Mount Caramel

November 14, 2016 7:15 AM

I need a caramel that will drip when warm, but firm up at room temperature. Help me fulfill my dipped cookie dreams!

For hard-to-describe reasons, I need to make a very specific cookie--one that requires caramel "drips" (imagine the drip effect of a Maker's Mark bottle, but imagine it made with caramel. Now wipe that drool off your face). So I need help finding a recipe that will give me my desired viscosity.

I have made caramels in the past, so I am familiar with the basic techniques (and the inherently fickle nature of molten sugar). I'd like to avoid a "proper" caramel recipe, just because I know it's very finicky, but am willing to tackle various ball stages as needed.

I did buy a jar of pre-made caramel sauce, thinking I could use it while I work on the cookie recipe, but it's very sauce-y. I've read you can thicken sauce on the stove with a cornstarch slurry, but am reluctant to try just yet because I prefer to defer to the wisdom of the hive mind first.

Will simply thickening a pre-made caramel sauce make for a dippable caramel that can firm up at room temperature? Or,

Must I go with a proper caramel procedure, and if so, what recipe/temperature/advice will get me where I want to be? Or,

Is there another solution I'm not thinking of?

posted by Mrs. Rattery to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Best answer: This is a super easy microwave caramel recipe that should work for you. It will firm up to a consistency similar to caramel squares candy, but should be completely drippable when first made and warm. Personally, I like to add 1t salt for a salted caramel recipe, but this is easy enough that you can make a couple of batches in the space of an hour and see what works best for your cookies.
posted by instamatic at 7:30 AM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Did you try melting Kraft caramels and using those? They are used to make caramel apples, and firm up fairly well.
posted by cabingirl at 7:35 AM on November 14, 2016 [4 favorites]

Depending on how much you're making, I recently bought some of this caramel for an event at which we were serving caramel apples, and it worked perfectly, and was delicious to boot. It's solid at room temp, but melts easily (we used crockpots) and re-solidifies nicely to a good consistency.
posted by jferg at 7:44 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've been able to do that with Kraft caramels as cabingirl suggests. You can even warm them to be shapable, make your "drips" and then heat them a tiny bit more to make them really look runny.
posted by advicepig at 7:46 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I am a generally a scratch-made confectionary person but for this purpose I would use Kraft caramels in a hot second.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:55 AM on November 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'd use the caramel from this recipe if you are set on doing from scratch; Stella Parks can basically do no wrong in my book.
posted by miratime at 8:23 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ah, ok. See, I had discounted the Kraft caramels approach because a number of years ago I made a brownie recipe that called for melting those candies down and I recall that they stayed quite gooey still. But maybe that was more a function of being surrounded by brownie innards? Still, this is a low-stakes suggestion that I can get behind!
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 8:24 AM on November 14, 2016

I think the issue with the Kraft caramels in a brownie recipe is due to the moisture in the batter getting sucked into the caramel. Are your cookies moist? If they are dry/crispy, I think the Kraft caramels will be just fine.
posted by Stewriffic at 4:20 PM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]