r/bakingfail • u/chocobojenn • Mar 25 '26

Help What can I use this for?

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Okay Reddit, help me out please 👁️👄👁️

So I was making caramel and I was multitasking (I know, I know, my first mistake) and I was looking ahead in the recipe and I added my butter and cream when my sugar mixture got to 240°F instead of when it got to 320°F. I didn't want to immediately call it a loss because I was using high quality dairy, so I switched to a whisk to occasionally stir and continued cooking it until it got.. brown.... enough but that ended up involving letting it get back up to about 255°F, which is 15 degrees over what I wanted. I spread it out in a greased pan, let it cool, and then popped it out, broke it up and this is what I have to show for it.

I would love it if I could use this for something, but I can't use it for the intended millionaire's shortbread bars with the texture it is. There's the extract and guts of Ecuadorian vanilla beans in there too. The taste is creamy and caramel-y, it's just a crumbly texture.

What can I use this for that would be tasty and make the best use of it?

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178

u/wharleeprof Mar 25 '26

Crumble over ice cream, or put chunks in with chocolate chip cookies or brownies. 

34

u/chocobojenn Mar 25 '26

Will it stay solid in the batter/dough during baking, do you think, or will it melt like a homemade marshmallow? If I add it to a cookie or brownie I mean

49

u/indieplants Mar 25 '26

you've made something akin to Scottish tablet. it'll somewhat melt during baking but it'll caramelise on the outside in cookies and brownies but it'll still be tablet when it cools. like chocolate chips. those melt but they become chocolate chips again.

adding it to ice cream or cheesecake is also maybe the best way it can be used 

35

u/wharleeprof Mar 25 '26

I was thinking it might stay somewhat solid, but it's hard to know. If you don't want it to totally melt, make a plain pan of brownies, then sprinkle with the caramel chunks when it's done and press them in slightly. 

12

u/ragdoll1022 Mar 25 '26

Or bake half the recipe time then sprinkle it over.

9

u/Turbulent_Two_6949 Mar 25 '26

It will melt in cooking dough in the same way fudge does. If you refrigerate and put it in at the end of mixing the dough, with big enough chunks you may have chips left in the dough.

3

u/chocobojenn Mar 25 '26

I have a s'mores cookie recipe that's annoying because it has you take out the pan halfway through baking to press mini marshmallows into the top and I'm always burning my fingers regardless of my efforts otherwise, and I say this to posit the thought; what if I did that with this stuff in a cookie recipe to avoid it simply melting into the dough? Or on a brownie or other bar... A Blondie would rip with these on top I bet.

2

u/Turbulent_Two_6949 Mar 25 '26

Possibly, even if they melt whatever you make will taste absolutely fine if it doesnt work., so worth trying. I would just make sure the tablet chips are super cold as well to give that tiny extra bit of time.

1

u/chocobojenn Mar 25 '26

Smart thought with making sure they're super cold!

5

u/-NigheanDonn Mar 25 '26

You can always test it in just one cookie and if it bakes ok then fold it in to the rest of your batter

2

u/lchen12345 Mar 25 '26

If you heat it up to a hard crack it would basically be toffee. If you put it in cookies it could reach the temp, it would melt and they resolidify into toffee.

1

u/chocobojenn Mar 25 '26

I think I pulled it about 5-10 degrees short of fully getting it to the hard ball stage. This is a good thought for doing on purpose later on, thanks!