Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Here's a video of the process:

Right now, you’re only five ingredients and 15-20 minutes away from luscious, homemade caramel sauce.  

Caramel sauce that so deliciously elevates things like sliced apples, cinnamon rolls, cheesecakes, ice cream and lattes.

I mean, store-bought caramel sauce is okay, but this...this caramel sauce is packed with undeniable flavor and leaves that ole’ store-bought sauce wallowing in sorrow at its greatness.

Don’t like salted caramel?  No worries...simply reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 tsp.  You can even use unsalted butter.  However, don’t leave the salt out completely.  It does need a little.

Can you guess what I made first with this caramel?  Stay tuned tomorrow!

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

6 Tbsp salted butter, room temperature (cut into 6 pieces)

1/2 cup heavy cream, room temperature

1 tsp salt

**Reduce salt to 1/2 tsp and use unsalted butter if you’d prefer regular caramel sauce.**

Directions:

Add the sugar and water to a medium sauce pan, and stir well.

Heat the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and turns clear.  This will only take a few minutes.

Next, raise the heat a tiny bit to medium high, and cook the sugar until it turns amber or honey colored, about 10-12 minutes.  The mixture will gently bubble during this step.  Do NOT stir or step away.  Keep a watchful eye as it simmers.  Once it starts to turn color, it will happen fairly fast.  It’s easy to cook too long and burn it, if you’re not careful.

As soon as the sugar reaches the correct amber color, immediately add the butter and whisk well until completely combined (For this step, I recommend wearing an oven mitt.  When the butter and the cream are added, the caramel will bubble rapidly and the mixture can splatter onto your arms as you stir.  Trust me...this hurts!)

Turn the heat to low and slowly drizzle in the heavy cream, whisking together as you pour.  

Continue to whisk, fully incorporating the cream.  Stir in the salt.  

If there are any sugar clumps remaining, continue to whisk vigorously over low heat for a few moments until your caramel is smooth.

Let the caramel sauce cool to room temperature, then transfer to a jar and refrigerate.  It will thicken as it cools.

The caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.