Aunt Elizabeths Caramels Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together the caramels and heavy cream, stirring occasionally until smooth.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well blended. Press Half of the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Reserve the rest.
• Bake the crust for 8 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour the caramel mixture over the top and then crumble the remaining crust mixture over everything.
• Return to the oven and bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until the top is lightly toasted. Cut into squares while it is still warm.

Steps:

• Butter a 13x9-inch pan; set aside. Combine all ingredients except vanilla in heavy 4-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture comes to a boil, about 15 to 20 minutes. Continue cooking, until candy thermometer reaches 244°F, or small amount of mixture dropped into ice water forms a firm ball, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Cool completely. Cut into 1 1/2x1-inch pieces; wrap candies in plastic food wrap. Store refrigerated.

Steps:

• Combine sugars and milk and bring to the boil, stirring gently.
• Boil without stirring, until a little mixture forms a very soft ball when dropped in cold water.
• Add butter, remove from heat and cool until lukewarm.
• Beat at medium speed until thick, creamy, and of a consistency to spread.
• If necessary, place over hot water to keep soft while spreading, or beat in a little milk.
• This will fill and frost a 2-layer 9 inch cake.

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and cook on medium-high flame.Stir consistently as the ingredients melt and combine.
• Let mixture come to a rolling boil and continue stirring consistently.
• Mixture will begin to thicken more and more the longer it is allowed to boil. Keep in mind that the caramel will firm up considerably when it is cooled.
• Cook to medium ball stage. Do the drop test to see how firm your caramel is.
• DROP TEST: Get a small bowl and fill it with ice water. Set it to the side of the stove and when you think your Caramel is firming up, take a spoonful and drop it in the ice water. Wait about thirty seconds so it has time to cool, then take the caramel out of the ice water and squish it between your fingers. If it isn't as firm as you want it, cook the caramel for a bit longer and then do another drop test. Keep doing this until it has reached the stage you want. See how easy and simple that was?.
• Remove caramel from heat and let cool for a while in the pan.
• When it is somewhat cooled, pour it out onto a greased counter, or onto parchment paper.Let cool to room temperature.
• Use a pizza cutter to cut strip off the caramel, then cut the strip into small pieces and wrap in pieces of wax or parchment paper. The softer the caramel, the more likely it is to stick to the wrapping. So if you like it really soft, I would suggest you use parchment paper instead of the wax.
• The best thing about this recipe is that it tastes good no matter how hard or soft you cook it. If you want a caramel syrup, then you boil it for a very short while. If you want a caramel toffee, the flavor will still be as wonderful. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have over the years.