Homemade Caramels {Sweets and Treats #3}

Have you ever made homemade caramel? I haven't, and was very pleased with these. My cousin, Mark, emailed me the recipe a few weeks ago because he thought I'd like to have it. I was thankful for that, because who doesn't like to get a family recipe for something? These were great. They make a TON! If you don't need a TON, then I recommend halving this recipe. I wrapped about half of this up and handed it out and then with a fourth of it I made the Twix bars and now I still have a ton to use up! I'm thinking more Twix bars...

Homemade Caramels
from my cousin Mark

Ingredients:
2 pounds brown sugar
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 pound (4 sticks) butter
16 ounces light corn syrup
2 Tablespoons Vanilla

Directions:

First, grease 1 or 2 (9x13) pans with butter. (I only used one, but it really depends on how big you want your caramels. For this recipe, you could easily use two 9x13 pans.) In large pot over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar. Once sugar is dissolved, add in corn syrup. Next, slowly add in sweetened condensed milk, stirring the whole time. Heat mixture to boiling and until a candy thermometer reads about 245 degrees. Continue to stir constantly so the bottom doesn't get scorched. You'll be stirring for awhile, so be prepared. Once the mixture is starting to thicken up, and the temperature is around 245 degrees you're ready to spread it in a pan and let it cool on counter for at least 2 hours. After 2 hours, if caramel is completely cool, remove it from the pan and slice into small pieces. You can use wax paper to wrap them up individually, just wrap a small piece around the caramel piece and twist the ends.