Sharon’s Valentine Caramels
Don’t you love when the door bell rings and it’s a friend on the doorstep with treats? Yesterday, as I was busy cooking a dinner for the teachers at our school, my door bell rang. And much to my delight it was a friend sharing her delicious homemade Cinnamon Caramels.
They were so fun and delicious that I was surprised to find out they were made in the microwave… and take around ten minutes to make. Is that possible?
Yes.
And Sharon generously shared her recipe with us all.
Thank you Sharon, they are absolutely wonderful. And they are so pretty and perfect for Valentine’s Day. Now if you’ll excuse me. I’m off to the store to buy cinnamon and anise oil… I can’t wait to try them out myself.
Microwave Caramels
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Light Karo Syrup (not dark-doesn’t set right)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Buttered 8×8 baking dish
Melt butter in large microwave bowl. Stir in Karo syrup, both sugars and sweetened condensed milk. Microwave on high 6-6 1/2 minutes. Stir down and scrape sides of bowl every 2 minutes.
Stir in vanilla and nuts (if you add them at all).
Pour into buttered dish and refrigerate until set.
Cut into squares and wrap each in wax paper. Enjoy!
(Sharon’s note: I have made these at least seven times and they have turned out perfectly every time. I have found that 6 minutes and 15 seconds is the perfect length of time in my microwave.)
To use up the other half of the condensed milk just make another batch. Don’t double the recipe cause it doesn’t work.
Sharon’s Note:
*To make yummy cinnamon caramels, instead of adding the one teaspoon vanilla, substitute one half dram of cinnamon oil, (I got mine at Gygi’s) and half a teaspoon of red food coloring paste.
*To make licorice caramels substitute one half dram of anise oil and half a teaspoon of black food coloring paste.
These look yummy! I can’t wait to try making them, the caramel and the cinnamon varieties.
Coincidently, I teach college math, and just last week we did a section on unit conversions. I believe my exact words were “nobody uses scruples and drams anymore.” Looks like I’m wrong! Can’t wait to go back and show them this recipe. Where is Sharon from?
Carol, Sharon lives in Utah. I must confess, I didn’t even know what a dram was. I needed to Google it. I sure you could tell me better than WikiAnswers… but I it said to use about 3/4 teaspoon to equal 1 dram.
Calli and Carol. I used exactly half of the 1 dram bottle that I got at Gygi”s per recipe. I did pour it carefully into a measuring spoon and it was just under a half teaspoon. Remember you shouldn’t try to double this recipe. You can buy an entire pint of cinnamon oil at Gygi’s for about $87.00. I couldn’t do that, especially when I didn’t know if the caramels would turn out anyway, since I had never made the cinnamon ones. So, I bought the little four pack of one dram bottles that contained two bottles of cinnamon, one of anise, and one of clove. (Don’t know for sure what I’m going to do with the clove oil.) The four pack cost 4.99. I figure I can get six batches of caramels from the two cinnamons and one anise, so it wasn’t too much. Good luck girls and Happy February!
No school today, my granddaughter and I were looking for something easy to make. We are waiting for the caramels to cool.
To have a preview of how they would turn out after cooling, we took a glass of ice cold water and dropped a small portion of the caramel into it. It was perfect. While we are waiting we will get some wax paper cut. Thanks Calli.
They look so yummy and perfect for valentine’s day.