Soft Buttery Homemade Pecan Caramels

Good morning friends, how are you? Are you slowing inching your way towards the end of your Christmas to-do list? Can I be honest? I have crossed a few things off the list that are not going to get done this year(i.e, half of my Christmas cards, a few cookie recipes, some Christmas diy decor projects) I am giving myself grace to enjoy the holiday and let go of the things that are just not that important to me right now.

I have been baking and candy making all week and one of the recipes on my list this year was caramels. My grandmother and mother both made/make excellent caramels, myself not so much. Over the years the recipes I have tried have been hit or miss, sometimes they turn out soft and chewy other times they are hard and crunchy like a Werther’s caramel. Two years ago I made 6 batches and they all turned into “Werther’s, my sister and my mother loved them because they love hard candy. I gave up after that but this year I had a mission to make a successful batch and in fact I made two! I used a recipe from Taste of Home 2010.

Soft, Buttery Homemade Pecan Caramels

2 tsp. plus 1 cup of butter, divided

11/4 cup of sugar

11/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup dark corn syrup

2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

1 lb chopped pecans

1 tsp. vanilla extract

wax paper to wrap the caramels

Line the bottom of a 13 x 9″ baking pan with foil, using the 2 tsp. of butter grease the pan and set aside.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, remaining butter and 1 cup of heavy cream. Cook and stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Slowly pour in the remaining cup of heavy cream. Cook the mixture without stirring until the temperature reaches 245(firm-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Do not over cook this mixture because the caramels will turn out hard.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and the pecans. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, do not scrape the pan. Let the caramels stand until firm. Remove the caramels from the pan using the foil, peel the foil off the candy and cut the candy into whatever shape you want, squares, rectangles. Wrap the caramels in waxed paper.

NOTES/TIPS

When lining the pan with foil leave an over hang on each side, almost like handles, for easy removal from the pan.

Use a large saucepan otherwise you will have boiling caramel all over your stove.

This recipe is easy and takes no time at all to come together but once it comes to a boil it takes awhile for it to reach firm ball stage.

These caramels are soft, creamy, buttery, rich and delicious. I made one batch without nuts and one with pecans. You can make them with nuts, or without, with chocolate chips, or pretzels, etc. The caramels are easy to make, in fact the most time consuming thing is cutting all of the waxed paper and wrapping the caramels.

You can add these caramels to your candy or cookie tray, put them in gift baskets or just put them in cellophane bags tied with ribbon and gift them to family and friends.

Do you like to make homemade candy? Have you ever made homemade caramels? Do you have a tried and true recipe that you use? Today I am making “Fairy Food” and Brownie Truffle Bites, what are you baking or making?

Thank you so much for stopping by today friends, I appreciate you spending part of your day here. You can also find me on Facebook.com/Pineconesandacornsblog, on Instagram @pineconesandacorns, on Pinterest and Twitter!

Have a great day friends.