Cathy, you've hit on the thing that I keep threatening to try, but haven't yet. Maybe this year, but I've never been able to make a successful batch of caramel anything, it always turns to cement.

Annie

They are bad....soooo bad! I haven't made them in about 2 years....because they are so bad and contribute to my sins!
Now I am remembering that cheesy sweet, buttery poufy preseravitive filled yumminess and can't get it out of my mind!

Oh mustangs81 don't be to sure those 10 yrs won't notice......after dealing with Brownies,Cub Scouts and being room mom many times it did not take long to realize how honest those little ones are. If the cookies or punch was bad they would say yuck this is terrible....if cookies or drink was to to their liking...they were back for seconds, even thirds.

i always like to furnish my own treats and not depend on the Moms who just didn't care..... Those little guys are so honest...

I don't know the treat or the recipe...but failure when making anything caramel that you have done so well in the past is possibly confidence, (?)...meaning, it has always gone so well...but maybe a step, or attention, or rushing it...

And using a different pot or new stovetop. Un-even heat or too high heat. Once a sugar starts to crystalize it creates a bloom effect as it cools. Hence the grainy texture. A lower heat and moderate stir...but i don't know your recipe.

Just experience since i just make a few sweet things every year at holiday time. After a failure a few years ago...(with lots of expensive ingredients, yikes) ...i get a bit nervous. One of the few things i really focus on and follow my recipe closely...since i need to re-fresh the steps.

I do know it your heat licked a bit high up the sides of the pot and some sugars got a bit too much heat...then stirred back in, you have some crystalizing that cannot be corrected. (i think that is one of the troubles)

Yes I agree it is hard to wrap your head around just how good these are. Last night it occurred to me that it might be the sugar--it was very dry organic light brown sugar from Whole Foods.

Just got back from a day at the ball park and not one Cheeto left! None of my audience have been exposed to these so to avoid the "yuck" response I said "try them first then make comments and ask questions".

Thanks for the feedback.

Psst....I bought cheetoes this afternoon.....evil you are all of you!!!

Psst Linda...I got the recipe from your post way back so who's evil :).

But....I had forgotten about it...until you reminded me....now I can't forget!

How did this become a holiday time treat? I was just thinking it should be around all year. But then I got to thinking how I eat it until I'm sick when I make a batch. Just can't stop. And after that, I'm good for a year. Yep, it's getting to be that time!

Oh! Then, I'm pretty sure it was the sugar. You should always use white sugar for caramel. It's pure. The impurities in brown sugar (added molasses) are enough for a crystals to latch onto and grow. That's my non-scientific explanation for a scientific process. Of course, it's still sugar, so the kids didn't mind. ;)

I am NOT trying this! I believe that it's tasty, but I don't want to make something that will make people sick from inescapable overindulgence. ;) And I'm not going to crave something I've never tasted!

I wonder if someone that is very picky (but claims she's not when I accuse her of not liking most food) but loves cheetos, would like this? Of course, there's no way for y'all to answer this, but I'm just wondering "aloud." I've quit baking her anything because she won't eat more than a bite or two, out of politeness. But, maybe these will make her happy. I'll search for the recipe.

Sally

the combination of cheesy, salty caramel is not to be resisted.

OK, I thought this was a joke when I saw the title of the tread, but now I'm seriously intrigued.

I'm so going to make these.

Well, I was waiting for someone to post the recipe, but had to search myself :)

Caramel Cheetos® AKA Goose Poop Lynn Arterburn

2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup margarine - yes, for this one you must use margarine
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 - 21 oz. pkg. Cheetos® - crunchy kind

Mix sugar, margarine and corn syrup in pan. Bring to a boil. Boil 5
minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and add soda. Stir until light
in color and foamy. Spray a roasting pan (deep 10 x 14) with Pam. Put
Cheetos® in pan. Pour the mixture over Cheetos® and stir, coating
each piece. Place in oven at 250 degrees. Bake for 1 hour stirring every
15 minutes. Immediately, pour onto wax paper, or cookie sheets, sprayed
with Pam. (This is the hard part.) VERY QUICKLY spread out as thin as
possible. If not quick and spread out as thin as possible, you will get a
big hard glob. After about 5 minutes, pull/break these apart even more
and loosen them from the wax paper. If you don't, you'll have wax paper
stuck to them when you go to eat them.

You will regret it if you don't double the batch as guests are going
to demand MORE! You can bake batches together and add an extra 20
minutes to bake time. I do them separately because of having to work so
quickly to keep them apart at the end. The one batch can almost get too
hard while working with the other batch.

Link to thread with recipe

OH! Corn syrup works as an invert sugar and should prevent crystalization, so it might be that the organic sugar had more (food) impurities than the brown sugar used by the recipe. Or something.

I came to the same conclusion that it must be the never used before organic sugar.

I also noticed that there were more broken Cheetos (almost 25%) than normal so I bought two bags and plucked out the whole/larger pieces. The 2 bags were bought from different stores to make sure it wasn't because it was poor handling. I took the leftover nubs for those who were grossed out by the Caramel Cheetos.

Am I going to be the lone dissenter? I made these several years ago. I love Cheetos. I think they are a basic food group! I love caramel. I love salty-sweet things. Caramel-covered Cheetos sounded like ambrosia to me. I made them. Everything turned out just as it should. But I could not stand the taste. I kept tasting them thinking that soon I'd get it. Never happened. I would have thrown them out, but my BIL was going to a party and he took them to the party.

More power to you....you are blessed!! LOL! Power to resist the evil forces of caramel cheetoes.

UPDATE: I was at very large youth sports complex Saturday and Sunday. When I check in Saturday AM I offered the tournament director some CC's. Sunday he came looking for me, when he approached me I thought perhaps he didn't receive the entry fee I sent he. He finally found me, asked if I had any more CC's. I said I did in my car; he said he would walk me to my car (far away in a big parking lot).

I made a bag full, he was happy and he said he was going to dangle the bag in front of the UIC (umpire in chief) because he loved them too. I asked if going forward I could pay our tournament fee ($400) in CC's? He said "Ms Cathy that's doable!".

bbstx - I was going to suggest that they're better than the sum of their parts, but based on your reaction I'll modify that to "they're different than the sum of their parts." I've had not-great batches because the caramel wasn't timed just right, not to mention the one time I forgot the baking soda.

Cathy - Glad they were a hit. I always buy extra bags and then weigh out the required amount of intact Cheetos.

Do you really have to use margarine? I don't want to buy that stuff.

Sally

If you do a google image search...(lots of disgusting pics, lol) you will come across many variations using different ingredients....butter and brown sugar being in some of them.

-I just had to look that crazy one up...also is called different things...most all of them involve the word 'poop', and some type of animal.

-My matzo crack recipe uses light or drk brown sugar, mine is organic, and butter, and always comes out creamy smooth and chewy...(knock on forehead)...probably make it next weekend. Though i always have used my heavy copper bottomed saucepan for such things...the key might be the even heat...

Ssssh! Don't tell....but I have used butter, because I usually don't have "That other spread" in the house....turns out better than fine. I think the point of the margarine is to add to the junk food aspect.

a couple of years ago I made something a friend called "crack" because it was so addictive....and now can't find the recipe. It was rice chex....had to be rice chex because it didn't taste right with wheat or corn, 1 stick of butter....some sort of sugar....all done in about 5 minutes in the microwave>
Anyone know what I am talking about?

Butter doesn't burn? That was my guess as to why it's required but I guess I'm wrong?