Learn how to make a simple and delicious caramel sauce made with only sugar, milk, and sea salt. No cream or butter needed!
Quick Note: This is an updated version of a post that originally appeared on Bright-Eyed Baker in 2012. Updates include new text and photos, as well as some details added to the instructions for clarity.
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Back in the day, when consuming copious amounts of sugar at once didn't seem like an awful idea, my coffee drink of choice was a caramel frappucino. I later moved to a skinny caramel frap, and then to caramel macchiatos, but my love of all things coffee + caramel persisted. It's for that reason and that reason only that I developed this recipe for making caramel sauce with milk.
I tried multiple other recipes - some using a dry method, some a wet method; some with heavy cream, and some with butter. But here's the thing: they were all problematic for one reason or another. One burned. Another was so thick you definitely couldn't pour it into a latté. And every recipe using cream or butter along with the requisite sugar just seemed a little too heavy for an every-morning drink.
So here we are now, after *many* failed batches, with a very simple caramel sauce made without any cream or butter. Making caramel sauce with milk is extremely unconventional, and there's a reason for that: milk has a lot less fat than heavy cream, which makes the process trickier. But it can work, it's still delicious, and after a little practice it's really not difficult at all.
What is dry-method caramel?
Like I mentioned before, there are two basic methods for making caramel: a wet method and a dry method. The wet method involves mixing sugar with water before cooking it; as the sugar melts, the water evaporates. With the dry method, the sugar is heated by itself until it starts to caramelize and turn liquid. Some people find the dry method more difficult, but I personally prefer it.
Ingredients
There are only three simple ingredients you need for this recipe: sugar, milk, and sea salt. I've personally tested this recipe with 2% and whole milk, but readers have shared in the comments that they've used all sorts of other milk. See the recipe notes for other types of milk that I've been told work.
Tips for making caramel sauce
This recipe can be tricky until you get the hang of it. Here are some tips I highly recommend you read before starting:
Start with clean tools. Make sure your pot and spatula are clean and dry. Your sugar should also be completely pure; if it has come into contact with bits of flour, etc., that could effect how well it liquifies. Clean conditions help prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
Use a heavy-bottomed, TALL pot. Trust me on this one! A thin pan will lead to burnt caramel, and a pan that's too shallow can lead to a dangerous mess, since the hot caramel will steam and bubble vigorously when you add milk to it.
Wear an oven mitt. Even with a tall pot, I recommend wearing an oven mitt on the hand that you'll use to stir in the milk. You need to keep the caramel stirring constantly once the milk has been added, but the steam can get so hot that this can become close to impossible with a bare hand.
Don't multi-task. Don't try to make caramel at the same time as you're doing something else. The process moves quickly and is extremely time-sensitive. If you're not paying close attention you'll most likely burn your caramel or cause it to seize or curdle, and nobody wants that!
Don't stir the sugar. I can't stress this enough: while the sugar is heating up and starting to liquify, DO NOT STIR. The only thing you want to use your spatula for at this point is to push the liquid sugar on top of the solid sugar so it doesn't burn. Hold off on any stirring until all of the sugar has liquified.
Don't burn the caramel. I realize this seems obvious, but it also needs to be said. Once the sugar turns to liquid, continue to cook it just until it turns a rusty golden-brown color. Then STOP.
Don't give up! Real talk: your first attempt at making caramel might not be a complete success. BUT, I can tell you from my own experience (and that of so many readers who have commented on this recipe!) that the second attempt is usually much better.
For more helpful pointers, check out my top ten tips for making caramel without cream!
Troubleshooting caramel
There are two main issues you might run into while making this caramel sauce:
The milk curdles: One issue with using milk in a caramel sauce is the possibility of it curdling. This can be caused by a few things: the sugar getting too dark or burnt (and acidic) before adding the milk, using old milk, and/or not stirring the caramel constantly once the milk has been added. In any case, you can usually save a curdled caramel sauce by using an immersion blender to smooth it out again.
The caramel seizes: It is not at all uncommon for your caramel sauce to seize when milk is added to it. When this happens, the liquid caramel hardens into a semi-solid clump and you're left with a pot full of milk and a clump of caramelized sugar. Don't panic! Just put the caramel back on the stove and stir it continuously until the clumps melt back into the sauce. It may take a while but it should eventually happen.
Can I double the recipe?
I would highly recommend that you not double this recipe unless you've made it many times already and are 100% comfortable with the process. Too much sugar in a pot becomes hard to cook evenly, and this can lead to all sorts of difficulties.
Making a thicker sauce
If you don't cook the caramel sauce for more than a couple minutes after adding the milk, it will be thin, which is perfect for mixing into coffee. But if you're looking for a thicker caramel sauce, just cook it longer (about 10-15 minutes after adding the milk) while stirring constantly.
Storing caramel
This caramel sauce can be stored in a jar in the refrigerator and should last for several weeks, if not longer. But I have no doubt you'll use it faster than that!
More caramel recipes
Once you've got the hang of making caramel, it's easy to adapt the method to different recipes. Here are some recipes using caramel that you can try:
Caramel Latté Ice Cream - A silky, luscious ice cream that tastes like the frozen version of an ultra-creamy caramel latte. Cannot recommend enough.
Salted Caramel and Candied Pecan Biscotti - Classic biscotti gets an exciting twist with the addition of crunchy candied pecans, a heavy caramel drizzle, and a sprinkle of sea salt to top it all off.
Boozy Chocolate Caramel Cups - Mini chocolate cups filled with rum-spiked caramel. It's homemade candy at its finest!
A final tip
Read through the entire recipe below before you start making this caramel sauce! The process moves very quickly and you'll be much more likely to succeed if you know what to expect.
PrintCaramel Sauce with Milk
A simple and delicious caramel sauce made with only sugar, milk, and sea salt. No cream or butter needed!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes (up to 30)
- Total Time: 25 minutes (up to 35)
- Yield: 1 to 1-¼ cups caramel sauce* 1x
- Category: candy
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Low Fat
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups milk**
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon sea salt***
Instructions
- Heat sugar in saucepan: Place the sugar in a large, tall, heavy-bottomed pot, shaking it so that the sugar is in a thin, even layer. Place the pot over medium-low heat. Set a timer for 8 minutes while the sugar starts to heat up. During this time, leave the sugar untouched.
- Continue cooking: Check on the sugar once the 8 minutes are up. If you're starting to smell it, or see areas where it appears light brown or translucent, it's about to start turning liquid. If this happens, skip to step 3 now. Otherwise, set the timer for another 8 minutes, but this time, keep an eye on the sugar. Around 8 minutes later you should see it starting to liquify.
- Warm milk: Meanwhile, prepare for the next few steps, as they will come quickly. Warm the milk in a microwave-safe container for about a minute, and stir to even out the temperature. Place the warm milk near the stove along with a trivet (where you can quickly place the pot of caramel once ready), and a heat-safe spatula.
- Finish melting sugar: As soon as you see the sugar turning liquid, take your heat-safe spatula and carefully start to scoop the liquid sugar over the solid sugar. Continue to do this as more sugar turns liquid; the idea is not to stir the sugar, but just to keep the liquid parts from burning. Once all of the sugar has turned liquid, stir gently until it turns a rusty golden-brown color. This should only take a few seconds; be careful not to let it burn.
- Add milk to sugar: As soon as the caramel turns the appropriate color, remove it from the stove, place it on the trivet, and quickly stir in half of the warm milk. It's important to keep stirring the caramel during this time. The milk will cause the caramel to steam and bubble rapidly, so be careful as you stir. Continue to stir as the bubbling subsides, and then stir in the remaining milk.
- Return to heat: Some (or much) of the caramel may have hardened when the milk was added. If so, or if you want a thicker caramel, return the pot to the stove. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until any hardened caramel has melted back into the mixture. Be sure to carefully pry any hardened bits off of the bottom or sides of the pot as necessary, melting these pieces back in as well. Be patient; it may seem like they aren't going to melt, but with time it should.
- To make a thicker caramel: If you want a thicker caramel, better for drizzling onto baked goods, cook the caramel, stirring constantly, for an additional 10-15 minutes after adding the milk. It will not look very thick while it's hot, but as it cools, it will thicken substantially.
- Add salt and cool: Once all hardened pieces of caramel have melted (as needed) and the caramel has cooked longer (as desired), remove the pot from the heat. Whisk in the sea salt. Pour the caramel into a heat-proof container (if using glass, you can put a metal spoon in it to prevent shattering). Cover and place in the refrigerator to store; it will thicken as it cools.
Notes
*A thinner caramel sauce will yield about 1-¼ cups, while a thicker caramel sauce (cooked longer) will yield about 1 cup.
**I typically use 2% milk or whole milk. Readers have told me that the following will also work: 1%, skim milk, rice milk, goat's milk, almond milk, soy milk, and lactose-free milks such as Lactaid. (I haven't tested these alternatives myself.)
***For more of a "salted caramel", use ½ teaspoon of sea salt. Otherwise, ¼ teaspoon should do it.
Basic Recipe Adapted From: The Perfect Scoop via Annie's Eats
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2012-2021
Liska says
Just made a batch! I used to work in a chocolate store and we made caramel from scratch. When I left I was super disappointed that I wouldn't be able to make caramel anymore. Thanks for posting such a simple recipe. This is the third batch I've made from your recipe. I've tried 1% which didn't work at all, 2% which worked amazingly, and this last batch I made with condensed milk. I was trying to make a thicker caramel and condensed milk worked really well for it. A tip for people; when we made caramel at my work and it was cooking too fast we would add a little more milk, or even a little water, to make it cook slower. When I say a little I mean a little. Like half a teaspoon little.
alexandra says
Thanks for the tip and for sharing your experience with the recipe! Happy to hear it worked well for you. :)
cindy lee says
No matter how much I try, the middle part will always burn and crystallize :( help!!
alexandra says
Hi Cindy! I'd love to help you out. Is the middle burning before the rest of the sugar melts?
cindy lee says
Yes :(
Brenda says
I too, am a "caramelaholic"...and HAVE to have it in my coffee each morning! It's refreshing to find a caramel recipe that works without butter and cream! I have made
caramel using dozens of methods, and been successful 1/2 the time after a few tries, and your method worked for me the first try! Aaahhhh...almost guilt free caramel!!
alexandra says
That's so awesome to hear! Very happy it worked out well for you. :)
Lez says
Wow! I cannot believe I just read ALL the comments! I really want to try this. 2 questions though, firstly, did you ever try in the microwave as one reader did? I would like to try that. Secondly, can one freeze this sauce? Thanks for what I hope will be a successful & easy recipe!
alexandra says
Haha I can't believe you read all the comments either, but that's awesome! You'll be super-prepared! I haven't tried making it in the microwaving or freezing it, so I'm sorry I can't be more help there. :/
Kiara says
Hi,
So I did exactly what the recipe said. I used a cup of pure cane sugar, and put it in a tall, heavy bottomed pot for eight minutes on low heat, and put my timer on eight minutes. When I came back, the sugar had completely burnt! What did I do?!
alexandra says
Your stove probably runs hotter than mine. It's always a good idea to watch the process closely the first time you're doing this, so you can get an idea of how quickly things progress with your stove. You can lower the heat (if possible), and also watch it closely next time so you can move onto the next step when the sugar is melted and amber-colored but not burned.
Kiara says
I just made a beautiful batch of caramel. I followed your advice, and put it on the lowest possible setting. The sugar melted after eight minutes, but it was a very stubborn batch. When I poured in the milk, most of the caramel instantly cooled and hardened (note to self; heat up the milk), and was very hard to pry off the bottom, but after a while it melted into the sauce. One thing I want to make sure, is the caramel supposed to be roughly the texture of milk before refrigerating?
One note of advice: wear an apron. Having hot caramel splash on your new pants isn't fun.
alexandra says
Hi Kiara,
You should definitely heat up the milk as noted in the recipe to help prevent major seizing of the caramel. As far as the texture, it will be a pretty thin caramel sauce before cooling, and even once it's cooled it will be fairly thin unless you cook it longer after adding the milk. You can get it quite think though depending on how long you cook it, and you can also reduce the milk to make it thicker.
Haley says
I just tried this recipe and it turned out perfect! Last couple times I made caramel it burned so I was very thankful for the detailed instructions. I will definitely be saving this one. Oh also I used half heavy cream and half hazlenut milk.
alexandra says
So happy it worked out well for you! That hazelnut milk sounds like an awesome addition!
Amanda says
After reading the comments I think you should put pure cane sugar in the recipe as I used regular sugar. I did everything to a t and the sugar hardened in a clump and no amount of heating worked. and while I poured in the milk a nice big bubble came up and gave me a good size blister so I would suggest using a very deep pot. gonna stick to my old recipe it may take longer but it works
alexandra says
The typical granulated sugar you buy at the grocery store is pure cane sugar. The only reason why I've specified this in some of the comments is because it's hard to troubleshoot issues with making caramel sometimes, so I try to get as detailed as possible with my explanations. I also explained in the post about the necessity of using a really tall pot for the exact reason you mentioned! Caramel-making can be a dangerous thing if you're not extra careful. :(
Kara says
I just had to leave you a note about my total brain fart when I first read this. I had been looking for a caramel recipe with milk as we are on a very tight budget and I can't afford to buy items for just one dish. When I found this, I got super excited and read through it. I got to the part about storing it and putting something metal in a glass jar so it wouldn't shatter. I sat there puzzling over this "metal" and went through all the comments to see if anyone had asked about it.
Finally I called my Mom. "Mom, I found this recipe and it says to put something metal in the jar. Why? " "the metal will absorb the heat so the glass won't break. " she says. "So what am I supposed to use? Like a quarter or paper clips or something? " There is silence then she bursts into laughter. "What? It's not like a car is going to fit in there. I mean maybe a matchbox. But isn't that really unsanitary? And how do I get this stuff out anyway?" By now she's gasping for breathing and my Dad is in the background asking if she's okay "Mom, seriously. I don't get it. What else am I... oh a spoon. Never mind. Forget I called. "
I'll never live that down but I did give a try today and it's pure heaven. I've made three cups of coffee and eaten it with a spoon. This is definitely a keeper! Thanks a million!
alexandra says
Haha funniest story! Thanks for the laughs and I'm super glad you're loving the caramel!
Rachel says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made Sticky Toffee Pudding for my family today and wanted a sauce which wasn't cream and butter heavy, so this was perfect! I used slightly less milk to make it thicker but didn't quite heat it enough so the caramel seized a bit when I added the milk - I followed your instructions to the letter though and managed to save it! It went down a treat and it was nice knowing it was a bit healthier than other caramel sauces I could have made :)
I am determined to give this another go so that I can get it perfect...at least that's my excuse for the many batches of this sauce I can see in my future! ;)
alexandra says
I'm so happy to hear that! Sometimes the caramel seizes even it seems like you've done everything right, but practice does make perfect, and like you realized, seizing is totally fixable!
Emma says
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!! I was spending so much on iced caramel lattes everyday...I made this with almond milk and it came out PERFECT!!! I LOVE YOU! excellent guide!!!
Emma says
(of course..this was on the second try. so impressed, since I can barely boil an egg properly!!)
alexandra says
Ahh that's so awesome! Made my day reading this! I'm so glad it worked out for you. :)
Bea says
I want this to work so much, but I am having trouble getting the sugar to melt. I am using pure cane sugar, started out at medium low, but after 1 hour have raised the temperature to medium. Still nothing. Any suggestions? (I am using an electric stove.)
alexandra says
That's really strange, but I would suggest raising the temperature a little higher next time. Once you get the sugar hot enough, it should start liquifying in the right amount of time.
Lil says
Hi I absolutely love caramel and am looking to try and make some, this recipe seems easy enough, but why melt the sugar first? Would the same results be achieved if I put the sugar and milk in at the same time and then cook it? Like that it would eliminate a step and prevent the whole mess of the caramel seizing when adding the milk? Has anyone tried it? Yeah I'm always looking for shortcuts, maybe I'll try it then will let you know how it turned out.
alexandra says
Well, combining the sugar and milk would change this to a wet-method caramel which is a whole different process. The wet-method is usually done with sugar and water, followed by cream and/or butter later in the process. I find that the dry method (used in the recipe) is a lot less temperamental, and I have no personal experience making a wet-method caramel with milk only, so I really can't comment on that. In the long run, the recipe is actually not that hard to tackle; it just takes a bit of practice!
Grace says
I just tried this recipe. 3 times. I have 3 filthy pans and a stove with tan milk on it that I have to clean up. I have made caramel before with no issues. I didn't have any heavy cream so I tried this. Definitely not happy!!
alexandra says
I would love to help you out if you want to give me an idea of what went wrong! So many people have tried this recipe and had no issues, so I know it can be done. :)
Grace says
Well the first time i tried it I at the timer like you said and when I came back the sugar was very over cooked. The next time milk completely boiled over everywhere. The third time I got a huge pan out. I stood right by it the whole time. Did everything exactly as the recipe states. I ended up with yucky brown milk with chunks in it... not good at all.
alexandra says
Well as I guess you've figured out by now, it is absolutely crucial that you not walk away and that you use a big enough pot. As far as the milk with chunks... it sounds like your milk curdled. It's possible that you let the sugar get too dark before adding the milk, or that the milk wasn't warmed up enough before adding. Unfortunately it can be hard to diagnosis these things without seeing them firsthand. As a side note, if you did manage to get all of the sugar melted into the milk, you can still usually save the caramel (if curdled) by blending it to smooth it out again.
Jorge Bizarro says
I think that the root of your 3 issues has the same cause: exceedingly hot caramel.
You probably have a very 'powerful' stove or a quick heat conducting pan, and the trick with caramel is never to let it warm too much. I prefer to lower the fire to a minimum and even take away the pan from the stove until all melts, gets 'runny', etc. If needed, I take back the pan to the stove, remove it, take it back, etc until it reaches the colour I desire.
I've done lots of caramel using just sugar ('dry' method) and adding hot water later. This simple caramel I use for coating the pans where I bake Portuguese like custard pudding, egg puddings, etc. desserts that - like many other Portuguese desserts - are very sweet, take lots of eggs/yolks, so this milk caramel sauce is perfect because it is less sweet and in the end I can add some lime juice and basil with a blender to the hot milk (may be it will work with the finished caramel) ...this 'cuts' back the sweetness.
Also, caramel is something you should never leave 'alone' while cooking...it's unpredictable in my opinion.
Alexandra says
Hi!! This is by far the best caramel sauce I have made. I used 1.5% milk, and my sugar melted way before the 16 minutes. I don't know if it's my stove, or the temperature here in Greece but anyhow it did. When I poured the milk in (attention, a little warm than body temperature-not HOT) I had a few hardened pieces but patiently i kept stirring and stirring and stirring till I had the smoothest,most delicious caramel sauce ever.. and a pinch of sea salt does the taste bud trick.. Thanks!!! (heart)
alexandra says
Yay! SO glad you loved it. :) Thanks for letting me know and sharing your experience with the recipe!
Cheyenne says
Hello!
I must tell you; I looked everywhere for recipe that didn't use double cream as it's very rich and I always bake on a spur of the moment so I never have any
I've now tried this multiple times, sometimes as a sauce and other times as the centre to caramel chocolates. It's worked beautifully everytime and if I ever need it thicker I just keep cooking it! My family much prefers it to very rich versions and it's becomr a firm favourite. Next I'm going to try and make chews or lollies out of it with a few changes obviously. Thank you so much for this recipe! ^-^
alexandra says
Thank YOU for sharing your success with it! It makes me so happy to hear that. :)