Homemade Caramel Recipe (Easy)
Homemade caramel sauce is one of life’s most simple pleasures and this recipe is the easiest (& most delicious) one around!
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Easy Caramel Recipe
I don’t know why I grew up thinking that homemade caramel would be the hardest thing to make? I put off trying to make it for years because I was worried it would be overly complicated. But when I finally made it, I realized I was scared for no reason! Today I’m sharing my ultra-easy caramel sauce recipe. My steps for how to make this are going to easily guide you to successfully making this delicious topping from home. Just please don’t hate me for how often you want to make it!
Homemade caramel sauce is golden and sweet, striking the perfect balance of being delicious without being overly rich. This pairs well with pretty much anything, but I especially love it drizzled over warm brownies, as a dip for apples or topping an ice cream sundae. But really, the sky is the limit here.
Homemade Caramel ingredients
- Brown sugar
- Butter
- Heavy cream
- Vanilla – There are not very many ingredients in this recipe so it’s important to use quality ingredients! It will affect the flavor so much.
*Optional: You could add sea salt to the caramel, which would be so yummy!
How to Make Caramel
- In a heavy bottom sauce pan, stir together the brown sugar, butter and heavy cream until well combined and brown sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes without stirring. (Stirring can cause the sugars to crystalize, which we don’t want! Smooth caramel only!)
- When it reaches the softball stage, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Allow the sauce to cool before using.
How can you tell when caramel is done without a thermometer?
If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can easily do the ice water trick. Fill a small bowl with cold, ice water. Then take a teaspoon of your mixture and drop it into the water. If it forms a soft pliable ball, it is in the softball stage (about 230°- 235°F) and is ready to go!
How to use this Homemade Caramel Recipe
How to store Caramel Dip
Store in an airtight container (I like a mason jar) in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze for up to 1 month!
Caramel Recipe Easy FAQs
Not exactly. While the primary ingredient in caramel is sugar, making caramel often involves more than just boiling sugar! Depending on the desired final product, other ingredients like butter, cream, or water might be added and heated until they caramelize and turn DELICIOUS.
I know it seems counter-intuitive, but TRUST ME on this one. Stirring sugar as it melts can lead to crystallization and when sugar crystals form and are not dissolved properly, they can cause the sugar to seize up into a grainy mass rather than a smooth yummy caramel!
The consistency of caramel, whether soft or hard, is determined by its final temperature. When making caramel, a candy thermometer can be invaluable! But if you don’t have one on hand, you can easily do the ice water trick. Fill a small bowl with cold ice water. Then take a teaspoon of your mixture and drop it into the water. If it forms a soft pliable ball, it is in the softball stage, about 230°- 235°F, if it forms a firm ball it is around, 245°F to 250°F, and if it becomes hard and breakable, it is in the hard crack stage, around 300°F to 310°F.
Easy Caramel Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, butter and heavy cream.
- Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes without stirring.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
- Allow the caramel to cool before using.
Very, very tasty. And, it was simple to make, though to reach soft ball stage (on a thermometer) I had to boil it 5 full minutes, but no big deal. I let it cool in the pan, but then it was super hard so I had to warm it again to put it in a storage container. And, this is the only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars. Now it’s in a storage container, and is hard as a rock, which in no way is “creamy” as described in the title.
Probably this is user error (I’m not a big candy maker).
Still, when it was warm and we were dipping spoons into it – this was amazing. Really.
It works perfectly. The recipe says to boil 3 minutes, not “to “soft ball stage”. You cooked the sugar 2 minutes too long.
This is a great caramel recipe that’s super easy to make! Taste amazing! Haven’t let it cool down yet. If you put pecans in it that would be amazing! Going to try it as an apple dip. Cross my fingers that it’s a hit!
Hi, I have never made caramel because I’ve heard it’s tricky. I want to try, though. Your recipe sounds great…boil fir 3 minutes. I can do that! But in your post you talk of it being done according to soft ball stage/ temperature…which gets tricky again. So which should I go by – temperature or 3 minutes? Thanks for clarifying.
Go with softball stage! For me this is usually around 3 minutes, but that may differ slightly case by case.
Taste is great, but this started to crystalize when I stirred in the vanilla. Didn’t think much of it cause it was small pieces. But by the time it had cooled it was completely grainy and I was never able to get it back to smooth.
Hi Brooke, I’m sorry! I’m wondering if you added the vanilla a little too early (before it was truly in softball stage). Next time I would give the caramel a little bit longer before removing from the heat and adding the vanilla. Good luck!