Caramel and Filberts Anyone?

Did you know that Hazelnut is another name for Filbert? It's true. Have you ever gotten Hazelnuts? I haven't until recently. Before this all I knew about hazelnuts is that they taste Great with chocolate!
This is what Hazelnuts, or Filberts, look like:

I love making caramel. I eat WAY too much of this stuff. I make it a few times a week (shh don't tell!) Caramel is so ridiculously easy and fast to make, and it requires only a few ingredients! (at least the way I make it). I like putting nuts in because that makes it more exciting. For this batch I put in hazelnuts!

It is very impotant to prep everything Before you start making the caramel because it goes really quickly when you start and you won't have time to prep as you go.

Ingredients:
Butter
Salt
Honey
Nuts

1. Toast the hazelnuts on the stovetop. You could also do it in the oven but sometimes I forget them and they come out black and ruined. (*Sad Face) PS:You could use whatever nut you want. I love this with pecans also.

Toasting hazelnuts are very important because it brings out that decicious flavor that everyone loves. If you dont toast them they don't really take like "hazelnut."

2. Chop the nuts. I like doing it in my little food processor because it's fast! But by hand is good too.

3. Set out your Parchment paper. It MUST be parchment. NOT wax, NOT sandwich. Parchment. When the caramel cools it peels Right off the parchment paper- and just sticks to the others.

4. Now for actually making caramel: Stick some butter in a pot. I put about 2 Tablespoons.  Melt the butter completely. I also like putting some salt in because who doens't like sweet and salty? I would put a little in now.

5. Next pour in the honey. I don't measure, just eyeball it, but I would say 1/2 cup of honey sounds about right.

6. Stir the liquid continuously. It will bubble up and at first will be pale yellow. It will gradually get darker and darker as you keep it on the heat.

7. I put the nuts in when it's a nice golden color, just stir them around a few times to coat them with the caramel. Make sure you don't keep the caramel on the stove too long after this point because it can turn dark brown FAST, which means it's burning.

8. Right after I put the nuts in I take the pot off the stove and pour out the mixture on the parchment paper!

9. You could leave it on the counter to cool, but putting it in the refrigerator makes it harden a lot faster.

 10. When it's cooled all the way take it out and either break the pieces apart or cut them with kitchen scissors. The less time you keep the caramel on the stove, the softer it will be, and the longer the harder it will be. Play around with it to see what consistency you like. Oh, and this is great for caramel popcorn! Just omit the nuts.

Enjoy your caramel everyone!