Caramel Sauce

If there’s anything better than warm, gooey caramel sauce drizzled over ice cream, I don’t know what it is! In fact, I think caramel sauce is the perfect sweet finish to so many desserts. When I developed this recipe, I wanted a caramel that was thick enough for dipping fruit or cookies, but not so thick that you can’t pour it at room temperature. I also didn’t want it too thin if you want to warm it up to drizzle it over ice cream or other treats.

I think I reached a happy medium with this recipe for caramel sauce. Plus, it could hardly be simpler to make. All you need are a few ingredients to cook up the most irresistible treat. Thinking beyond ice cream, you can add caramel sauce to cookies, especially shortbread cookies, in or on top of cakes, in buttercream frosting, and more. I also like to divide a batch of homemade caramel between pretty jars and give them as gifts.

Why You’ll Love This Caramel Sauce

I could sing the praises of caramel sauce for hours, but I’ll try to sum it up in a few brief points below:

• Simple ingredients. Every ingredient on the ingredients list is easily found at your local grocery store, and you will probably have quite a few of them in your pantry already.
• Versatile. See some of my serving suggestions below for how to make good use of homemade caramel sauce. I love to stir a spoonful into an iced latte or serve a bowl of warm caramel sauce with fresh fruit like strawberries or pineapple chunks for dipping.
• Homemade is best. Sure, you could pick up a jar of caramel sauce at the store. But in my opinion, nothing beats the taste of homemade caramel sauce. It’s fresher and doesn’t contain any preservatives – two things I truly appreciate.
• Naturally gluten-free. I love recipes that are naturally gluten-free, and this caramel sauce falls into that category! All of the ingredients – which total 6 – don’t contain any gluten, so you won’t have to worry about any cross-contamination.

Tips for Success

This is a straightforward recipe, but I have a few tips to help it turn out well every time:

• Add vanilla and salt – or not. This caramel has a deep, rich flavor from cooking the sugar. I like to add pure vanilla extract and salt to enhance the flavor, but you can omit one or both.
• Swap in different ingredients. There are a number of ways to make caramel. Some use brown sugar, some use half, and some use different ratios of the ingredients. When I tested variations with half and half or brown sugar, they all ended up more thick and grainy, so you may want to keep to the recipe as it’s written.
• Watch the sauce while it’s cooking. To make sure the caramel sauce doesn’t burn, pay attention during the step where the sugar cooks in the water. I do recommend using a candy thermometer if you can so you’ll know that the sugar base has reached the correct temperature.
• Use the microwave. Warm cooled or refrigerated caramel sauce for a few seconds in the microwave if you want a pourable consistency.
• Make it dairy-free. You can easily make a dairy-free caramel sauce. Substitute coconut cream for the heavy cream, and use your favorite non-dairy butter of choice for the butter.
• Thin it out. You can make a thinner, pourable caramel sauce. To make a more spoonable caramel sauce at room temperature, add 1 cup of heavy cream rather than ½ cup of heavy cream. Then proceed with the recipe as written.

Ways To Use Homemade Caramel Sauce

As I’ve mentioned, homemade caramel is amazing on ice cream and other desserts! Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve caramel sauce:

• Make a sundae. Choose from one of my no-churn ice cream recipes like Toffee Nutella Swirl Ice Cream or Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Ice Cream. Then top scoops of your favorite flavor with a generous spoon of caramel sauce, whipped cream, and toasted nuts.
• Use in candies. Add a swirl of caramel to this Salted Caramel Mocha Chocolate Bark or sandwich it between the layers of this Caramel Toffee Fudge.
• Flavor your frosting. If you’re making buttercream frosting, why not make caramel buttercream frosting by swapping some of the sugar in your vanilla frosting? Caramel is a great complement to chocolate cake, and makes this Flourless Caramel Chocolate Cake Roll completely irresistible!
• In your coffee. Instead of sugar or simple syrup to sweeten an iced coffee or cold brew, stir in as much caramel sauce as you like for sweetness and added flavor. Or make a caramel latte by adding a spoonful of caramel sauce!
• Serve with treats. Use it for dipping Gluten Free Funnel Cake Fries or churros, or even drizzling on cookies like Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies to dress them up.
• Use as a dip. A bowl of thick homemade caramel sauce makes a wonderful dip for fresh fruit like whole or halved strawberries, chunks of fresh pineapple, banana slices, or melon. You can also pour it over the top of this Caramel Apple Dip that’s the best for apple or pear slices.

More Dessert Sauces

• Hot Fudge Sauce makes the best ice cream sundaes with only a few ingredients.
• Dulce de Leche is so thick and rich for a slight variation on caramel.
• Cherry Pie Filling easily doubles as a sauce, especially on cheesecake.
• Chocolate Glaze is perfect for dipping donuts or drizzling on cakes.