Butterscotch Candies

     My sister and I both love butterscotch candy and the only time we get them is when my mom goes to the chiropractor, the Dr. puts out a little dish of peppermints she has on the counter, and there is always a few butterscotch hidden amongst all the other candies.
     So the other day I wanted to make something new, and I ended up looking through my moms old candy-making book and I found this recipe for 'Butterscotch Pillows' I wanted to try.  The only problem was that I don't have and metal candy making bars so I couldn't shape them into the long logs that it says to do.  Instead I went ahead and made little lollipops out of the candy, take a look.

WARNING!!!!  Working with the hot candy syrup can be very dangerous so you must be VERY careful! 

First, melt down one stick of butter.  It is butterscotch after all!

After the butter is melted you need to add the other stuff.  Just as a warning, you don't want to stir this to often otherwise the candy will look kinda funky and dull when your all done.

I had a hard time getting a picture of adding the corn syrup and water, but trust me it's in there.  You can see a little bit of the corn syrup on the sugar and that's about it.

Once you mix up all of the ingredients you are going to keep stirring NON STOP until EVERYTHING is dissolved.  Then DON'T mess with it!!!

This is when it starts to get boring because it takes about an hour to cook down.  I put on the thermometer onto the side of the an and waited for it to reach 278°.... 

Right here I was starting to freak out cause I thought that it was going to spill over the pan, but when I gave it a little stir it was okay.  Don't start to stir until the bubbles start to come and even then don't stir very often.  Maybe only three or four times through out the whole time cooking it.

This was about half way through and I couldn't believe how much it reduced!  When I started out the pan was about half full, then at this point there was half of that left.  Also it started out as white, and then it just kept getting darker in color until it turned a caramel-ish color and it was really pretty.

Once it reached the right temperature....

I took it off the heat and added a little bit of lemon juice, that's to help stay the way it is and not crystallize.

Then I mixed once more to mix in the lemon.

And you have to keep mixing until all of the bubbles go away.

Then I poured it into a 8x8 in. greased pan, and I let it sit for 30 minutes so it could set a little.

It was a little warm, but I took little grape sized chunks and rolled them into balls.  You've go to work fast, otherwise that candy will get hard on you.

 

 See?  This is half way through.

Then I stuck tooth picks in them to make little lollipops

 
Some of them sagged a little bit, but that was only cause it was humid out and it messed up the drying time.

Here is a close up...

  
And here is what happens when you let Jillian 'help' you roll, you end up with one normal one, one corn dog looking one and one hairball looking one.  Guess what ones she is going to have to eat?

Butterscotch Candy:  Yields a lot.

1/2 c. butter

2 c. white sugar

1/2 light corn syrup

3/4 c. water

1 t. lemon juice

TURN the heat to med. and put the butter in a three quart sauce pan until it melts.  Add the sugar, water, corn syrup and continuously mix until all the sugar is dissolved.  Clip the candy thermometer to the side of the pan and let the mixture continue cooking until it reaches 278° stirring occasionally so it won't burn.  Take off heat and mix in lemon, keep mixing until all the bubbles are gone, pour into greased pan and let sit for 30 min.  When cool enough to touch, slightly oil your hands and roll into tight balls, insert tooth pick.  Repeat until all are complete.  Let cool completely.

TIP!  If your candy gets too hard while your working with it, just put in a 200° oven for a few minutes and it will soften again.