I saw this recipe and thought, wow these will probably be gross, or turn into a sloppy mess, but it's 6 minutes and I want some caramel.
You know those little caramels wrapped up at the check out stands, usually at a craft store? I almost always grab one last second because I love them so much.
These caramels were better than those. Like.....amazing amazing caramels here. I am freaking out. I want to make some more already. Suuuch good flavor, so smooth and silky and AGH just amazing. I only made a slight adjustment to the original recipe, because it didn't call for vanilla but I decided to toss in a tsp. of it. It was a good call. As far as I've seen, my caramels are the only 6 minute caramels that calls for vanilla. I have no idea why that is??? It is so much better!!
What you will need:
- 1/4 C melted butter
- 1/2 C sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 C light karo syrup
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
- Prepare a well greased 8x8 baking dish, or line the baking dish with wax paper (I've started spraying the wax paper each time I make these now just to make sure)
- Mix butter, syrup, condensed milk, sugar and brown sugar in medium sized microwave safe bowl
- Microwave for 6 minutes, stopping every 2 minutes to stir*
- After the last 2 minutes in the microwave, drop the vanilla in and stir it in
- Pour caramel mixture into prepared baking dish and let is sit for about 1 hour
- Either slice into squares, or roll caramels up in wax paper
*Sometimes caramels have that sugary texture when you chew on them, so I made sure to stir really really well every 2 minutes and after it was done in the microwave. It must have helped because this was silky smooth.
Thank you so much for sharing! You're right, they are amazing!!! Greasing the wax paper is the key, I didn't the first time and really stuck.....I should have listened! lol Thanks again! :) I will be making these often!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! I don't know why I was so skeptical of them at first, but they blew me away! Love them!
DeleteMake sure not to use a microwave safe plastic bowl. mine melted.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Very good note here, maybe shy away from the plastic bowls all together haha. I hope you're able to try these again sometime with no melting!! :)
DeleteWell, yum!! I have several teacher's gifts to make, and I think I'm going to try these! One question: About how many would you say one batch yields? Also, should I grease the wax paper? With butter?? (okay, that was more than one question!;) ) Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThis would be an AWESOME idea for a teacher gift! I sprayed the wax paper in the baking dish while the caramels were setting, but I don't remember spraying the wax paper I used when I wrapped them up and they didn't stick at all. I would spray a small section of wax paper, wrap up a caramel and do the same with a non-waxed piece and test to see if one of them sticks just to make sure! It depends on how you cut them/roll them but I feel like around 20-25 pieces per batch :) Hope this helps!
DeleteThank you! I'll let you know how it goes. :)
DeleteJust made these .... SoOoOoO yummy!!! :) Thank you! I did the same as you ~ sprayed the wax paper in the baking dish, but not the paper I used to wrap them up. They seem fine. And in my 8x8 pan I got a good 60 caramels! Holy Cow! I'm going to give them as gifts to neighbors, husband's co-workers, etc. And my kids had a fun time helping wrap ... What a great recipe. :)
ReplyDeleteWhere does the sweetened condensed milk get used?
ReplyDeleteOops! I'm so sorry! It is to be mixed in with the rest of the ingredients before you put it into the microwave. Thank you for noticing that! I will add that in there right now! :)
DeleteThese tasted just as great as stove top made caramels and it's fool proof! I chilled mine for a while and then dipped them in chocolate. I have a dangerously delectable new skill thanks to you!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you enjoyed them! I'm pretty sure every pound I gain during the holidays will be thanks to these! ;)
DeleteI found these same ingredients in a doubled batch and cooked it for 13 mins. My oh my are these great! I cannot believe how much I've spent on caramels, chocolate covered ones too, in specialty shops. My batch made a TON, a 13x9 pan; how much would that cost in a specialty store? I didn't stir mine or anything during the cooking. No effort cooking, but when they cooled, it was labor to cut and wrap them. I'll figure out how to make this go more quickly too. Anyway, if you love caramel candies, these will fill the bill. Sincerely, DD
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Cutting and wrapping was the hardest part! I love the idea to double the recipe, I wish I had done that!
DeleteI saw a similar recipe on Facebook but it was vague so I did a search and found yours with same ingredients but much better instructions. Anyway they came out perfect the very first time. Very creamy/chewy/yummy. I buttered up a cookie sheet real good. Poured the MOLTEN (do not touch the stuff when complete, it will burn you) onto the cookie sheet. Spread to make sure it was completely distributed. Put in fridge for 45 minutes. Pulled up a corner of the caramel and peeled it back until I had a large flat piece. Placed this (buttered side down) onto a piece of parchment and sliced 1/2 wide strips lengthwise with a pizza slicer. Then sliced 3 times the opposite direction dividing each long sliced piece into 4 pieces. Then took each strip and rolled it up like a cinnamon roll. Set aside on waxed paper and let them finish cooling. When completely cooled and firm, I buttered up my hands and handled each piece prior to wrapping in waxed paper. PERFECT, easy and non-time consuming. You'll find yourself imagining all sorts of things you can wrap in caramel.
ReplyDeleteI doubled the recipe - and doubled the cook time!! They are delicious!!! I used a pizza cutter to cut them, made it very simple. (I used my husband to help wrap!!) Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI made these and they tasted great, it wasn't gritty at all, but they didn't set up. I froze them overnight just so I could have them stiff enough to roll in wax paper but after that, you had to use your teeth to scrape it off the paper. What did I do wrong?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason it's not letting me reply to each individual message right now! Hope you see this!-
ReplyDeleteStaceyT- AWESOME idea with the pizza cutter!! I'm going to do that next time!
Anonymous- You probably didn't do anything wrong! I made these at my Mom's house the other day and they didn't set up there, either. It could have to do with the power of your microwave. Maybe give it 2 minutes and 20 seconds or so each microwave interval and see if that helps at all! I've also accidentally added too much condensed milk before. I open the can and dump it in the bowl without thinking, when the recipe just calls for 1/2 C! Play around and see what works, I hope you find a way to get them to set up! How frustrating!
If you're looking to save time/cooking spray, I'd recommend using parchment paper instead of wax paper. I tried it with AMAZING results.
ReplyDeleteI tried these last night and they are amazing, and easy! I would like to try dipping in chocolate, any success stories on what type of chocolate to use, and when I would do the chocolate step?
ReplyDelete