This delicious salted caramel sauce recipe is perfect for when you don’t need a whole jar. Fill a dozen cupcakes, drizzle on top of ice cream or just satisfy your salted caramel craving in a snap.
I was never a big fan of caramel. I just found it too sweet for my taste. And having memories of caramel candy getting stuck to my teeth for hours (I had braces too!) certainly didn’t help. But a recent trip to San Francisco to visit my best friends changed all that. I was introduced (read: coerced, as best friends tend to do to each other) to salted caramel and that changed everything.
First – salted caramel ice cream
When I landed, my lovely hosts were immediately talking about how they needed to bring me to this famous ice cream shop so I can try their best-selling salted caramel ice cream.
Them: Do you like salted caramel?
Me: Uhm, not rea…
Them: We have to go to this place
Me: Oh-kay…
So off we went to get ice cream I didn’t really want in the middle of a cold, breezy San Francisco night.
The result? The salted caramel ice cream was divine. It’s not the caramel I knew (and disliked) at all. I was sold. Thank God for best friends, eh?
Next – homemade salted caramel sauce
So back home I started looking for salted caramel everything – cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes. But I knew everything started with the sauce. The salted caramel sauce was the key to everything.
Me vs. Stove
It involved the stove though. And you know I try to avoid it if I can. This recipe is a put-everything-in-a-pot kind of recipe however so I put my stove anxieties aside and just did it. It does involve hot (hot – worth repeating) sugar so extra careful, I was.
Apart from that making this salted caramel sauce is a breeze. All you need is a pot and something to stir the sauce with (I prefer a wooden spoon). You’re done in less than 15 minutes. And it is so good.
Perfect amount for your baked goodies
Another thing I like about this recipe is it doesn’t yield a whole bucket of sauce. It’s just about a third of a cup so it works great if you only need a small amount to fill your cupcakes with, or to drizzle on top of your ice cream, or just simply to satisfy your salted caramel cravings.
It hardens over time and I can imagine the difficulty of dealing with a jar full of hard, sticky salted caramel sauce when all you need is a teaspoon.
So whether you’re a lifelong salted caramel fan, a recent convert like me or not into caramel at all – try this recipe. It is remarkably easy to make and seriously addicting.
(This is for you I-Love-Tourists and I-Love-Walking! Looking forward to our next 0.40 mile adventure.)
This delicious salted caramel sauce recipe is perfect for when you don’t need a whole jar. Fill a dozen cupcakes, drizzle on top of ice cream or just satisfy your salted caramel craving in a snap.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk together all your ingredients (except the vanilla) in a heavy-bottom saucepan on medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
- Bring down to a simmer and whisk until it thickens (it took me about 13 minutes - but make sure not to thicken it too much; it will continue to harden as it cools).
- Once thick enough, whisk in the 1/4 teaspoon vanilla then remove from the heat.
- Very carefully pour the caramel into a heatproof container. Allow to cool slightly before using (remember: hot sugar!).
Notes
The sauce will harden as it cools. However, you can just pop it into the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again.
(This recipe adapted from Baker by Nature)
Happy stirring!
Did you make this salted caramel sauce? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it. Love salted caramel? Check out these Salted Caramel Cupcakes.
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i would end up making excuses to eat this haha
Lol no excuses needed! 🙂
Salty and sweet together, I am in! Would be great on vanilla ice cream.
Great idea Suchi!. Just so happens we have vanilla ice cream….except it past midnight now…but I’m an adult so…
MMm the color you got on this is gorgeous! Pinning!
Thanks Hillary!
oh this looks so divine!
Thank you!
I could just eat this by itself with only a spoon involved! Is that wrong?? Pinning and sharing on facebook!
Not wrong. We have a whole group doing it like that lol! Thanks Sharee!
Yum! I know a lot of things I could pour this on!
ME. TOO.
Salted Caramel is so good…and this sauce can be used on so many things. Yummy!!
I agree! It goes really well with so many things 🙂
I want to put this sauce on everything! I am obsessed with salted caramel, but I have never made it myself.
It really goes well with so many things! I encourage you to try it. It’s a small-batch recipe and very easy to do 🙂
THis looks so gorgeous. I can’t wait to make a batch of this molten loveliness. 🙂
Thank you! And do let me know how goes 🙂
oooh! sounds delicious. Would love to try this recipe
Thanks! It’s quick and easy – hope you try it 🙂
I need to make a batch pronto so i can drizzle on my iced lattes in the morning. So tasty ! yum!
Absolutely! Quick and easy and goes really well with iced lattes 🙂
I have a caramel sauce recipe, but this one is a little different and sounds amazing! I can see why you were sold. 🙂 Although, we’re big fans of just about every kind of caramel in this house. 🙂
What sold me was the simplicity of it all 🙂 I’m not a very good cook but I made this one work. Hope you give it a shot and let me know how it goes 🙂
I can think of so many things I would like to drizzle this sauce on. Yum.
Oh hahaha me too! Thanks Catherine!
Can’t believe how easy it is to make your own caramel sauce. 🙂
I know! It’s super easy 🙂 No excuse not to make it now 🙂
I will definitely give this a try! I’m not the biggest caramel fan either but salted caramel sauce over ice cream or a cheesecake – heaven! Love that you shared a recipe that’s only for a third of a cup. Because who really needs a whole jar, right? Pinned it and will for sure visit your blog again 🙂
That was exactly what I intended – just make what you actually need. I didn’t want to deal with a whole jar of it. And it’s so simple to make that you can just make another batch. Hope you try it!
Yum!
Ditto!
So going to have this with icecream very very soon
Oh absolutely. Especially with the weather getting warmer – perfect!
Very interesting idea 🙂 I Think the meat is the perfect accompaniment. Keet it up 🙂
Thank you Klauss
Thank you so much for a quick and easy recipe to solve our craving – love sweet / salt combo!
You’re very welcome Sarah! And yes, hard to beat sweet-salty combo 🙂
Oh this looks goooooood. And I’m like you, not really a caramel girl. Will give it a whirl cos it looks divine!x
Hope this makes a convert out of you too 🙂 Thanks for passing by Cynthia!
YUM! This would be good on so many things! Cookies, brownies, strawberries, ice cream….so many ideas!
Cheesecake, cake, fruit, spoon 🙂
YUM!!!
Agree! 🙂
YUMMY!!
Hope you try it Chelsea 🙂
Holy Smokes! Looks delicious! Trying this out on Saturday 😉
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
This looks so amazing. Am I allowed to just eat it with a spoon? Bookmarking to try soon.
Oh absolutely Oriana! Enjoy 🙂
Oh thank goodness! The only recipe I have makes such a HUGE batch it always goes to waste. Thanks for this small batch recipe 🙂
I know right? I love that it saves me from doing math while I’m already busy baking lol. Hope you find it useful!
I’m fan of caramel sauce but till now never tried salted version. This looks heavenly ans I guess time for me to try some 🙂
If you’re already a fan of caramel, I think you will like salted caramel too! Thanks for stopping by Priya!
Love, love, love caramel sauce! This looks phenomenal!
Thanks Lisa!
Salted caramel is like one of my favourite things ever! I don’t know why I never tried making my own!
It’s my new favourite too 🙂 Try to make some, it’s easy I promise!
I am still cautious on sweets that are too sweet, and that includes caramel. But I want to be like you and trust good friends, so I am going to try your recipes (and possibly put in on ice cream). I have never made a caramel sauce and tried to avoid everything with caramel, but this is going to change 🙂 . Looks beautiful!
I don’t like traditional caramel too precisely because it’s too sweet. Hope this doesn’t turn out too sweet for you Nicoletta! (I’m feeling the pressure now lol!)
sounds like you have the most awesomest bffs! will definitely have to try this!!! thank you 🙂 <3
Yeah! They are pretty awesome, I’m very lucky 🙂
Isn’t salted caramel just a revelation? I would put it on literally everything if I could. Some recipes are tricky for me – especially if they start out with melting just pure sugar which I always seem to burn – but THIS recipe seems like one I can handle! Can’t wait for the cupcakes!
Yes! I went from hating caramel to loving salted caramel 🙂 And trust me, this is easy. I think the hardest part for me was deciding when it was thick enough….I’m excited about the cupcakes too!
Don’t you just love finding out that something you used to dislike can be oh so delicious? This recipe sounds incredible, so easy to have ready to use! I’ll pin it to my pinterest so I can make it whenever I feel like baking 🙂
Yeah, it was really a complete turnaround. I mean, I don’t even eat Werther’s lol. Thanks for stopping by!