Homemade Caramel Sauce (Small Batch)

This Homemade Caramel Sauce from scratch using only three ingredients is easier than you think! Pour your small batch caramel sauce over ice cream or dunk apples into it.

Do these situations sound familiar?

You’re getting ready to bake my small chocolate cake when you realize you’re out of cocoa powder while your butter is already at room temperature.

Or you have unexpected company and no time to make dessert.

Or you’re in the middle of a blizzard and can’t drive anywhere. Or you live too far from the grocery store to justify a trip for one little item.

If you said yes to any of these scenarios, this Homemade Caramel Sauce is for you!

With only three ingredients, you can easily whip up caramel from scratch when you need a sweet drizzle.

Have company over? Pour it over Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Maybe your Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes are missing some caramel drizzle for a bit of oomph.

Or perhaps you want to serve it with your apples like I did (or go all out with Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dip).

However you choose to eat your Homemade Caramel Sauce, it is a necessity to have this small batch caramel sauce in your recipe arsenal.

What’s the difference between caramel and butterscotch?

Do you know what caramel sauce is?

You’re probably sitting there going, duh of course I know caramel!

However, my friend Jenni of Pastry Chef Online explained how a lot of people mix up the difference between caramel and butterscotch.

Caramel is made with granulated sugar and heavy cream while butterscotch is made with brown sugar and no dairy.

It’s quite fascinating (and a little disheartening) when I read that I actually enjoy butterscotch.

I’ve always said I hated it, but as Jenni pointed out, store-made butterscotch isn’t even close to the real thing. Now I’m going to have to rethink things.

Anyway, this is true caramel sauce, my friends. True and pure.

When I was looking up caramel sauces, I found one that said “caramel sauce with a hint of butterscotch.”

I laughed because it actually is butterscotch. No wonder there was a “hint” of it.

How many servings does Small Batch Caramel Sauce make?

This recipe for small batch caramel sauce makes 1 cup. It’s hard to say how many servings as it’ll heavily depend on how you use it.

I consider it small batch caramel because you’re not stuck with multiple jars of it.

Ingredients For Homemade Caramel Sauce

To make your recipe for caramel sauce, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Granulated sugar: As mentioned, granulated sugar is what makes this recipe caramel and not butterscotch.
• Butter: Adding butter turns your melted sugar into caramel sauce rather than caramel syrup.
• Heavy whipping cream: Helps loosen the sugar mixture so it turns into a creamy caramel sauce.
• Sea salt: Ok I know I said 3 ingredients, but you can take your caramel sauce one step further by adding salt. Sea salt is best but you can also use kosher salt.

How To Make Homemade Caramel Sauce

First things first – safety.

Before you freak out all you have to do is not be as dumb as me. You see, many years ago I made caramel sauce for the first time.

When I stir things, I have a tendency to bang the spoon off the edge of the pan to get the excess off. Well when I did that, a piece of caramel flew back and landed on my finger.

Caramel sauce is much stickier and hotter than boiling water. When you get boiling water on you, you shake it off.

When you get caramel sauce on you, you shake it off with no luck. It stays on your finger until you wash it off with cold water.

So as you get started, make sure you have a clear path to the sink. Just in case.

Also have all your ingredients ready to go as the cooking process will go quickly. The longer you take, the more likely it’ll burn.

Now time to make your caramel from scratch! In the bottom of heavy, deep saucepan, add your sugar.

As the sugar melts, start whisking. Once it comes to a boil, stop stirring. If you continue stirring at this point, your sauce will crystallize.

As soon as all of the sugar is a light amber color, carefully add the butter and whisk until melted. The sugar should look lighter than you’d like because it’ll keep cooking. If you wait until the right shade of amber, it will burn once it is finished.

Remove the pan from the heat. Carefully and slowly add the cream then once it settles down, whisk to incorporate. Add salt if using.

It’s very important your cream isn’t cold. In fact, you may even want to warm it up in the microwave slightly.

If your cream is too cold, your caramel may seize (clump) up because of the drastic temperature difference (really hot + cold = clumps).

If this happens, put your pan back over low heat and carefully whisk until smooth again. If you can’t get rid of the lumps, strain the sauce before cooling to remove them.

Let cool in the pan for a few minutes then transfer to a heat-proof container.

Do not taste your sauce until it has cooled down. Your tongue will thank you.

Cool to room temperature before storing. Warm before serving.

How To Store Caramel Sauce

Because your caramel sauce will still be very hot, store it inside a heat-proof container such as a mason jar.

If you don’t have anything, let it cool completely in your saucepan then transfer to your container of choice.

How long does caramel sauce last?

Caramel sauce from scratch will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Does homemade caramel sauce need to be refrigerated?

Because of the dairy, yes this recipe for caramel sauce needs to be refrigerated. Let it cool completely to room temperature before transferring to the fridge.

Recipes Using Caramel Sauce

Besides eating it by the spoonful, you can now use your homemade caramel sauce as an ingredient in one of these delicious recipes:

• Caramel Hot Chocolate
• Mini Caramel Cheesecakes
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake
• No Bake Caramel Apple Cheesecake
• Cheesecake Stuffed Apples
• Waffle Cone Ice Cream
• Caramel Affogato

Want more? Check out my full list of caramel recipes.

Originally published September 30, 2012