Cayenne Caramels with a Pretzel Bacon Crust

4.67 from 6 votes

Cayenne Caramels with a Pretzel Bacon Crust

Whether you’re looking for a unique and addicting holiday treat, or you need something quick and easy to give out to neighbors and coworkers, these cayenne caramels with a pretzel bacon crust are the perfect holiday treat.

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Cooling Time6

Total Time6 50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Comfort Food, Party Food

Keyword: Cayenne Caramels

Servings: people

Author: Susie Bulloch

Ingredients

Caramels

1 cup margarine or equal amounts butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pretzel Bacon Crust

½ pound bacon cooked, drained, and crumbled
1 ½ cups mini pretzels
4 Tablespoons butter melted
4 Tablespoons brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Make the crust. In a large food processor, pour in the pretzels, bacon, brown sugar, and butter. Pulse 10-15 times until the pretzels have broken down into very small pieces. Press the crust into an even layer on the bottom of a 9x13 inch glass pan that has been coated in non-stick spray. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven to cool.
Make the caramel. While the crust is baking, begin making your caramel. In a large 3-5 quart mixing bowl combine the margarine, sugar, and corn syrup. Microwave for 5 minutes. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon and slowly add in the can of sweetened condensed milk. Continue stirring until the milk is well combined.
Finish cooking. Microwave for an additional 10 minutes, stopping the microwave to stir the caramels every 2-3 minutes. Stir the mixture each time until no more bubbles appear. Temperature test the caramel each time it comes out of the microwave. Your target temperature for the perfect chewy texture is 240 degrees F and the color of the caramel closely resembles a paper sack. Use a quick read digital thermometer to take your temperature readings.
Adjust cook time as needed. If your caramels are close to the correct temperature, but not quite done after 10 minutes, return to the microwave in 1-minute intervals until the correct temperature is reached.
Assemble. When the caramel is done cooking, stir in the vanilla and cayenne pepper. Carefully pour the hot caramel over the pretzel bacon crust and
Cool and slice. Allow the caramels to cool for about 6 hours before slicing into 1-inch squares and wrapping in wax paper. You can let them cool in the fridge to speed up the process and have a firmer caramel, but cold caramels are harder to slice than at room temperature.

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