Easy caramel sauce. Did three words ever comfort you as much as these?! The promise of ridiculously rich, thick, gooey caramel goodness is sufficient to win us over, more so than even the sweetest of sweet nothings whispered in our ears.
Simple and simply indulgent. That’s what we think of this easy caramel sauce. It’s so darn simple—seriously—that it’s perfect even for random weeknight cravings that can be satisfied simply by scooping something sweet by the spoonful.And while dribbling it over pie may make you murmur and moan in ecstasy, this lovely little caramel sauce has also got countless other applications, including ice cream. Shortbread. Apple slices. Pear slices, too. Banana slices probably wouldn’t be terrible, either. And, of course, there’s apple pie, which takes us back to where we began with this whole easy caramel sauce escapade. We sorta like how that came full circle. Originally published October 25, 2013. –Renee Schettler Rossi
Easy Caramel Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup honey
Directions
- 1. Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil, still stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
- 2. And, um, that’s it. Spoon the caramel sauce over anything you want or just stick a spoon in it. (You can cover and refrigerate the caramel sauce for up to 1 week. To reheat, microwave on high for 10 to 15 seconds or just until warm and stir until smooth.)
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I made a similar recipe last week & added some pumpkin pie spices – delicious for apple dipping.
Lovely idear, Martha in KS!
This is basically what I have made for years to serve over my Christmas pudding along with vanilla ice cream, except that I use maple syrup instead of honey, being Canadian and all….
Oooooooh, that sounds phenomenal, potterhill. Simply phenomenal.
Sorry to be pedantic, but isn’t this really a butterscotch sauce? In my very limited brain you get caramel by, well, caramelizing white sugar and butterscotch by cooking brown sugar in butter or cream until it dissolves. I know, a caramel by any other names still tastes sweet…
Bob, you’re quite correct. And shame on us for perpetuating a falsehood. We saw this recipe in the book with it’s current title of Easy Caramel Sauce and we knew it was butterscotch—which of course is far less tricky to make—but since testers’ loved the taste and professed it to be far more caramel-like than butterscotch-like, we decided to let the title remain. We appreciate your attention to detail and apologize.
When this recipe was posted, I knew I had to find something wonderful to adore this with and this is what I came up with….pan seared zucchini bread in butter, a scoop of pumpkin ice cream, this fabulous sauce and fresh whipped cream. My guests were speechless and legless.
Greg, my fine sir, it sounds as divine as you.
I love caramel sauce and I don’t consider myself skillful in the kitchen, but I decided to give this recipe a try. It turned out perfectly!!
Magnificent! Am so thrilled to hear that! We so appreciate your trust in our recipe and in taking the time to share your success with us!