Homemade Caramel Sauce (no corn syrup!)
ByA few weeks ago, Busy Mom in AL left a comment stating that she’d used my Caramel Frosting recipe to make Caramel Sauce. Then, a little while later, the people at Challenge Butter sent me a package and asked me to come up with a recipe using their butter. Well, what’s a girl to do but make Homemade Caramel Sauce with one of those sticks of butter, and then blog about her experience?
I didn’t think you’d mind. Especially if you think about the possibilities this Caramel Sauce presents. Not only can you make it for your own family and serve it on ice cream or cheesecake – wouldn’t this make a perfect Gift in a Jar?
Why yes, I believe it would.
And then, what if you took it a step further and created a big Ice Cream Sundae Basket to give as a gift? In your basket you could include a jar of this Caramel Sauce, a jar of Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, a container of nuts, an ice cream scoop, some bowls and spoons – who wouldn’t love to receive this inexpensive, yet thoughtful and fun gift?
Alright, now I’m giddy and need to figure out who I can make an Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket for.
Here is the very simple – and sort of healthy because at least it doesn’t have corn syrup in it - recipe:
Homemade Caramel Sauce
2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream (heavy whipping cream)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place the sucanat, butter, and cream into a medium sized saucepan.
Cook over medium to high heat until ingredients are melted and well mixed, stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one minute, while continuing to stir.
Pour mixture into a mixing bowl and add vanilla extract. Whip with beaters for three minutes so that it will thicken.
Serve immediately or pour into a pint sized jar for a gift. Store in refrigerator and reheat before serving if desired. (This recipe makes one pint jar or two cups of sauce.)
Beyond ice cream, cheesecake, and the Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket, don’t you think I should come up with some sort of Caramel Swirl Brownie recipe? Or maybe a Turtle Fudge Something or Other? We could even use it as an apple dip I bet!
What do you think? How could you use this Homemade Caramel Sauce?
P.S. Be watching for an upcoming giveaway from Challenge Butter, in which you too might have no choice but to use their butter to make some Homemade Caramel Sauce.
O…M…G. I have been searching for one. I miss caramel sauce so very much. Thank you. Can’t wait to try this. I must stop reading recipes at 11:30 at night. It makes me too anxious to start cooking!
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i have made five batches of this caramel and have only gotten one correct.. i have followed the steps each time but cant seem to get anymore to be smooth like its supposed to be.. can you please help me??? how can i make every batch smooth and not gritty??? please help…
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bonnie sikes Reply:
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:32 pm
i have tried boiling it for the time on the recipe and also letting it
boil for alittle longer and ended up last time boiling it for 5 mins
and it still turned out grainy not smooth… can you tell me what i am
doing wrong?
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Laura Reply:
February 8th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Yikes, I can’t figure out what might be going wrong on this. :( So sorry it’s not working for you!!
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Kaley Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 9:36 pm
Try melting the butter before hand and blending the Sucranat in a blender to make it it smooth. No
t too smooth like confectioners sugar, but to the texture of regular sugar. Hope this helps :)
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bonnie sikes Reply:
March 2nd, 2012 at 7:46 pm
ok ill try that.. thank you.. i had just about given up hope on making it correctly… hope it works..
blinkme Reply:
May 21st, 2012 at 6:17 pm
They problem here is that your sugar is crystallizing. That’s why most recipes actually tell you NOT to stir until the sugar gets in the 300 degree range. It’s also why most caramel recipes call for a little bit of corn syrup to prevent crystals from forming. If you don’t want to use corn syrum, try adding a teaspoon or two of cream of tartar instead. Might work.
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Beth Reply:
November 12th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Answer to gritty sauce: this is simple to fix. When you are
dissolving sugar ingredients to make a syrup, make sure ALL the sugar
is dissolved by heating over medium to low heat before bringing the
mixture to a boil. Check the sides of your pan for grains of sugar
as well. This also applies to fudge. BE CAREFUL not to scrape sugar
that might be on the sides down into your syrup or when you are
emptying the pan. If you absolutely must scrape the sides of your pan,
put that part by itself onto another plate.
Why it happens: when you heat the syrup ingredients, the molecules
expand and the sugar molecules find cozy places to hide and when the
syrup cools down, the sugar is tucked in between everything else. BUT
when the mixture boils before the sugar grains are completely
dissolved, the sugar molecules doesn’t get to find cozy hiding places
so they start gathering around the big leftover grains of sugar, and
poof you end up with grainy syrup, fudge, etc.
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Chris Kindem Reply:
November 14th, 2012 at 10:44 am
I tried making the caramel sauce before reading other people’s comments and the replies. Consequently, I ended up with gritty sauce. So my question is — is it possible to do anything to the gritty sauce I have already made that will turn it into a creamy sauce? I don’t imagine there is, since the gritty-ness happened during the cooking process and involves molecular structure that has already taken place, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask!
Thanks for your help!
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
December 14th, 2012 at 11:28 am
I have no idea…I am doubting it will work to do much to it now, but if you wanted to try maybe you could reheat it again and add a little liquid to see if you can get it to dissolve??? It could be worth a try. :)
Amen! I read every night to relax my mind to help me fall asleep, BUT reading recipes does NOT help! :o)
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Hi Laura — Bless you for this recipe and the Hot Fudge Sauce recipe! I can’t wait to make them! One question . . . how long can these sauces be stored in the refrigerator? Thanks!!
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
March 6th, 2012 at 10:23 am
They will keep for about 2 months!
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Laura- Thank you for all the hard work you have done in creating delicious recipes for the world of blog addicts, like myself, to experiment with and use. Like I’ve said before I’m a newly stay at home momma again and I vowed to do things right this time around. With some careful planning and a massive cook day after church on Sundays I’ve managed to stock my freezer & pantry with HEALTHY HOMEMADE goodies that give me the conveniences of boxed foods without all the yucky ingredients!! I can spend more time with my kiddos during the week and still get to soccer practice and gymnastics on time!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
BTW- this recipe is DIVINE!!!!
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Just a thought for the caramel sauce being gritty… I have read on other blogs that caramel requires a “heavy bottom pan” so it doesnt scald or something. Maybe it is the pan?
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It was so easy and perfect thank you!!!
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Thanks for this recipe….I am making it to put over ice cream….after going to the store to buy some and read all the ingredients that were in it…….I said no way……I will make my own…..I know Laura will have a recipe :) I really wanted BUTTERSCOTCH TOPPING, but this will do……
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I didn’t have any cream, so just used whole milk and it turned out fine. My son loves caramel popcorn and had to have it and I wasn’t about to run out to the store. Just thought I’d share.
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Lison Hackett Reply:
June 6th, 2012 at 5:54 am
Thank you for mentioning whole milk instead . I have no cream and am lactose intolerant . So I will be using lactose free whole milk !!! Can’t wait to try it !
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For lactose intolerance, goat milk can help. Since the cream is still in the milk it is thicker than cows milk. I’ve used it in place of cream for homemade ice cream.
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ok, so I just made this and i think i would bathe in this stuff – actually no, strike that – then I wouldn’t be able to eat it!
This stuff is amazing! I followed another reader’s suggestion about blending up the sucanat to more of a powder and the sauce was absolutely perfect – silky smooth and mmmmmmmmm.
thanks for a great recipe!
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THANK YOU LAURA FOR THIS…I LOVE CARAMEL ON ICE CREAM, WILL DEFINITELY BE MAKING THIS….
DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THIS WILL KEEP ?
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Sorry Laura, I just read all the comments and have my answer….and see that I had already commented some time ago……funny I don’t remember seeing this before :) guess I’m having a senior moment :)
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Just wondering, could you mix the caramel with a fork as our beater as not at home and we don’t have a beater. Thanks
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Laura Reply:
July 26th, 2012 at 5:34 am
Yes, I believe you could – it just may take some time and make your arm a little tired. Worth it though for caramel sauce!
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Hi!
I am thankful to have found your blog! You have made cooking with real food easy and simple! We are at the very beginning of our real food journy. I really really really enjoy caramel latte do you think this would work in it?
thanks a bunch
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Laura Reply:
August 23rd, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Yes, definitely!
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We got a family full of lactose intolerant people, but this looks yummy.. what can we use as a substitute for the heavy cream that would work out?
Thanks
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Laura Reply:
September 17th, 2012 at 7:54 pm
Hmm, off the top of my head I can’t think of what would work in place of the cream in this recipe. If I come up with anything I’ll come back and comment again!
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Laura Reply:
September 17th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Ah, I’ve got it! (maybe) How about a can of coconut milk? I bet that would work!
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I made this the other night, I used light cream because I didn’t have heavy and I also mixed light and dark brown sugar due to a shortage (it was the middle of the night when I flund this recipe) it sounded so good I had to make it right then! It came out DELICIOUS, TO DIE FOR!!! I was wondering if tbis same recipe could be turned into caramel chews / soft candy by cooking it longer or hotter, I am brand new to making caramel but this one recipe is so good!! Thank you!
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Hello I was wondering if this has to be refrigerated after you put it into a jar?
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Laura Reply:
December 1st, 2012 at 11:15 pm
It is best to keep this in the fridge, but if it’s left out for a few hours, it’s no problem.
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Do you think this could be canned (like fresh produce) to be made shelf-stable? If so, how would I do that? Thx, Laura.
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Laura Reply:
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:06 pm
I would imagine so, but you’d have to pressure cook it in this case, and I’m not sure how to do that!
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Is this packed Sucanet or brown sugar or just spooned into measuring cup?
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Laura Reply:
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:06 pm
I just spoon it into a measuring cup. :)
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I am new to your site and am loving it! The only problem I am having with your “gifts in a jar” series is deciding if I should go ahead and start making some now or wait until the last minute to decide – after I’ve seen all your ideas! How many of these do you plan to post?
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Laura Reply:
December 3rd, 2012 at 1:06 pm
I have 12 to share and plan to share them 12 days in a row. Most of them can be made ahead of time. :)
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Hi Laura, 12/2/12
Question :) Since several are having problems with the sugar being grainy, could you use powdered sugar and how much ? Just a thought…..
And I have a recipe for PECAN BARS and it calls for I think 1/2 cup of corn syrup and I don’t want to use corn syrup….could I use 1/2 cup of this caramel sauce instead ? Thanks
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Amy Reply:
December 3rd, 2012 at 2:33 am
Mona: you might try honey in place of the corn syrup (though I’d be game to try the caramel sauce in its place!). I was making homemade marshmallows one time & ran out of my organic corn syrup. My mom suggested substituting with honey & it worked!
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Laura Reply:
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:07 pm
I used honey to make a pecan pie (recipe coming this week!) and it worked great!
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Does this need to be refrigerated sealed in the jars for mailing to friends and family across the miles?
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Laura Reply:
December 3rd, 2012 at 10:45 pm
That would probably be a good idea.
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I made this last night and it turned out amazingly delicious. Smooth and sweet. In answer to some of the problems with grainy.
Completely melt your butter first in the pan. Allow it to become slightly golden. Add in your cream and finish with your sugar. Do all this at a lower temp and slowly bring up the heat. Stirring with a whisk all the while.
This recipe is perfect and most of all it does not contain Corn Syrup! Yuck :) Thanks for sharing this.
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I am wanting to try this so bad, but don’t want to end up with grainy mixture like some say they are having…….I’m wondering if you could use powdered sugar instead of regular sugar???? As it would dissolve better than white sugar…..but brown sugar should dissolve easy too…..does anyone know ?
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Laura Reply:
December 4th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I really don’t think powdered sugar would work for this – it would not give it a caramel taste. I’ve never had trouble with this being grainy, and I’ve used both brown sugar and sucanat. The sugar dissolves with the butter and cream, then you boil it and it is nice and smooth!
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Kimberly Reply:
December 7th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
To avoid becoming grainy, I very slowly melted the butter, sugar, cream mixture and stayed very patient to melt it as best as I could, and it came out fabulous!
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Do you think it would work if you used honey or maple syrup? We do not use use brown sugar or sucanat.
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Laura Reply:
December 8th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
I’m really not sure since I’ve never tried it. Maybe cut the recipe in half to give it a try with honey and see if it works?
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Mine was smooth until it cooled…ideas? Im trying again lower heat to melt longer b4 boiling…any ideas?
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Laura Reply:
December 17th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
I’m not sure – mine has always stayed smooth after cooling. My guess is that it maybe got overcooked, so it crystalized a little bit?
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Thank you! We just made this to go with apples. We just finished reading an Amelia Bedelia book where she made carmel apples for the school children. Fun spontaneous activity!
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I made 3 batches tonite and YUM!!!! poured it over popcorn for gift boxes! turned out perfectly!
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Delicious caramel sauce! Mine came out perfect. I put it into 2 pint jars and am going to share with with my neighbor!!!
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I made a dairy free version using canned coconut milk and coconut oil. Turned out so yummy!
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Have you ever used (or heard of Wheylow? I know some peole, even diabetics who use this. I don’t know what sucanant is, but no I can not handle Slenda (severe headaches for 3-4 hours when taken). I tried Wheylow at a friend’s house, and some deserts she made, and there wasn’t any artificial taste or aftertaste…tasted sweet and god like sugar. Just don’t know much about substitutes for white or brown sugar (grew up with that, and still use in many recipes).
Here is link (also know they now sell Wheylow at Whole Foods…
http://www.wheylow.com/Articles.asp?ID=252
Hope you can help me, so I can serve my family less sugar and something healthier.
Susan
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Laura Reply:
January 8th, 2013 at 10:26 pm
I’ve not heard of it, but if it’s an artificial sweetener, I’d avoid it. Sucanat is cane sugar, just unprocessed so conatains more nutrients. Splenda is aritficial so I do not use it. :)
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Can you use regular milk if you don’t have heavy cream? Love me some caramel :)
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
January 31st, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Yes! Just use slightly less milk.
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I make something very similar to this but as a caramel dip. Instead of cream or milk. I add a bar of softened cream cheese.
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I made this tonight with Vanilla flavored almond milk instead of cream. It came out a little thinner than I’d have liked, but it tastes wonderful!
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This sounds great. I was looking to avoid corn syrup, though I have some to use up :( I’d like it a squeezable consistency right from the fridge. If I place this in a squeeze bottle, will it be too hard to get out?
Besides ice cream and other desserts, I’ve come to enjoy caramel syrup in my morning coffee. Tastes as good as from the fancy coffee shops. :)
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Laura Reply:
March 13th, 2013 at 4:09 pm
After being refrigerated, I think that it would be too thick to get out of a squeeze bottle. :)
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