Crossing off Delicious #57

Two nights ago, I tried my hand at making candy! Usually I stay away from trying to make it (eating it is easier!). I wanted to make my own caramels, not only because it's on my 100 in 365 list, but because now I will have a never-ending supply of caramel at my beck and call!

If you're on Pinterest, you have probably seen at least one recipe for six-minute caramels. In the summer, I pinned a recipe, but I really thought that it would be as successful as some of the crazy diets and ideas that Pinterest is chockablock with.

Two days ago, I decided to see if these recipes really worked.

And much to my happiness and surprise (and glee that I didn't have a Pinterest fail on my hands), it did!

Because I used an uncited recipe from Pinterest, I'm not able to cite any particular website. I have rewritten, edited, and added my thoughts to the directions. Of course, I haven't come up with this recipe, but I have written this one.

Six-Minute Vanilla Caramels

You'll Need...

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light Karo Syrup
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup nuts or dried fruit (optional)
• a few tablespoons (to taste) flakes of sea salt

Instructions

1. Depending on the thickness of the caramel you desire, using buttered tin foil, line a baking dish. (8 x 8 or 9 x 5 pans will work nicely. I used a lightly buttered Pyrex pie plate and the candy slid out easily when hardened.)  Line either an 8 x 8 baking dish or a 9 x 5 loaf pan with foil.  Butter the foil.
2. Melt butter in microwave.
3. Stir in Karo Syrup, light brown sugar, white sugar, condensed milk and vanilla.
4. Mix until sugar has completely dissolved. Mixture will be light brown.
5. Microwave for 3 minutes (if not bubbling, microwave for another 30 seconds)
6. Mixture will be bubbling. Carefully scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir mixture until mixture has stopped bubbling.
7. Microwave again for 3 1/2 minutes (if not bubbling, microwave for another 30 seconds).
8. Stir in optional nuts or dried fruits and scrape down sides until mixture has stopped bubbling.
9. Pour into dish and place, uncovered, in the refrigerator.
10. Remove from the refrigerator when candy is set. (When the candy is set, it will cut easily and mixture will not pull with the knife.) Cut into blocks and sprinkle sea salt, if desired.

Wrapping: I used rectangles of regular wax paper and twisted the ends two or three times. Simple, easy, and so cute! 

 These are so easy and quick to make, you can bang out a few batch of these this weekend for impromptu Valentine's Day presents! That's what I'm doing with mine!