gift of caramels

I post a lot about making caramels and my experiments with caramels. I've been looking for ways to package them a little nicer, so when I took some down to my dad as  gift, this is what I came up with.

There is a mix of chocolate covered caramels and shortbread caramels (topped in chocolate) in the box. I've been told that I should try selling them, so there will probably be more experimentation in packaging!

shortbread caramels

I was browsing Pinterest and came across a recipe for shortbread caramels. Since I already make pretty good caramels, I figured trying them with the shortbread would be a fun experiment!

I found the shortbread recipe here, and used my own caramel recipe instead of the one that she used.

Shortbread recipe:
10 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1-2/3 cups flour

Line an 8×8″ pan with parchment paper, leaving some hanging over the sides to make removal easier.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and salt with a pastry cutter or fork. Add the egg yolk and continue mixing.
Add the flour and use your hands to combine the dough until coarse crumbs form. Transfer the dough into the prepared pan and press it down into one even layer.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes, until slightly golden brown. Set aside to cool. 

Then I made my own caramel and poured over the top.

As you can see, the caramel ran over the side of the shortbread quite a bit - the picture is all edge pieces! In the comments of the original blog, this seemed to be a common problem. However, I don't mind a bit of drooping, because I like the consistency of my caramels. They look like little caramel sushi rolls!