The BEST Caramel Sauce

5 from 11 votes

This delicious Caramel Sauce is so easy to make and tastes about a million times better than anything you can buy at the store! It's such a versatile ingredient, you'll find yourself making it year round because caramel sauce makes everything better!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword caramel sauce, caramel sauce recipe, salted caramel sauce

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings

Calories 55kcal

Author Trish - Mom On Timeout

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon corn syrup optional (helps to keep crystals from forming)
½ cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt, optional if you want salted caramel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional

Instructions

Add granulated sugar and water (and optional corn syrup) to a medium sized, heavy duty sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves (3 to 5 minutes).
1 cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon corn syrup
Bring to a gentle boil while keeping the heat at medium, whisking or stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved.
Don't stir the caramel sauce at this point. Just gently swirl the mixture around the pan occasionally and brush down the sides of the pan with a wet silicone brush as needed to keep sugar crystals from forming.
Continue swirling and cooking until the mixture turns deep amber in color (6 to 9 minutes).
Remove from heat. Stir in the cream, butter, and salt until the butter has melted and the caramel is smooth. Be careful because the mixture will bubble up.
½ cup heavy cream, 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon sea salt
Stir in the vanilla extract at this point if you are using it.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Let the caramel sauce cool for 15 minutes in the sauce pan before pouring into a large glass jar for storage.

Video

Notes

Recipe can be doubled.

OPTIONAL Add one tablespoon of corn syrup in with the sugar and water to help prevent crystals from forming while cooking the sugar.

Storage Information: Keep refrigerated for up to 1 month.

Tools Needed

heavy bottomed sauce pan - you want a nice deep sauce pan, not necessarily for volume, but for safety. The mixture will boil and bubble when the cream and butter is added so a nice, deep sauce pan keeps everything safely inside the pan. A heavy bottom pan will provide more even heat distribution, preventing hot spots and scorching.
liquid measuring cups for the heavy cream - I use this fun beaker set and LOVE It!
silicone brush - as sugar crystals build up on the side of the pan, brushing water along the side will dissolve the sugar.
jars to store the caramel sauce in - any heat-proof, airtight glass jar will work. I keep a bunch of canning jars on hand and use those most frequently when making homemade sauces like this one.

Nutrition