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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.
If you’re putting together a box of homemade goodies for the holidays, these, combined with favorites like Hazelnut Brittle, Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels, or easy chocolate fudge are always a hit!
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
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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.
Thank you for this recipe!
Did you use salted or unsalted butter? I used salted and the butter flavor really overpowered the brown sugar flavor. Just curious if you had ideas! Thank you again!
Sorry about that! I really need to go back thru my recipes and specify on the ones that just say “butter”. I just updated this recipe.
Krissy, thank you for sharing this recipe! My husband loves See’s Bordeaux but we don’t buy candy because I enjoy the challenge of making it myself without the chemicals and other junk in commercial foods. This candy far exceeded our expectations (way better than the store bought). Superb!
I’m so glad you liked it! I haven’t made these in awhile so comments like yours assure me that the recipe is still good.
After refrigeration when I took them out to roll them, they are rock solid in the bowl. How do I get them creamy to use?
How long did you refrigerate? I think if you set them out at room temp and keep checking on them, they will come to the right consistency of play-doh.
A perfect recipe . Thank you, everyone who tried them …loved them.
A great addition to Christmas recipes!
Do you know if I could substitute half and half for the heavy cream?
It might work but I’ve never tried it.
I had to add a little bit more powdered sugar to make the dough play-doh consistency but OMG these tasted amazing! Thank you!
I tried this recipe, as I think the bordeaux is the best piece in a See’s box. I found the recipe easy to follow, and oh sooo good.
Hi! I absolutely love these! I’ve made them multiple times and they’re super delicious!
I just have one question, this is my fourth time making these and for some reason, this time the dough combination became very powdery. My best guess is that the liquid evaporated because I usually use the regular burner, but it was dirty, so instead I used a power burner.
Do you have any suggestions on how to fix it? I don’t want to throw what I have away, it would waste.
Thank you!
I’m not sure how to fix it, but would agree that this recipe can be rather sensitive to cooking temperature.
I tried this today and something definitely went wrong, but I can’t place it.
It came out soooo crumbly. I didn’t sift the sugar to measure it, so maybe I had too much sugar? I could have overcooked it too.
If you have temperatures, that would be super helpful.
Could have been either. I need to make these again and be more specific with the temperatures. I’m a much better cook than when I originally made these so I think the recipe could definitely use a refresh.
Hello!
I followed the recipe for the 1/2 batch; initially, it was extremely hard to mix the sifted powder sugar in, and I ended up mixing it with my hands. The mix never felt like playdough, unfortunately. I finally got it formed into a large firm ball of dough and put it into the fridge, checked on it an hour later, and the big ball of dough was super dry, so I pulled it out, grabbed off chunks of it mixed each chunk with my fingers, seem to bring the mixture back to life a little bit, after working with it I was able to make little balls. I dipped them in chocolate and stuck them in the refrigerator to firm up. They looked good, and the taste was good, that said I felt it was a little more grainy than it should be, even using C&H sugar. Any thoughts to share? Thanks!
What altitude are you at? I wonder if that makes a difference. The only other thing I can think of is that they could have boiled just a bit longer to allow the sugar to melt/dissolve? Either that or they got too hot?