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Salted Caramel is the perfect sauce for ice cream, cakes or pies. With just 5 ingredients it’s done in 5 minutes and it’s an easy caramel sauce that is absolutely spoon-worthy. The BEST part about this recipe is how easy it is. There’s no guesswork – it works every time!
Caramel is one of the fall flavors I look forward to every year. I love adding caramel to apple strudel and cheesecake as well as serving it over ice cream. I’ve made caramel before (cinnamon and pumpkin flavors) but those are somewhat labor intensive.
If you’re looking for an easy caramel recipe that takes no time to make and has just 5 simple ingredients, then this is the easy caramel recipe for you. It’s perfect for pouring over ice cream OR using in any caramel dessert. Plus it takes just 5 minutes to make and you don’t need a candy thermometer or heavy cream!
5 Ingredients Needed
- Brown Sugar: I know traditionally caramel is made with granulated sugar but I love the richness that brown sugar adds.
- Unsalted Butter: If you’re using salted butter you can reduce the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Milk: Whole milk is best – the lower the fat content the thinner the caramel will be.
- Vanilla extract: Only buy PURE vanilla extract.
- Salt: All caramel needs salt – regardless of if it’s salted caramel or not. This recipe just has a little extra to make the salt a bit more prominent.
How much salt goes in Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce?
I recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt or kosher salt. You can use regular table salt, but I prefer kosher or sea salt (regular or maldon). Once the caramel has cooled a bit you can taste the salted caramel sauce and add more salt to your preference.
How To Make Salted Caramel Sauce
- Simply melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar and milk with a wooden spoon or whisk.
- Boil for 2 minutes: the important part is waiting to set the clock until it’s BOILING. Simmering doesn’t count as boiling, so once it’s bubbling all the way through, then set your timer. The sauce will be a nice amber color.
- Add the vanilla and salt, pour into a glass jar or airtight container, and let cool.
How to use Salted Caramel
Salted Caramel is good in SO MANY THINGS! Here are a few of my favorite ways to use it:
- In Caramel Apple Strudel
- As a filling for Twix Cupcakes
- As a drizzle over Apple Crumble Bars
- As a topping for Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- In my Caramel Pumpkin Cake Roll
- In Brownies
- In Smoothies
- In Creamy Caramel Dip
- And as a topping for your favorite ice cream!
Caramel Sauce Variations
- Make cinnamon caramel by adding some spices with the vanilla (or pumpkin spice).
- For a more traditional caramel try my homemade caramel sauce with granulated sugar.
- For a semi-homemade caramel, try my 3 ingredient caramel sauce.
Expert Tips
- Once it’s cooked you should cool the salted caramel for about 10 minutes before using it on ice cream, so it doesn’t melt it.
- You can also let it cool in a jar or bottle and store it to use over the week. It’s a creamy caramel sauce that’s thin enough to pour but thick enough that it’s not runny.
- It’s important to wait to set your timer until the mixture is fully boiling (not simmering).
- The caramel is thin when hot, thicker but pourable when room temperature, and firm when cold. To thin cold caramel, simply warm in the microwave or on the stove.
FAQs
Technically I guess it’s butterscotch when it has brown sugar – but I prefer brown sugar caramel. I find it is more flavorful and much easier to make. This recipe doesn’t need as much babysitting as regular caramel with white sugar.
5-minute Salted Caramel Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter , cubed
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup (59ml) milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt (more to taste)
Instructions
- Place butter in a saucepan and melt over medium-low heat.
- Add the brown sugar and milk and turn heat to medium. Stir constantly until the mixture boils. Boil for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt. (Once it cools a bit, you can add more salt to taste.)
- Pour into jar. Let cool slightly before using. Cover. Store in refrigerator if not using the day it's made.
- If mixture separates as it cools, just stir it up or shake it.
- If it becomes to thick to pour after chilling, you can heat it in the microwave for a few seconds and stir.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- You can use whole milk, 2% or nonfat but whole milk is best. Because this recipe doesn’t use heavy cream you can also use nondairy milk, but the caramel might be thinner.
- Make sure to start the clock once it’s BOILING. That means big bubbles all over the pan, not little bubbles around the edge (that’s simmering).
I made the sauce last night. The more it cooled it felt grainy. Put it in the fridge overnight – just took it out and it’s not sauce – it looks like dried up play dough. Any thoughts on how I can fix this?
If you reheat it does it thin?
Love that this recipe uses whole milk instead of heavy cream. I initially didn’t cook it long enough so it was grainy but once you actually follow the directions, it worked great and came out smooth.
SO TASTY!!! My mom does not even like caramel but even she goes crazy for it. The only thing wrong with it is that it gets really grainy and crystalizes
This was super easy and the flavor is good, but it turned grainy once it cooled. It was super smooth right when it finished but a few hours later very grainy
Exact same thing happened to me. Got even worse the longer I left it in the fridge. It was perfect until it began to cool
Crazy Delish! Super fast and so easy. I did use heavy whipping cream instead of milk, just because I had it! Made some brownies and am going to slice bananas on top and then add the best carmel sauce to be op it all off! Thanks so much!
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