Salted Beer Caramel
I use the holidays as an excuse to do some baking that I wouldn’t normally do throughout the year. Because of all the beer drinking we do, we try to eat healthy and exercise to hopefully counteract it all. So when I came across a recipe for salted beer caramel, egg nog fudge, and molasses cookies… Ugh I just can’t resist when there is an excuse to bake!
These caramels turned out so darn magical. They were super easy too, the hardest part was staying in one spot to stir for what felt like hours to a hyper active person like myself. This recipe also makes a whole bunch of individual bites which I wrapped in wax paper and stuffed in mason jars as a gift to friends.
The beer I used was the Terrapin PumpkinFest. Thanks to my brother for leaving one in the fridge because it was the perfect beer for holiday caramels. One person who tried a few caramels said it tasted like pumpkin pie.
Salted Beer Caramel
Ingredients
2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks of butter
1 cup corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 12 oz. bottle of a delicious beer (I used Terrapin’s PumpkinFest)
Sea salt
Optional: pretzels
Directions
- Melt butter and brown sugar together in medium saucepan over medium heat
- Slowly add beer, corn syrup, and then the condensed milk while stirring constantly
- Cook caramels to 240°F; do not stop stirring once milk is added or caramels will scorch
- Once you reach 240°F remove mixture off of heat and stir in vanilla extract
- Pour mixture into 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle sea salt on top of caramels when warm, not piping hot otherwise the salt disappears/melts into the caramel. Let caramels set until firm enough to cut which can be a few hours until completely cool
- Optional: Press pretzels on top of hot caramels for an added salty crunch