Caramels

Note: use a 4 or 5-quart sauce pan. My 3.5-quart pan is just a bit too small, and by the time it is at a rolling boil, it wants to boil over. My next size is an 8-quart pot, which works fine, but it just makes getting the temperature tricky—I put my thermometer in a slotted spoon and lower it in the pan that way. Or you could cut the recipe in half and use a smaller pan.

Cook sugar, corn syrup, and half of the cream for 10 minutes (start timing after it has begun boiling). Add butter and the remaining cream slowly. Cook on medium heat to 248 degrees, stirring occasionally (this takes about 30 minutes).

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and nuts, if using. Pour into a buttered 9×13 or half sheet pan. Let cool.
Cut into small pieces (approximately 2″x2″) and wrap with squares of waxed paper.

It doesn’t have to be cold, just cool enough to be set up to wrap with the waxed paper. You may have to reheat it so it’s easier to handle and cut apart. A minute or so in a warm oven will make it more pliable. Be prepared, it takes a while to do this. If you doing it all by yourself, it’ll probably take a couple of hours.

The only thing to watch is the temperature. If it goes too high, you’ll have hard candy instead of soft, chewy caramels. The hard version is good too (some say it tastes like Werther’s), but I just perfer the soft version.

This makes dozens of caramels and they store at room temperature for a long time. Enjoy!