1. 2 sticks unsalted butter
2. 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3. 1 cup light corn syrup
4. 1 cup heavy cream
5. 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
6. Coarse sea salt, crumbled
7. 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, melted (optional)

Directions

1. Line a 9-by-9-inch pan with foil; spray it with vegetable oil. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sugar, corn syrup and cream and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the vanilla seeds. I just scrape the vanilla out and toss in both sides of the skins to get all of the vanilla goodness out. Cook over low heat, stirring, until a golden caramel forms and the temperature reaches 245° on a candy thermometer, (app 20 minutes for a double batch) Wait until just warm,  then stir in 1 tablespoon of salt and scrape the caramel into the prepared pan. Let cool and set completely overnight.
2. Lightly oil a sheet of parchment paper and line 2 baking sheets with wax paper. Invert the caramel onto the parchment and peel off the foil. Refrigerate as long as you like (I have done up to 2 weeks) Using a sharp knife, cut the caramel into 1-inch-wide strips and then into 1-inch squares. Dip the squares into the chocolate, tap off the excess and transfer to the wax paper on the baking sheets. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (one or 2 granules) Alternatively, wrap the plain caramel squares in wax paper and tie with thread.

the caramel

cutting the caramel

the godiva chocolate

melting the chocolate

dipping the caramels

salting the caramels