I’m so excited to share this recipe with you; it’s soooo good. Here’s what you’ll need plus salt. The full printable recipe is below.
This recipe is so easy you won’t even need a candy thermometer. In a large sauce pan add the buttermilk, butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Heat on medium to medium-high. Make sure you stir it fairly often so the sugar doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan. If you see little specks of dark brown that’s a sign it’s too hot and you need to stir it more frequently. Heat until the sugar mixture turns a dark amber color. If you like your caramel sauce thicker, you can cook it a bit longer and vice versa for a thinner sauce. Once your preferred color has been reached, add the baking soda. This will cause the mixture to expand and become very bubbly. Stir for another minute or so to release some of the foam. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and salt.
Serve warm or put in a jar and refrigerate until you’re ready to use it.
We love to have this sauce with breakfast or on ice cream. It’s so great to be able to have it in the fridge when we are ready for it. We just pull it out, warm it up and BOOM… salted caramel sauce!
Easy Buttermilk Salted Caramel Sauce
Yield:
3 cups
Prep Time:
5 minutes
Cook Time:
15 minutes
Total Time:
20 minutes
Making your very own homemade caramel sauce is easier than you think and you can whip up a batch in no time. Add a little sweet and salty twist to your next sweet dish.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 Tablespoons corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan add buttermilk, butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Heat on medium to medium-high heat. Stir frequently.
- Heat until sugar mixture turns an amber color.
- Once your preferred color has been reached add the baking soda. Stir vigorously. (Sauce will expand and become very bubbly). Stir for another minute or so to release some of the foam. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.
- Serve warm or pour in jar and refrigerate.
Notes
Make sure you stir it fairly often so the sugar doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan. If you see little specks of dark brown that's a sign it's too hot and you need to stir it more frequently. If you like your caramel sauce thicker you can cook it a bit longer and vice versa for a thinner sauce. Store in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (ours never lasts that long). If caramel forms sugar crystals (becomes grainy) you may reheat to dissolve.
When my married kids come home to visit, they ask for this sauce on pancakes. It’s amazing!
I stirred and stirred and after twenty minutes I got the color I wanted a deep Amber I did the baking soda and then the salt and vanilla. But at the end I get this glip with a pool of oil on top. I’m guessing it’s the butter oils. It doesn’t make a sauce what did I do wrong?
The sauce “split” or “broke.” This typically happens when the caramel sauce has an abrupt temperature change in a short amount of time. It gets too hot or too cold too quickly. That was a lot of “toos,” sorry. I hope this helps. This can happen when making butter, sugar candies such as caramels and toffees.
Is there a fix?
You can try adding a little water (about 1/4 cup or so) into the mixture. Whisk it very well then bring the sauce back up to temperature. Make sure you stick with a consistent heat source. Any rapid increase or decrease in temperature can affect the mixture. I haven’t had a problem with this recipe but I have done this with my caramel recipe.