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Old-Fashioned Caramels Recipe

Old-Fashioned Caramels Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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Before I was married, my future father-in-law would fix these creamy caramels at Christmas and send me some. The recipe has been in my husband's family for decades...so, when we got married, I learned to make them, too.

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Old-Fashioned Caramels Recipe

Prep: 10 min. Cook: 40 min.

Yield: 72 Servings

10 40 50

Ingredients

1 tablespoon plus 1 cup butter, divided
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups light corn syrup
2 cups half-and-half cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions

Line an 11-in. x 7-in. pan with foil; grease with 1 tablespoon butter and set aside. In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and remaining butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil gently for 4 minutes without stirring.
Remove from the heat; stir in cream. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until a candy thermometer reads 238° (soft-ball stage), stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla and pecans if desired. Pour into prepared pan; cool. Using foil, lift candy out of pan. Gently peel off foil; cut candy into 1-in. squares. Yield: 2 pounds.

Editor's Note: We recommend that you test your candy thermometer before each use by bringing water to a boil; the thermometer should read 212°. Adjust your recipe temperature up or down based on your test.

Nutritional Facts 1 piece equals 77 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 27 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrate, 0 fiber, trace protein.

Originally published as Old-Fashioned Caramels in Country Woman Christmas Annual 1997, p39

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Old-Fashioned Caramels

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Reviewed on Dec. 06, 2010 by Bracious

I have been looking for block caramels like this for forever. I can never forget the first time i tried a piece of these kinds. IT WAS AMAZING, you just need to know how to make it the right way. Thank you for this recipe It was AMAZING!

Reviewed on Nov. 07, 2010 by TexasCera

If you follow this as written, it'll take you hours to get to 238 degrees. I did this one twice, and there's no real difference between getting to 238 degrees in this recipe or any other. My tips: don't go below medium heat. At medium, you're still looking at awhile to reach 238 degrees, but not as long as medium-low. Also, use a Sil-Pat or something of the sort, as the foil (and wax paper) both stuck to the caramels to the point that I had to toss the batch and try again. In general, I've seen better caramel recipes that arrive at the same result as this one.

Reviewed on Dec. 01, 2009 by sule

This is very good candy to have anytime.