The Perfect Caramel Recipe

If you're looking for the best caramel recipe, keep it simple. The simple recipes always taste the best (they just have more of that homemade flavor). Try one of the following recipes, they are both simple and delicious. The caramel Chex mix recipe is also a favorite at parties and is great to snack on.

Technique

Making caramels is an art and a science. The caramels have to be cooked to a certain point. A few seconds too long and they will turn out too hard to eat; a few seconds too short and they won't set up. The best way to know when your caramel is done is to use a thermometer (if your recipe includes the target temperature). This is the scientific way to get the same results every time.

Most of us do not own a candy thermometer, so we must rely on the art of caramel making. Recipes usually tell you to take the caramel off of the heat when it reaches a "soft ball stage" or a "hard ball stage". This is simply a technique of dropping a spoonful of hot liquid into ice water, then testing the consistency. Your caramel has reached a soft ball stage when you can pick it up out of the water and form a soft gooey ball. It has reached the hard ball stage when you can pick it up out of the water and mold a ridged well formed ball.

	Caramels
	Ingredients: 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 cup butter 2 cups white sugar 1 1/2 cups corn syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla Directions: Cook over low heat stirring constantly until soft-ball stage. Pour into buttered 9"x13" pan. Cut when cool. Recipe By: Shirley Jentzsch from her neighbor Mary Chugg

	Caramels
	Ingredients: 1 cup fresh cream 1 cube real butter 1 cup sugar 7/8 cup corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla Directions: Put half the butter, half the cream, sugar, and syrup in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add remaining cream and butter. Cook 8-12 minutes until a firm ball stage (244-248°). Add vanilla and 1/2 cup pecans, if desired. Butter pan or dish and pour caramels into it. Recipe By: Kyla Bodily

	Caramel Chex Mix
	Ingredients: 1 cup butter 1 1/2 cups corn syrup 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 box corn or rice Chex 1 pound peanuts (optional) Directions: Combine butter, corn syrup, sugar, and vanilla in saucepan; boil for 2 minutes. Pour over Chex, (and peanuts if desired) toss to coat. Recipe By: Shirley Jentzsch from her neighbor Darlene Moser

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