Cranberry or Pineapple Caramels

This is a favorite Christmas candy in my family. The cranberry caramels are a little tart with the sweet and you can really taste the butter in the pineapple caramels.

Original recipe makes 45 1-inch squares

Ingredients

1 cup finely chopped cranberries
1 cup white sugar
1 cup corn syrup (such as Karo®)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup butter

PREP

10 mins
COOK

25 mins
READY IN

1 hr 35 mins

Directions

Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
Combine cranberries, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a heavy, large saucepan; bring to a boil. Heat to 245 degrees F (118 degrees C) or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface, 20 to 30 minutes.
Gradually stir cream and butter into cranberry mixture, keeping the boil steady. Cook until 245 degrees F (118 degrees C) is reached again, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Cool caramel in pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Remove caramel from pan, cut, and wrap individually or serve from pan.