Salted Caramels

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Gluten-Free/Vegetarian/Nut-free

Skill Level: Intermediate

Yield: 5 lbs of caramels/about 205 caramels (cut into 1/2-inch by 2-inch pieces)

Prep Time: 2-2.5 hours (this includes cutting and wrapping completed caramels)

Cook Time: 35-40 minutes, plus 2 hours cooling time (minimum)

Equipment Needed:

• Large stock pot or Dutch oven (8-quart size minimum)

• Candy thermometer or Instant-read thermometer

• Whisk

• Rubber or silicone scraper

• Parchment paper

• Half sheet rimmed baking pan (sometimes called a jelly roll pan)

• Cutting board 

• Chef's knife 

• Wax papers, for wrapping (5x5-inches work well)

• Optional: food-safe gloves

The Recipe:

I got this recipe from a former coworker and modified it only slightly. She had it labled as "Corilee's Caramels," although I do not know who that is. So Corilee, if you ever read this, I wanted to give you credit :)

Ingredients:

• 32-ounces light brown sugar

• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces that are about 2 tablespoons

• 16-ounces light corn syrup

• 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

• 1/2 teaspoon table salt

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

Procedure:

1. Line a half sheet rimmed baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Add brown sugar, butter pieces, and corn syrup to a pot that is at least 8-quarts in size.

3. Heat pan over medium heat, whisking often, until butter is completely melted and ingredients are mixed together. If you will be using a candy thermometer that clips to the side of your pan, now is a good time to attach it.

4. Add 1/2 teaspoon table salt, and slowly add both cans of sweetened condensed milk, whisking constantly.

5. Continue stirring until the temperature reaches 245 degrees Fahrenheit exactly. As you continue to cook, the mixture will become quite bubbly-this is normal, just continue to stir with a whisk or wooden spoon. If using an instant-read thermometer, be sure to check the temperature at regular intervals, and more frequently as you get closer to 245 degrees. This process should take between 20 and 30 minutes.

6. Once your caramel has reached 245 degrees Fahrenheit, carefully remove it from the heat and whisk in 2 teaspoons vanilla until fully incorporated.

7. Pour caramel onto your prepared baking pan and allow to sit for about 2 minutes.

8. Sprinkle your desired amount of flaky sea salt over the caramel sheet.

9. Allow caramel to cool at room temperature for a minimum of 1 hour. After 1 hour, if you are in a hurry for it to cool you can transfer it to the refrigerator to complete the cooling process. If you are not in a hurry, continue to cool at room temperature until completely cooled.

10. Once completely cooled, transfer to the refrigerator for a minimum of 10 minutes before cutting and wrapping caramels (I refrigerated mine overnight). Chilling the caramel before cutting should firm it up a bit and aid in the cutting process.

11. Remove caramel from pan, peeling parchment paper off bottom of caramel slab (see notes on this in the "tips" section to follow).

12. Cut caramels into desired size, and wrap in wax paper wrappers (see notes on this in the "tips" section to follow).

13. Store wrapped caramels in an airtight container for up to 9 months. These caramels could also be frozen for up to 1 year.

To Serve: I plan to include 5-6 of these delicious caramels with every holiday gift I give! They will also make a beautiful addtion to my cookie platter on Christmas Eve.

Tips:

• If you do freeze your caramels, be sure to allow them to come to room temperature before eating to save your teeth.

• Be sure to use a pan that holds 8 quarts at a minimum when you make your caramel mixture on the stovetop. I used that size of pan, and when I was towards the end of the cooking process and things were really bubbling, the mixture rose a good amount up the sides of the pan. Next time, I think I would opt to use a larger pan just to be safe.

• You wouldn't necessarily have to cut the butter into chunks, I just think it helps it melt a little more quickly.

• If you are not a fan of salted caramels, these are great without the salt, too.

• Once your caramel cools completely, if you wish you would have added more flaky sea salt than you did, bring your caramel back up to room temp (if it was in the fridge), and sprinkle on your desired amount lightly pressing it into the top of the caramel slab with your hands. The caramel should be sticky enough for the salt to adhere sufficiently.

• I think it would be really fun to play around with different toppings on this caramel! Finely chopped, toasted pecans would be delicious.

• When removing my caramel slab from the pan, I had 2 cutting boards lined up in front of me. I held the pan at a 45 degree angle over the boards, and gave the back of the pan a pretty hard slap to dislodge the caramel. Then, I quickly moved my hand to catch the caramel slab (although I had the cutting boards there as a safety net, so it would have been fine if they would have caught it). I then removed the pan and peeled the parchment paper from the back of the caramel slab before flipping it over onto the cutting boards. The caramel slab was slightly warped for a minute, but as it lay on the cutting boards it straightened itself out.

• The real challenge of this recipe is cutting the caramels. I knew the size I wanted to make mine, so after a little trial-and-error, the method I came up with is outlined below. I chose to use food-safe gloves since I knew I would be giving these out to many people as gifts; of course I always wash my hands well but wearing gloves just felt the most sanitary to me. Although I didn't set a timer, I would guess the whole process of cutting and wrapping took me close to two hours, but you could easily wrap up your caramel slab in plastic wrap if you wanted to take a break or had something else you needed to do in the middle of the process.

• My notes on cutting and wrapping: I used a tape measure and sharp knife to make knife marks in 1-inch intervals along BOTH of the long sides of the caramel slab. Then, I used my chef's knife to cut a line about 1/3 through the caramel (you could definitely use your knife to cut all the way through, and I did for the first few rows, but my hand started to hurt from the effort...).

• Next, I used a pizza cutter to complete the cut. I tried doing the whole cut with the pizza cutter since it was much more comfortable for my hand, but found that mine wasn't quite sharp enough to get the job done (yours might be though!).

• I picked up my detached strip of caramel and transferred it to a separate board, where I had a tape measure set up.

• Next, using my tape measure as a guide, I cut this caramel strip into 2-inch pieces with my chef's knife.

• Last, I used my chef's knife to cut each of these 2-inch pieces in half lengthwise to get the 1/2-inch by 2-inch sized pieces I wanted.

• Time to wrap! I screwed up and bought wax papers that were way too big...so my fabulous husband offered to help and cut each piece into fourths for me while I worked on cutting the caramels :) my point is, make sure you are buying papers that are 5x5-inches or slightly smaller if you are making your caramels the same size as mine. Place your caramel piece in the center of the wrapper.

If you are using wax paper with a pattern on it like I did, make sure the "pretty" side is facing down here.

• Next, I found it easiest to hold the caramel in place with one finger while I brought the back edge of the was paper up to cover one long side of the caramel.

• I tightly rolled my wax paper piece around my caramel lengthwise, then twisted each of the ends two full rotations, nice and tight. I found it easiest/most effective to twist the ends in the same direction as the fold.

The Story:

Underneath the title of this post, it should read: "A labor of love." Over the course of the weekend that I made these, I really discovered that to be true! Homemade caramels have been on my holiday treat bucket list for years, and I really wanted to make it happen this year. When I made the caramel mixture on Saturday night, I commented to my husband how it was so easy, and so few ingredients!

There was obviously a little bit of wait-time involved while I stirred and waited for the caramel mixture to get to the correct temperature, but that didn't seem like too big of a deal.

Sunday morning, I decided to cut and wrap up my caramels. I knew the size of caramel I wanted to make, but I had no clue how many I would end up with; subsequently I didn't have a clear picture in my head of how long this would take. I got my first strip of caramel out and figured out the best way to make the size I wanted, and quickly figured out I had ordered the wrong size of wax papers (ugh!)...but also figured out I could just cut them into fourths to get a useable size (phew).

Once I was finally finished, I set my kiddos to work counting up how many caramels I had wrapped...they were astonished to get to 205 :)

Once my system was in place and I really got down to business, I realized what a mighty endeavor I had truly taken on. I internally rolled my eyes at my previous-day-self who had smugly told my husband that this recipe was so easy. The actual cook was pretty easy, but the challenge was in cutting up and wrapping these little cuties.

My kids LOVE these caramels :)

In the end: was it worth it? YES. These are delicious; the perfect mix of sweet and salty. Soft, but with a nice chewy texture. They set up beautifully (and it's strangley satisfying to feast your eyes on a half-sheet of pure caramel).

Obviously not a diet candy with their lovely pound of butter, but if you're not going to indulge a little around the holidays, then when are you?! I'm so excited to gift some of these with every present we give this year!! A sweet little handmade treat to be enjoyed by family, friends, people in our lives who help us with important things (teachers, bus drivers, waste disposal drivers, mail carriers...). You may need to set aside a little time, but I hope you give these a shot and enjoy giving them as much as eating them...I know I am!

Happy tasting!