Homemade Caramel Sauce

I can’t make an apple crisp to save my life, but I am fairly good at making caramel sauce.  I don’t know where this recipe came from, it’s one I’ve been using and tinkering with for years to get it to where I want it. So, I’m sharing my homemade caramel sauce for apple slices.

I love caramel apples, but find that I don’t enjoy a super sticky caramel. This sauce is slightly sticky, like a good caramel should be, but it’s not so sticky that people need to worry about their dental work. I’ve used this sauce, in different forms, to make caramel popcorn, caramel frosting, and pancake syrup.

This caramel sauce is really versatile.

Specifically:

I make it thinner to top our pancakes and waffles. All I add is just another cup of milk and boil it about four minutes less.

I make it a little thicker to turn it into caramel candy by boiling it for five or six minutes longer.

For caramel corn, I just pour the caramel candy mixture over already popped corn (that’s been spread on wax paper) and let it cool.

Sometimes, I’ll add powdered sugar into it and make a caramel frosting. This form takes a little more fiddling with the recipe to pull off. After the sauce has boiled for about three minutes, I take the sauce off the heat and add about a pound of powdered sugar.

The caramel sauce recipe is made of everyday ingredients, so I always have what I need on hand. One of the advantages is that this recipe does not use sweetened condensed milk, which I never seem to have. This recipe is simple enough that my children can help with it, too.

We had a fun time making the video as well.  Each of the kids really enjoyed taking their turns in front of the camera.  They enjoyed the opportunity to help in the kitchen, but they really enjoyed eating the fruit of their labors. It was so much fun working with my children on this video and with this recipe. I love being able to share one of our family’s favorite sweets.

Of course, there is always the huge debate, is it said care-a-mel or Car-mel? My husband and I are on opposing sides in this debate. I’m more for the Car-mel pronunciation, and he favors care-a-mel. Whenever I hear care-a-mel I think of expensive candies from an exclusive candy store, not caramel. But the care-a-mel pronunciation does make remembering how to spell the word a lot easier. Which way do you pronounce “caramel”?

The crispness in the evenings tells me fall is coming. As much as I’m in denial, (we’ve had such a great summer) I’m also excited to start “fall” things again. So, to celebrate fall, here’s my homemade caramel sauce for apples. Do you have a favorite fall recipe? I’d love to try it out. Share it with me here in the comments, on Facebook. Or you can share a picture on Instagram if you’d like.

Welcome Fall!

Oh, and if you want some yummy pumpkin waffles to go under the caramel sauce, check out this post:  Pumpkin Pie Waffles