Oh my God are these delicious. I have to pull the whole “out of sight, out of mind” thing, because otherwise I’ll sit on the sofa and eat 20 of them before I know what’s happened. There’s just enough spice and salt in them to not overpower the palette with sweetness, and the walnuts are perfectly crunchy - it’s like a caramel-gasm. 

I’ve been making this candy every holiday season for the past 8 years, and they’ve gotten better every year. Candy making is a serious fucking business; it requires exact measurements or it just won't come out right.  I'm personally not a huge fan of rules, so it pretty much goes against every instinct I have, but my inner project manager gets really excited about working within constraints. I’ve had them turn out too hard, too soft, too sticky, etc., and this year I finally nailed them. 

Before we move any further, this base recipe comes directly from the queen, Martha Stewart. I do make some changes, and I added a new spice this year that worked out great, but the brainchild is all Martha. 

Martha’s Recipe:

• Vegetable oil (for oiling the baking pan/parchment paper)
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in pieces
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup (don’t skimp here, get the real deal)
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

My changes:

1. I use 2 teaspoons of vanilla instead of 1/2 teaspoon - I feel like it really intensifies the buttery/vanilla/caramel flavor.
2. I use 2 teaspoons of salt - fleur de sel that I brought home from France in this case, because I'm clearly a coastal-elitist-asshole, but kosher salt works well, too. There’s something really special about salted caramel, and I’ve found that adding a bit more salt rounds out the sweetness of the sugars perfectly. 
3. Instead of a pinch of cayenne, I add a full quarter teaspoon. I also add a half teaspoon of garam masala; this might sound weird, like…why are you putting curry seasoning into candy? Because it's fucking delicious. The ingredients in garam masala are part of what’s already going into the caramel, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, but also contains coriander, cumin, cardamom, and pepper. This spice blend teams up with the salt and creates such an amazing flavor, with a tiny little kick in the back of your throat. It goes great with a glass of bourbon by the fire. 

Random kitchen tools that will make your life 100% better:

Parchment paper
Pastry brush
Candy thermometer
Digital thermometer
Wooden spoon
Wax paper, cut into 3x3” squares (like, a lot of them)

Directions:

Lightly brush some vegetable oil onto a 9x13-inch baking pan - I use the same pan I bake brownies in; it’s a non-stick metal. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment, but leave 2 inches on the long sides so you can pick the caramel up and put it onto a cutting board when it’s all done. Set aside. 

Toast the walnuts in a pan over medium/medium-low heat. Be patient. When you get that “Ooooo these smell amazing” thought in your head, they’re done. Sometime there’s a bunch of flake from the walnut skins, so a trick here is putting them in a small colander and shaking them above the sink before setting them aside. 

Position the candy thermometer so that it’s clipped to the side of the saucepan, but not touching the bottom of the pot. Have the digital thermometer handy. Bring the ingredients in the saucepan to a boil over over high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves (you’ll actually see the mixture darken when this happens). Once it’s bubbling, reduce the heat to medium/medium-high. You want it to be hot enough that the temperature will continue to rise, but not so hot it burns, and this varies by stove. Cook the caramel, stirring it occasionally, until the digital thermometer and candy thermometer read 248 degrees F. It takes about 15-20 minutes. 

A few words to the wise: when the caramel starts bubbling, it’s going to double in volume, and the last thing you want is boiled-over caramel all over the stove (I’ve been there, and it takes FOREVER to clean up). Take that wooden spoon I mentioned earlier and just place it over the sides of the pot (see photo). The wood will keep it from boiling over. It’s fucking magic. 

Also, don’t walk away, because if you go over 248 degrees, the whole thing's fucking ruined.  

I have two thermometers on the caramel. There’s the candy thermometer that’s sitting in the mixture the entire time, mercury slowly rising. It’s a high quality thermometer, but sometimes I don’t trust it. This is why I have my digital out, too - the digital thermometer I have is crazy-accurate, and one of the highest rated out there. So I trust the digital thermometer, but want the candy one in there for comparison. They’re pretty close, but the digital is better. 

As soon as you reach a consistent 248 degrees, pull the pot off the heat, and stir in the vanilla, spice/salt mixture, and the walnuts. Make sure it’s fully mixed together, and then pour it onto the baking sheet. It’s warm enough that it should spread out evenly.

Put this somewhere it won't get disturbed, uncovered, and let it hang out overnight. Martha says at least 8 hours and up to a day - mine is usually about 12-14 hours or so. Once mine is cooled, I put some tinfoil over it, loosely, because I have three dogs, and no one needs a random dog hair in their Christmas candy. 

When it’s ready, lift it out using the parchment handles and place the caramel onto a big cutting board. Using a super sharp kitchen knife, cut the caramel into strips, and then into whatever sized pieces you want. Wrap them in the waxed paper. You can also use fancy candy wrappers like in one of my photos - I did a mix of them this year, because I boxed some up and overnighted them to a friend of mine in Arizona (they’re her fave). 

Enjoy!

Click here for the basic caramel recipe or to see other variations/related recipes from Martha Stewart.