Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

caramels

Recipe by
Penny Burdge
Lenexa, KS

I never thought I liked caramels until I tried one homemade from a neighbor of mine. When I went to make them this year I didn't have any light brown sugar. So I substituted with half white sugar and half dark brown sugar. She did not use salt on her caramels, but I wanted to try that too. I loved the result. These are soft chewy intense caramels and the hint of salt is a great to cut the sweetness. I used a pink Himalayan salt.

yield serving(s)
prep time 10 Min
cook time 45 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For caramels

  • 1 lb
    butter
  • 1 lb
    dark brown sugar
  • 1 lb
    sugar
  • 2 c
    dark karo syrup
  • 1 can
    sweetened condensed milk
  • opt. Tbsp
    large flake seat salt

How To Make caramels

  • 1
    Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottomed skillet and stir until well combined and smooth.
  • 2
    Over medium heat, bring to a medium boil, stirring constantly.
  • 3
    Boil and stir until a candy thermometer registers 248 degrees F or 120 C (firm ball stage - If you drop a bit of it into cold water it will hold a roundish shape, but can be squeezed into other shapes by hand). This can take 30-45 minutes. It took about 35 in the 4 qt. saucepan I used.
  • 4
    Line a large jelly roll pan (12" x 17") with parchment paper and carefully pour the hot caramel mixture into the pan. Spread out and smooth with a spatula. Cool for 15-20 minutes, then sprinkle generously with large flaked sea salt if desired.
  • 5
    While slightly warm, cut into desired shapes. A bench or pastry scraper works very well to do this. Wrap in foil or wax paper.

Categories & Tags for Caramels:

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