This recipe has been a family favorite for years. It's easy to make, and is a great gift for friends and neighbors during the Holidays.

Step 1: Ingredients

1 Cup butter
1 1/3 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup corn syrup
1/4 Cup water
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Toppings (optional)

chocolate
chopped nuts (typically almonds)

You'll notice that this is mostly butter and sugar. But this is the Holidays, and we don't think about that until January. Place all of the ingredients into a saucepan. Take a piece of tin foil and pull up the edges a little to form a type of pan to let the candy cool on when it is done.

Note: You can halve the recipe if you'd like, but be careful doubling it, or it may not cook correctly.

Step 2: Stir

Now for the hardest part. Get ready to spend about the next 10 minutes of your life stirring. Put the stove on medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the candy is ready. As the butter melts, the color will be slightly golden. Then it will bubble and foam. Once the foaming goes down, the candy will get really shiny. Then the color will change to a pale tone. Once the candy starts to tan/brown a little, it is done and ready to be poured. If you would like, now would be the time to stir in vanilla.

Note: The paler the candy, the chewier it will be, and the browner you let it go, the crunchier it will get. Experiment and see what you like.

Step 3: Pour the Candy

Pour the candy into the tin tray you made earlier. It will need to cool there. Cleanup is super easy. Since it is sugar and butter, you can just fill the pan with hot water, and that will clean up most of the candy. Then it's easy to start another batch if you would like.

Step 4: Score the Candy

Once the candy has cooled a couple of minutes, but is still soft, score the candy into squares using the back side of a butter knife. This will make is easy to break the candy up once the candy has cooled completely.

Step 5: Add Toppings

Once the candy has cooled you can melt chocolate onto the top, or even dip it. It's also good to roll it in chopped nuts.

Variation

A popular variation, that I love, is pouring the hot candy on some popcorn. Stir it up until cooled. Then break it up a little before it completely hardens so that you have nice chunks. You can drizzle chocolate on top of that. It's a great snack.

Hope you enjoy this easy favorite and Happy Holidays!