This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
Make my Homemade Caramel Recipe, and you’ll never go back to store-bought again! This is an easy caramel made with just a few simple ingredients. It has the best soft texture and amazing caramel flavor and keeps for up to two weeks.
Caramel from scratch is great as a sauce for ice cream, or you can let it soft set as a frosting for brownies or bars. This is the perfect recipe!
Table of Contents
The Best Homemade Caramel Recipe
For so long, I thought caramel sauce was super complicated to make at home, and I would just buy jars of it at the store. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with using a shortcut, but once I learned how to make caramel sauce from scratch, I haven’t gone back to the premade stuff.
- It’s actually easy to make, and with a few tips and tricks, it’s practically foolproof! Wait until you try it – you’ll be team homemade caramel, too.
- You only need five ingredients to make, and you might already have all of them on hand.
- Once it’s done, it has the best soft texture. In other recipes I’ve seen, people use corn syrup to achieve this soft texture, but the one I’m sharing is without corn syrup, and you still get that velvety soft-set caramel that everyone loves.
Important Ingredients Needed
- Sugar: a classic caramel uses granulated sugar
- Butter: have your unsalted butter sliced and ready to go before starting
- Heavy Whipping Cream: gives a nice richness to the caramel (no substitutions for this)
- Salt: you need to add salt even if making regular caramel. You can turn this into salted caramel by adding extra, but salt is necessary to make the caramel a delicious flavor.
How to Make Caramel from Scratch
- Pour the sugar into a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Place the pan over medium-low heat. Stir the sugar as it heats up. As you stir, keep the sugar on the bottom of the pan and avoid spreading it up the sides as it warms up.
- As the sugar heats, it will start to clump up and then will melt and turn a light amber color.
- Keep gently stirring until all of the lumps have dissolved. This process will take about 7 to 12 minutes from when you first turn on the heat to when the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, add the sliced butter and stir until it melts.
- When the butter has melted into the sugar, add half of the cream, stir, and then add the rest. The mixture will bubble up when you add cream.
- Once the cream is mixed in, turn off the heat and add the vanilla and salt. Stir until the caramel sauce is smooth.
- Pour the warm sauce into a container and let it cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools. Cover and store the sauce in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. To serve, warm the sauce in the microwave.
Tip From Dorothy
Expert Tips
- Making caramel sauce is not hard, but it does require your undivided attention. This isn’t the kind of recipe you can leave on the stove and go fold the laundry (trust me on that, I learned the hard way it’s a great way to burn caramel). So, make sure there aren’t any distractions when you get ready to make it.
- Gather and measure all of your ingredients first. The cooking process is really fast, and there won’t be time to find the cream and measure it while the sugar is warming in the pan (again, I know this from experience!). So, take a few minutes to organize your ingredients first.
- And speaking of ingredients, this is a recipe that really benefits from high-quality butter. With so few ingredients, buying the best butter you can will make a big difference in the final result. Also, don’t skip the salt. It’s crucial for enhancing the flavor of the sauce.
- For the saucepan, one that is heavy-bottomed and conducts heat well works best. Also, the sides need to be high enough to prevent the cream from bubbling over the edge, so avoid a shallow pan for this recipe.
- When you are melting the sugar, stir gently and be patient. The time it takes will depend on your pan and the kind of stove you have (gas stoves heat faster than electric ones). The gentle stirring will prevent sugar crystals from splashing up on the sides of the pan. Avoiding this will keep your sauce from crystalizing, which is just a fancy way to say “turning grainy.”
- Most important, don’t leave the sauce alone at any point turning the cooking process. There is a thin line between a perfect caramel sauce and a burnt one.
FAQs
No, you don’t need one for this recipe!
Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
You can warm it in the microwave or warm it up in a saucepan on the stove. It only takes between 60 to 90 seconds in the microwave, so that’s the way I usually do it.
Once you’ve made it, transfer it to a container. As the caramel cools, it will thicken, so it is soft set. It will tighten up when chilled, but once you rewarm it, it will go back to the soft-set again.
The key to getting the right soft-set texture is to use heavy whipping cream, which has a high milk fat content. Don’t substitute a lower fat cream, half and half, or milk otherwise, the caramel will not set properly.
Did you stir the sugar? It’s important to keep stirring as it melts, so it doesn’t burn. Also, you shouldn’t let it alone while the sugar is melting – it doesn’t take long for it to start burning.
If you remove it from the heat too soon before it’s thoroughly mixed, it could clump up. If this happens, just warm it up again and whisk it until smooth. If your sauce is grainy, it’s most likely because the sugar crystalized. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about that.
Caramel is sticky so it’ll stick to the pot – for easy cleaning fill the pot with water after you’ve removed the caramel and let it soak. The sugar will dissolve making it much easier to clean.
Easy Homemade Caramel Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter sliced into tablespoons
- ⅔ cup (158ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt or more to make salted caramel
Instructions
- Note: making caramel is something that needs your undivided attention. Make sure you have all your ingredients gathered before starting and that you are not distracted. Leaving the caramel alone at any point can cause it to burn.
- Place sugar in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Make sure the sides of the pot come up a little bit (that it’s not a shallow pan) because it will boil up when you add the cream later.
- Place the pan over medium-low heat. Cook stirring often but being careful not to spread the sugar up the sides of the pan too much. The sugar will form clumps then melt into a light amber liquid. Keep stirring until the lumps have all become liquid. This will take about 7-12 minutes, depending on your pot and the heat of your stove. DO NOT LEAVE THE SUGAR ALONE, it will burn fast.
- As soon as the lumps are dissolved, add the butter and stir until it’s melted. Add half of the heavy whipping cream, stir, then add the rest. It will bubble up as you add it to the mixture. Turn off the heat and then stir in the vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. At this point, add up to an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste) for salted caramel.
- Pour the caramel carefully into a jar and let cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools. Cover and store in the refrigerator. When ready to use, remove the lid and heat in 30 second increments until the caramel is melted and smooth and the desired consistency (about 60-90 seconds for the just-made texture). Will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Recipe Nutrition
This Easy Homemade Caramel Sauce has the best soft texture and amazing caramel flavor and keeps for up to two weeks. Drizzle it over all the desserts and bowls of ice cream for a rich and decadent treat.
Favorite Caramel Recipes
Last Updated on August 29, 2023
I’m confused the recipes calls for granulated sugar, but the video shows brown sugar being used?
Thanks
The video in this recipe card shows granulated – which video are you seeing?
Can I use Splenda in this recipe?
I have not tested this with any sugar alternatives. Check alldayIdreamaboutfood.com – she does all diabetic approved food!
Can you freeze this Caramel? If so, how and in what type of container do you freeze and unfreeze this Caramel?
I haven’t frozen it but you should be able to – I’d freeze it in plastic and let it defrost in the refrigerator.
Great stuff!!!
Featured In
Rate This Recipe