Soft Caramels

 

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When it’s Girl Scout cookie time, I always choose Samoas. Most of the rest of the cookies (besides Thin Mints), I think I can make just as well on my own. I had a bunch of flaked coconut I wanted to use up and had seen a recipe for homemade Samoas on Pinterest, so I gave it a try. The cookie recipe also included instructions on how to make your own caramels which would be used in the topping. I have always wanted to make soft caramels and the process seemed pretty easy.

The ingredients in the caramels are simple: butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and salt. It requires you to heat up everything in a pot and cook until 240^oF, then pour into a parchment-lined dish to cool. That’s it! 

The original recipe I was using said to heat the caramel to 248^oF, which gave me hard caramels...not what I was looking for. So I made them again and heated the caramel to 240^oF, which made the soft caramels I had been dreaming of. Perfect!

I tried the Samoas, and the topping turned out great (just melted caramel and flaked coconut), but the crust on the bottom wasn't very good. I am still working on perfecting this recipe. In the mean time, I thought I’d share the caramel recipe. Even if you've never made candy before, this recipe is foolproof. The only thing you need for sure is a candy thermometer. I love my Wilton thermometer, because it lets you adjust the clip for any size pan.

Here’s the full recipe for the caramels (I halved everything and it fit nicely in a 9 x 9 pan to cool):

Soft Caramels (Adapted from Instructables.com)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 lb.(about 2 ¼ cups) light brown sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup light corn syrup

½ teaspoon or more salt (I added more at the end because I love the salt and caramel combination)

1 t. vanilla

2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or butter. I used a 9 x 9 Pyrex dish for the half recipe. Then, to make it easier for me to lift out the caramels later, I lined the pan with parchment paper (waxed paper would also work). Buttering the tray before adding the paper helps keep it from slipping around while you're pouring in the hot caramel mixture.

In a large pot over high heat, bring sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, sugar, salt, and butter to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Continue to cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches 240^oF, soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer, about 5-8 minutes. (If you want chewier caramels, cook until 245 ^oF).

Remove from heat and immediately stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. If you're adding nuts to the whole batch, stir them in now too. Pour into the prepared pan and let stand uncovered until completely cooled.

Remove the caramel from the pan and cut using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. I cut mine into small rectangles, then rolled them in parchment paper and twisted the edges. The caramel is also somewhat malleable, so you can roll them into small logs before wrapping.