This is an easy recipe on how to make Homemade Caramel Sauce from scratch, using just 4 simple ingredients: sugar, butter, heavy cream, and salt.
There is no reason to buy a premade caramel sauce in the store when you can make it at home in just 15 minutes! All you need are 4 simple ingredients (granulated sugar, unsalted butter, heavy cream, and salt) and your creamy homemade caramel sauce is ready!
I use this Caramel Sauce as one of the main ingredients in my Cupcakes with Caramel and Twix Thumbprint Cookies.
You also can use it with One Bowl Brownies, Apple Pie, Apple Coffee Cake, and many other desserts.
How to make Homemade Caramel Sauce
There are two things you need to make caramel, a sauce pan with heavy bottom (so the caramel won’t burn) and a heat resistant spatula (so it won’t melt).
Everything else is quite easy.
Put granulated sugar in a sauce pan and heat it over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, constantly stirring. The sugar will start melting and form clumps, which will turn into amber/brown liquid.
When the sugar is completely melted, add cubed butter and stir. At this point the mixture will start to bubble. Stir for a couple of minutes until the butter is melted. First, it will look like the sugar and butter are separated, there is nothing wrong with that.
Gradually add heavy cream and stir. It will bubble again.
Stir for another minute, then remove from the heat and add salt.
I prefer to add ½ teaspoon salt first, let the caramel to cool off a bit, taste, and add more salt if needed.
First, the caramel will be quite runny but it will get thicker after it cools off.
When the caramel sauce is completely cooled off, transfer it to a mason jar or an air tight container and refrigerate.
MORE DESSERT RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
- Cupcakes with Caramel
- Orange Pound Cake
- Chocolate Bourbon Truffles
- Chocolate Mousse Pie
- One Bowl Brownies
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Mini Cheesecakes with Blueberry Sauce
- Classic Apple Pie
- Mini Blueberry Hand Pies
- Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Kahlua Cupcakes
Homemade Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut in pieces
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Put 1 cup granulated sugar in a sauce pan and heat it over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, constantly stirring. The sugar will start melting and form clumps, which will turn into amber/brown liquid.
- When the sugar is completely melted, add 6 tbsp cubed butter and stir. At this point the mixture will start to bubble. Stir for a couple of minutes until the butter is melted. First, it will look like the sugar and butter are separated, there is nothing wrong with that.
- Gradually add ½ cup heavy cream and stir. It will bubble again.
- Stir for another minute, then remove from the heat and add salt.
- I prefer to add ½ teaspoon salt first, let the caramel to cool off a bit, taste, and add more salt if needed.
- First, the caramel will be quite runny but it will get thicker after it cools off.
- When the caramel sauce is completely cooled off, transfer it to a mason jar or an air tight container and refrigerate.
Hello! At what step do I remove the pan from heat?
Hi what can I substitute the heavy cream with
Hi, unfortunately, you can’t substitute heavy cream with anything else in this recipe. It won’t work…
I used some coffee creamer and whipped cream instead and it came out amazing !
This caramel sauce is so luscious and incredible! Our go-to from now on!
Homemade is the best! I love caramel sauce, love using in various recipes.
This was perfect to put on top of my bourbon butterscotch budino. I loved it.
This homemade caramel is so simple and so delicious .I will never buy a jar of caramel again now that I can make it myself.
So simple and so delicious. I served this caramel sauce with vanilla ice-cream. heavenly!
Nothing beats a homemade caramel sauce and this one is really tasty and surprisingly easy to make! We’ll definitely make it again when we run out.
This was so simple to make and it was very tasty. I will make it again.
This is the easiest, most delicious caramel sauce ever. I made it to top off vanilla ice cream, and it was simply perfect. Thanks for the recipe.
This caramel sauce is so rich and decadent. It is the essential sauce for fall desserts, especially those with apples and pears!
I always fail at making homemade caramel sauce. However, I followed your recipe exactly, and the sauce turned out delicious!
This was the best caramel sauce I’ve made and had! This was so easy and I love how well it stores in the fridge. Perfect for a caramel ice cream sundae!
I’m using this as a filling for a layered cake. I made a batch in advance, which turned out great by the way, and put it in the fridge. Can I reheat this later so it will spread more easily?
Hi Hannah! Yes, you can reheat it in a microwave or on the stove in a saucepan.
Amazing ! Tastes divine! I used 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel. Soooo good and easy to make!
Thank you so much, Carmen! I’m so happy you liked it!
Would I be able to use this for filling cupcakes right after it cools?
Yes! It will be a perfect consistency for it 😉
Would this be good for a coffee additive?
Hi Hanna, I’ve never tried to add this caramel sauce to the coffee, so I cannot say for sure….
Very good sauce with so many uses.
Thank you, Terri!
Retract this comment. I put too much cream in. Made a separate batch to even out my mis-measure and it seemed to come out okay. Now I just have twice as much. Could be worse consequences in life. haha.
Ha-ha! Glad you found the issue!
mine completely froze up and never incorporated property when i added the cream. What did I do wrong? I don’t think I overcooked the sugar. It came to a nice amber color. Now I have a pot of buttery milk with clumps of caramel.
You should put the cream in the microwave before adding it to the sugar or else it will seize up & butter should be room temperature
Could i use this to dip apples?
Yes, but I would do it while the sauce is still fresh. It gets much thicker after it’s refrigerated.
Do you know about how many cupcakes this recipe will fill? I’m making your chocolate caramel cupcakes.
Hi Jen! It really depends on how much caramel you use for filling and topping. It should be enough for up to 20 cupcakes. Let me know how you liked it!
Hi Emma! The caramel will stay fresh for up to a week. I never tried to keep it for longer, cause we eat it fast 😉
Hey how long does this carmel recipe last in a mason jar in the fridge?