Easy Caramel Sauce
A rich, creamy caramel sauce made with sweetened condensed milk, butter, and dark brown sugar. No thermometer, no burning, no grainy sugar. Ready in 10 minutes and perfect for drizzling over ice cream, apples, and every dessert you love.
Servings: 16 servings
Cost: $6
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 ounces
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and dark brown sugar together, whisking until the sugar dissolves into the butter. Keep the heat low the whole time.
- Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and the corn syrup.
- Whisk gently and continuously for about 10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the pan. The sauce will darken to the color of a copper penny and turn glossy.
- It's ready when it coats the back of a spoon and falls off in a slow, heavy ribbon. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate to thicken further. It will be perfect for drizzling once chilled, and thick enough for dipping apples.
Video
Notes
Doneness. Watch for gloss and color, not a temperature. If it's still pale after 15 minutes, nudge the heat up slightly to the setting between low and medium and keep whisking. Some stoves need closer to 20 minutes. If it goes too far and stiffens, whisk in a splash of warm milk over low heat.
Don't double it in one pan. If you're using the 2x or 3x scaler above, make each batch separately. A doubled batch in a standard saucepan scorches on the bottom before the top thickens.
For salted caramel. Whisk in ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt off the heat, taste once it cools slightly, and add up to another ¼ teaspoon.
For chocolate caramel. Stir ¼ cup chocolate chips into the warm sauce off the heat.
Refrigerate. Store in an airtight glass jar up to 3 weeks. It firms up cold, so let it sit out or warm it gently before serving.
Freeze. Up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw in the fridge, then bring to room temperature or reheat.
Nutrition
Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 88mg | Potassium: 112mg | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 243IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 0.1mg
