook anymore. It was my favorite thing to do, cook!
My doctor even asked me if I had stopped cooking, he missed this gift last holiday season!
Everyone I gifted and my family always enjoyed them, I just could never understand how they managed to resist the urge to eat them all up the same day, I always gave myself a dozen in the freezer, I would thaw 1 out every month for my personal moment of memories. My mom and sisters visited a mall together many years ago near the holiday season. The three of us enjoyed the same flavor of our free sample. I was younger and was fascinated that we 3 liked the dark chocolate See’s Bordeaux! My sister that had gone 1st of us said that was her favorite in milk chocolate! None of us knew about the other 3’s favorite candy!
When I found your recipe I had never made candy other than peanut brittle. The first time I melted chocolate. I have the recipe in my card file, I think my girls have it, but I do have a copy on my phone now. My daughter does my baking for me since I don’t cook anymore, I’m so glad I taught them to cook when young!
Thank you for years of enjoying this recipe!
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment. I’m so sorry you are unable to cook but I’m glad you’ve passed down the tradtion!
The official Bordeaux ingredients list from See’s does not include coffee or molasses.
Milk Bordeaux Ingredients: sugar, brown sugar, cream, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate, butter, corn syrup, salt, vanilla, confectionery glaze, soy lecithin, vanillin.
I think we can skip the last three ingredients… But curious if using cocoa butter would be better than coffee.
That would be an interesting addition!
Is the brown sugar packed?
Thank you..
Yes. I updated the recipe card. Thanks for asking!
Always pack brown sugar
All of the ingredients after cream are for the chocolate coating on the outside. The inside is a brown sugar cream filling.
Not sure what I did wrong but center filling is really really soft. They are not bad but just not as firm as I would like. Any suggestions?
Hmmmm. I wonder if it has to do with the ingredients. You used real butter and heavy cream?
I agreed with the one comment that they were good as far as the taste but sort of grainy… obviously the brown sugar did not break down as much as it should have to make the inside smooth. I was afraid if I boiled it too long it would leave a burnt taste. Any suggestions? They did taste like the brown sugar squares that See’s makes, being they were not smooth in texture. All in all, I liked them very much but wish they had been smoother.
What kind of brown sugar did you use? I’ve always only used C&H golden brown, but bought a bag of organic brown sugar at costco and it was super grainy. I’m thinking that may make the difference.
I think the addition of a tablespoon or two of corn syrup will prevent the crystallization.
It might turn out grainy if you stir the brown sugar and butter while it’s boiling. Your heat must be medium low and stop stirring once it begins to simmer. Let it boil by itself for the two minutes. It won’t burn if your heat is the correct temperature. Once you add the cream then you have to stir constantly until done.
Great tip. thank you!
How can it boil at medium low?
Do you use packed brown sugar for this recipe? Slightly packed? Loose? I’m old school & way back it was always packed. So many recipes now don’t specify & that’s confusing to me. Please advise. Bordeaux is my favorite & I’m dying to try it. Thank you.
Packed!
Awesomely easy and spot on!
I don’t drink coffee.. do you think it would mess with the recipe if I left it out? Is there something I could substitute for it?
You can leave it out!
I made several batches of these Seas Bordeaux candy for a wedding reception and they turned out perfect you only use just a tad which is like a fourth of a teaspoon of instant coffee it doesn’t take much they were spot on I dip them in chocolate bark and to get the sprinkles on them after they were hard I placed them in the microwave for just 10 seconds and then sprinkle the sprinkles on top of them and they turned out perfectly just like them
I tried to make this substituting swerve brown sugar and confectioners sugar and it tastes like chemical air! What did I do wrong? I used butter and coconut cream instead of dairy. The texture is dry and crumbly and tastes horrible. How can I fix this mess?
You can either make the recipe given or look up a recipe that uses the substitutions you used.
I just saw your comment from several months ago. You may have figured out the problem by now, but here’s some information in case you haven’t.
I haven’t yet made these, so don’t know if these suggestions would work, but when heating and then cooling things made with artificial sweetener you have to use sweetener made from allulose or xylitol. All other sweeteners recrystallize when cooled after heating.
There are now a number of dairy-free “creams” on the market
, too, that act like real cream. I have used Silk as well as Country Crock brands, and both work well. You may have better luck using one of these rather than coconut milk.
I make a lot of sugar-free, dairy-free truffles using allulose-based sweetener and dairy-free cream and have never had a problem.