What makes this recipe so fabulous?  It’s soooo easy!  The gooey sweetness reward only tastes like you slaved for days.  I personally don’t make the recipe with nuts.  I also cook on an electric range top and go by time vs. using a candy thermometer and have yet to be disappointed.  Also, when cutting the caramels into squares, I recommend occasionally heating your knife in hot water.  It’ll make cutting quicker and cleaner.  For the holidays it’s great to used colored wax paper for wrapping.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• dash of salt
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 14-oz. can sweetened consensed milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Lightly butter a 9×9x2 inch pan and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a heavy 3 quart saucepan over medium heat; stir in brown sugar and salt.  Stir in corn syrup.  Slowly pour in milk, stirring constantly until blended.
3. Using a candy thermometer, cook to 248 degrees (or approximately 23 minutes!), stirring occasionally.  The mixture will be very bubbly.
4. Remove sauce pan from heat and stir in vanilla and nuts.  Immediately pour into prepared pan.
5. Let candy cool completely before cutting into 1-inch squares.  Wrap each square in waxed paper or plastic wrap and store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Yields:

About 2 pounds