One of the stores our shopping script buys packages from is Old Time Caramels on Etsy. The store is run by Vernon Palmer out of Tooele, Utah. Our script has found that it is one of the best sources online for good caramel individually packaged in small portions.

Vernon explained how he got started in the caramel business…

“Growing up, every Christmas my mom would make pecan rolls (she still does), which consisted of a pinoche center wrapped in caramel and covered with pecans. One Christmas while I was in college, my parents decided to spend three weeks in Italy, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to eat any of my Mom’s pecan rolls.

I decided to try and make them myself. I had a really hard time getting the pinoche to turn out right, but I was able to make the caramel. After a few attempts, I gave up on making the pecan rolls and just started making the caramel. As I shared them with family and friends, it was easy to see that they were a big hit. 

Then one day I went to a party at my sister’s house and she had made a cinnamon caramel dip for dipping apples, which I really liked (I’m a big fan of cinnamon). That is where I got the idea of adding flavors to the caramels. 

This was the beginning of the great experimentation of which flavors to add to the caramels, how much flavoring to add, what to wrap the caramels in, what temperatures to cook the caramels to, and so many other small details.”