Grandma's Super Easy Caramel Chews

My grandma (Lois Wilbert)  has taught me how to make these through the years. These candies taste like Werther's Hard Caramels. You can also dip apples on a stick into liquid for caramel apples. (There will be a lot!!!) Shout out to Jeanna Livingston for telling me to post this.

Step 1: What You Need

What you will need:

Ingredients:

3 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup cream
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margerine
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
More butter

Useful Tools:

3 quart pan
Candy thermometer
Cookie sheet with raised edges
Pizza Cutter
Wax paper
Spoon

Comments

[rubyniall]

can you use whipping cream instead of cream?

[garrettg]

I should work :) -Garrett

[armywife89]

Hi I tried the recipe and mine turned out beige instead or caramel did I do something wrong

[garrettg]

Do they taste like caramel?

[Starleaf]

any way I can leave out the corn syrup?I never have that stuff.

[garrettg]

Try honey. I myself have never tried it. But the chemistry says why wouldn't it work?

[wmkcross]

Substitutes for corn syrup GOLDEN SYRUP RICE SYRUP BARLEY MALT SYRUP ALFALFA HONEY .....If making a caramel, and a recipe calls for corn syrup, you can substitute a dash of lemon juice or cream of tartar, which performs nearly the same function.

[AussieAnglerGal]

golden syrup works as a substitute :D

[katebetak]

i think you can use honey instead. hopefully it wont be that different! :) hope this helps.

[suayres]

There's a very good reason for the corn syrup: it keeps the sugar in the caramel from crystallizing and ruining your recipe. I don't like using it myself, as my daughter is violently allergic to corn and it's many products. You could try making it without, but it's risky.

[MsMissyG]

You can use Tapioca Syrup ...if you can find it.

[suayres]

I believe you can also use Lyle's Golden Syrup. You can find it at larger grocery stores. What you need is some form of invert sugar.

[bowow0807]

try to make your own it is really easy to make just sugar, water, and cream of tartar just search it up on google "how to make homemade corn syrup"

[eggyeggyeggy]

Or, search it up on INSTRUCTABLES duuuuhhhh ;D

[TT-MON!]

DOH! hahahahaha

[WhyHello]

win!

[katebetak]

hahaha!

[bowow0807]

well i tried that before nothing came up only recipes that say to use cornsyrup so that why i used google next
"if instructibles fails, there is alway google"

[tutdude98]

What can i use instead of corn syrup???

[porkchoppiggy]

I used glucose syrup because they don't sell corn syrup in Australia ( or it really hard to find) and that worked perfectly :D

[tutdude98]

In Croatia they dont sell corn or glucose syrup ;P

[garrettg]

Try honey :)

[Kush222]

Awesome recipe!! I replaced the "1 cup butter" with homemade "cannabusbutter" wonderful and delicious...

[susanchen2011]

Easy and quick to make. THX.

[mikeltv1]

What to use as a substitute for corn syrup?

[AussieAnglerGal]

well it depends on where u are, but u can use Golden Syrup
(here in Australia, its HARD to find corn syrup)
or make your own corn syrup (assuming your not allergic to it that is)
to find a recipe (if instructables doesn't have the answer)
google it :D

[sliacco]

Hi! I need your help. I have done this recipe 3 times and I must say that I love how it tastes and how easy it is to make! However, on those 3 separate occasions, I am unable to remove the caramel from the cookie sheet with raised edges. The first time I tried this, I used Crisco because I couldn't find a cooking spray in my area, the second time I used vegetable oil. The third time, I finally found non-stick cooking spray but still, the caramel stuck to the foil. I wrap the cookie sheets with foil and then grease it. Should I try making it without the foil? Should I use parchment paper instead? What am I doing wrong? I need your help! Thanks!

[garrettg]

I am so sorry about the delay! You should use a buttered dish. I would leave off the foil as it can get a little messy. I hope this helps!

- Garrett Mykel Lucas-Groves

[Flying_MashedPotatoes]

what if you dont have a candy thermometer??? can you just Guess the temp by: "well, the caramel is liquidy, that should be enough"

[Powder-monkey]

Use the water test.

You can break down candy by stages

Hard Ball, soft ball, ect. Chewy caramel will be a soft ball. Take a spoonful and drop it into a bowl of water, when it cools you want it to be the way you imagine your caramel chew to be. If it's too liquidy, cook longer. Too hard, you cooked it for too long.

This is how I make my hard candies-I never use a thermometer.

[Flying_MashedPotatoes]

How long does it take to go from softball to hardball? if it's under 10sec, you'd have a hard time, since the event would go like this:

1. *hmm time to test*, picks up sample.
2. Tests....... oh this looks like a good consistency
3.*back at stove* "Time to take it off of the heat"
4. "---Oh no! its already gone to hardball stage!....the 10sec it took to measure was too long and it cooked for too long and now it's ruined D:"

or

1. "looks like a good consistency"
2. Takes off heat...
3. Leaves off the heat, added flavour, and about to pour into tray.
4. "---Oh no!, the Heat of the pot was hot enough to cook the candy for too long and now it's in hardball stage in the middle of adding flavour and pouring it out of the pot D:"

Any tips on gaining a high success rate to get to Medium-ball? ie. gooey but also hard, but not too gooey and not too hard, I'd like a consitency of a Tootsie-Roll, if that is even possible.

Thank you.

[garrettg]

No. Candy making is very precise. There is no guessing what so ever. it isn't like "Well it's boiling so it's close enough." It either is or it isn't.

[Flying_MashedPotatoes]

well, i used a meat thermometer that i had, i guess i didnt boil it long enough because it never solidified after cooling, even when i left it in the freezer over night. but it works well on icecream :D

[lemonie]

Please use a camera, not pictures of other people's stuff.

L

[Flying_MashedPotatoes]

i Made this and i tried a bit before it was hardend... it tasted pretty mild, is there a way to make it a stronger caramel flavour?

[garrettg]

Add more butter! The caramel flavor is just really sugar and butter.

[bduivis]

Could you use maple syrup instead?Because I'm from Amsterdam and my mom got a bottle from a relative from Canada,and since i'm not sure if i can get corn syrup around here, I thought of using that.

[garrettg]

You know I've never tried that. Ive made bbq sauce with it tho.

[bigmama1079]

Finally, a sound caramel recipe that doesn't use sweetened condensed milk. I highly recommend using cheap vanilla extract here though, because the good stuff is usually pure alcohol (or close to it) and will vaporize, along with most of its flavor, the moment it hits the sauce.

[garrettg]

I agree :)