Holy. Moly. I may never buy another caramel again. Have you ever made your own?? This recipe was really easy. I promise. I think the key to making candy is being prepared. Measure all your ingredients before you start. Turn your phone off. Put a show on for the kids. Tell your husband no grabbin-the-tush-time….for reals…because momma is makin candy ;)
You can make this “sea salt free” if you wish…but why would you wish such a thing? It’s like I don’t even know you…:)
Ok….after you have your ingredients out and measured. It’s time to start….
I shared these at my friends annual cookie exchange. I made one 8 by 8 pan and cut them into 56 pieces. 7 rows by 8 rows…yeah…I’m kind of a math genius like that….moving on…
Before you start…grab and 8 by 8 pan and line with parchment paper (allowing it to hang over sides so that you can get the caramels out after they are set). Spray paper and sides of pan with cooking spray.
Start with really good ingredients…that will produce a really great caramel :)
Step One: Melt butter, cream and salt (if making sea free…just add 1/4 tsp of salt instead). Set aside. (For a creamier caramel add 1/3 c more cream)
Step 2: Large pan, combine water, corn syrup and sugar. Stir to combine. Then leave it alone. Gentle boil until it reaches 250-255 on a candy thermometer.
Step 3: Turn heat off. Slowly whisk in the cream mixture into sugar. Mixture will foam up and bubble…just keep whisking until all cream is incorporated. Stop whisking and heat again until thermometer reaches 250. Don’t stir at all.
Step 4: Remove from heat and quickly whisk in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Lightly sprinkle with course salt. Let cool uncovered for a day and cut up :) Wrap into wax paper.
Rejoice! You just made scratch sea salt caramels!
I won’t look…go ahead and eat the cooled caramel off the whisk…:)
Ingredients
How to Make Caramel Candies
Makes about 56 caramels
What You Need
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 and 1/4 teaspoon salt (use only 1/4 if making sea salt free)
1 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Equipment
8×8 baking dish (or similar size)
Parchment paper
2-quart saucepan
4-quart saucepan
Instant-read thermometer or candy thermometer
Spatula
Whisk
Wax paper
(adapted from the kitchn)
One more day to enter to win the custom DIY wine system from Artful Winemaker.com. (give the page a second to load…the entry is at the bottom…you will see a Rafflecopter box pop up to enter your email…) Good luck!
Sharing at ThistlewoodFarms, HOH, Tatertots
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This looks super yummy!
Has anyone ever made these with any kind of dairy-free milk? I’d love to be able to eat caramels again but the heavy cream would kill me! I’d love any ideas!
This looks like a wonderful treat to make with my granddaughter. She loves to work in the kitchen and these caramels look fabulous! Now I just have to find my candy thermometer!
Sounds yummy! I am including this in my post today, along with 9 other great DIY Christmas gift ideas. Thanks for sharing! http://www.alwayssomethinghome.com/2012/12/diy-christmas-gifts.html
I bought the golden corn syrup instead of the light one – do you think it will make much of a difference? Thanks for sharing this reciped :)
Ooops….recipe, not reciped…
This looks amazing! I have never made caramel. Thanks for the recipe!
Looks so yummy!!
I bookmarked these because I plan on making them! I tried some sea salt caramel cookies once last year and have obsessed over salted caramel ever since! Don’t even need the cookies… ;) Thanks for sharing the recipe!
My daughter and I just made these for gifts tonight. YUM! We definately tried the caramel off the whisk, and we can’t wait to give these caramels away! Thanks so much for the great picture directions and for sharing the recipe!
Merry Christmas!
This sounded like a yummy recipe, so I thought I’d give it a try. I prefer to use Himalayan salt typically as it is much healthier & better flavor. However, I did not take into consideration that a little goes a LONG way. I used the amounts in this recipe and it turned out so salty that it was not even edible and I threw the whole batch away. Very disappointed as it was going to be a birthday gift for my Mom. I will try it again, but this time greatly reduce the salt to probably on a 1/4 tsp. and then just the tiny sprinkly on top.
So sorry that happened….hopefully the 2nd batch was great!
[…] we’re making these homemade sea salted caramels and getting ready for a all-you-can eat Super Bowl […]
Mine turned out more like werthers hard candie. Do you think I should not let it get to 250 after the cream is added? The inside bottom of the pan was scorched so maybe I heated on too high a temp?