This caramel recipe is all purpose. Use it for dipping apples. Or pour it into an 8″ square baking dish lined with buttered foil, let it cool, then cut into squares and wrap each with waxed paper. Bet caramels ever. Or try stirring some toasted almonds or walnuts into your finished caramel. Then after you cut it in squares, dip the bottom of each square in chocolate. Better than See’s.
1 cup butter
16 oz pkg brown sugar (2-1/4 cups packed)
2 cups half & half
1 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Wash your apples and if they’re coated with wax (as all grocery store apples are), dip briefly in very hot water and scrub with a paper towel to get off as much wax as you can. Put your apples in the refrigerator to get cold; the caramel will stick better and harden faster.
Before dipping, wipe the apples with a paper towel to make sure the outsides are dry, and insert a heavy stick about 6″ long.
Put everything except for the vanilla in a pot. Cook and stir over medium heat until it reaches 248 degrees. Then stir in the teaspoon of vanilla. This will take about an hour, but good things take time. After dipping your apples in the hot caramel, put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to cool.