Homemade Brown Butter Caramel Sauce

This brown butter caramel sauce uses sugar, butter, cream, and sea salt, with no corn syrup and no water. Browning the butter first adds a nutty depth to a sauce that works on ice cream, cake, and brownies.

Why You Will Love This Brown Butter Caramel Sauce

• Deep Nutty Flavor Browning the butter first adds a toasted depth that plain caramel sauce does not have.
• Short Ingredient List Sugar, butter, cream, and sea salt are all it takes, with vanilla as an option.
• No Corn Syrup or Water The sugar melts on its own, so there is nothing extra to measure.
• Salted or Plain Add the sea salt for salted caramel, or leave it out for a regular caramel sauce.
• Ready for Dessert Drizzle it over ice cream, cake, or brownies.

Ingredients for the Best Brown Butter Caramel Sauce

• Granulated Sugar This melts and caramelizes into the base of the sauce, and it cooks dry with no water.
• Unsalted Butter Browning it adds a nutty flavor, and unsalted butter lets you control the salt.
• Heavy Whipping Cream This gives the sauce its creamy, pourable body. Warm it first so it blends in without seizing. About 170 degrees F
• Sea Salt Fine or flaky salt balances the sweetness. Skip it for a regular caramel sauce.
• Vanilla Extract This is optional and adds a rounder flavor when stirred in after the caramel cools a bit.

Why I Avoid Nonstick Pan for Making Any Type of Caramel

• I recommend a heavy duty, light colored saucepan for the caramel and a regular pan over a nonstick one. Here is why.
• Color is easier to read. Caramel goes from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds. Many nonstick pans have a dark interior that hides those color changes, while a light colored stainless steel pan lets you judge the exact shade of the sugar.
• High heat. Sugar caramelizes at roughly 320 to 350 degrees F (160 to 175 degrees C), and repeated high heat can shorten the life of a nonstick coating. A heavy duty pan also spreads that heat more evenly, which helps the sugar melt without scorching.
• Utensils. Hot sugar needs frequent stirring, and a metal spoon or whisk can scratch a nonstick surface. A scratched coating can flake into the sauce, which is one more reason to skip it.
• Little benefit. Caramel loosens as the butter and cream go in, and any hardened sugar left in a regular pan dissolves with hot water. A nonstick surface adds very little here, so a regular pan does the job.

Making the Brown Butter Caramel Sauce With No Corn Syrup

1. Measure all of the ingredients before you start, since the caramel moves quickly once the sugar melts. Cut the butter into even pieces so it melts at the same rate.
2. Place the butter in a light colored skillet over medium heat and swirl the pan as it melts so it heats evenly.
3. Once the butter melts, it will foam and sizzle around the edges. Stir or swirl occasionally during this stage.
4. As the foam subsides, watch closely, since the butter moves from foaming to browning quickly. Look for small golden brown specks on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma, and stir to keep the specks from burning.
5. As soon as the butter turns golden brown and smells toasty, and before the specks get too dark, remove the pan from the heat. Pour the butter into a heatproof bowl and scrape in the browned bits, since that is where most of the flavor is. Set it aside.
6. Warm the cream until it is very warm and steaming but not boiling, so it does not shock the hot sugar.
7. Add the sugar to a heavy duty saucepan, and avoid a nonstick pan if you can.
8. Heat the sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to melt.
9. As the sugar forms small chunks, stir frequently until the chunks melt completely.
10. Watch the sugar closely so it does not burn. When it reaches a dark amber color, turn off the heat and move the pan off the burner.
11. Add the brown butter and stir until combined. The browned butter should still be very warm because it will be hitting the very hot melted sugar. It may foam and sputter, so stand back, use a long handled spoon, and keep stirring.
12. When the butter is combined, add the warm cream and stir until smooth. The cream may bubble up, so keep stirring.
13. As the caramel cools a little, stir in the sea salt if you want salted caramel, and keep stirring until it dissolves. Leave the salt out for a regular caramel sauce.
14. If you are using vanilla, let the caramel cool a bit more and stir it in.
15. Pour the sauce into a jar and let it cool. It will thicken as it cools.

Tips on Making the Brown Butter Caramel

• Use a light colored skillet so you can judge the color of the butter.
• Pull the butter off the heat as soon as it smells toasty, because the specks go from golden to burnt quickly.
• Scrape every browned bit into the bowl, since that is where most of the flavor is.
• Start with a clean, dry pan and clean utensils, because stray sugar crystals and impurities can trigger crystallization.
• Warm the cream before adding it, because cold cream can make the hot sugar seize.
• Stand back when adding the butter and cream, since hot caramel sputters and can burn skin.

Troubleshooting the Best Caramel Sauce

• Caramel is grainy or crystallized Sugar crystals form when stray granules or impurities start a chain reaction. Return the sauce to low heat with a splash of water or cream and stir gently until smooth.
• Sugar melts unevenly Keep stirring frequently as the chunks form, and lower the heat slightly if parts of the sugar darken too fast.
• Caramel tastes bitter or burnt The sugar went past dark amber. Start over, since burnt sugar cannot be fixed.
• Butter specks turned dark The butter went too far. Start a fresh batch and pull it off the heat as soon as it turns golden.
• Caramel seized when the cream went in The cream was likely too cold. Return the pan to low heat and stir until the hard bits melt.
• Sauce is too thin It thickens as it cools, so let it rest before judging the texture.
• Sauce is too thick Warm it gently and stir in a splash of warm cream.
• Sauce looks oily or separated Whisk it over low heat until it comes back together.

Brown Butter Caramel Sauce pairs well with my vanilla ice cream recipe or a topping for my Nutella brownies.

If you are looking for a different caramel sauce try my salted caramel sauce recipe.

FAQ's

This brown butter caramel sauce takes a little attention, but it rewards you with a nutty, rich sauce from just a few ingredients. Watch the butter for golden specks and a toasty smell, and pull the sugar off the heat at dark amber. Warm the cream before you add it and keep stirring, and the sauce comes together smoothly. Store it in a jar in the fridge and warm it gently before drizzling it over dessert.

Recipe

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Sauce

Author: Dan Harper

1839kcal

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Prep 10 minutes mins

Cook 30 minutes mins

Total 40 minutes mins

Brown Butter Caramel Sauce starts with one simple step, browning the butter until it smells nutty before it ever touches the sugar. The sauce uses sugar, butter, cream, and salt, with no corn syrup and no water.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup of granulated sugar
• ▢ 6.5 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• ▢ ½ cup of very warm heavy whipping cream. 170 degrees F
• ▢ ½ teaspoon of fine or flakey sea salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional

Method

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Making the Brown Butter

1. Cut the butter into even sized pieces, so it melts evenly and at the same rate.
2. Place the butter in a light colored skillet over medium heat. Swirl the pan as it melts to help it heat evenly.
3. Once melted, the butter will foam and sizzle around the edges. Keep stirring or swirling occasionally during this stage.
4. As the foam starts to subside, watch closely, since the butter moves from foaming to browning quickly from this point. Look for small golden brown specks settling at the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma. Stir the butter to keep the specks from settling on the bottom of the pan and burning.
5. As soon as the butter turns golden brown, smells toasty, and especially before the specks get too brown, remove the pan from the heat immediately and transfer the butter to a heatproof bowl, scraping in the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, since that is where most of the flavor is.
6. Set the brown butter aside to have it ready when you make the caramel.

Making the Caramel

1. Have all ingredients measured and ready to go before you start melting the sugar.
2. Look at the troubleshooting and tips on making the caramel before you start. They will help.
3. Add sugar to a heavy duty saucepan. Try not to use a non-stick pan.
4. Heat sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sugar starts to melt.
5. As sugar starts to form small chunks, stir frequently until chunks are melted. See video for a better idea of what this looks like.
6. Be careful not to burn the sugar. Once the sugar reaches a dark amber color turn off the heat and take the pan off of the burner.
7. Next add all of the brown butter you have ready to go to the melted sugar. It should still be very warm. Stir the butter and melted sugar until combined. It may start to foam and sputter. Be careful and keep stirring.
8. When butter is combined add the warm cream (170 degrees F) and stir until combined. The cream may bubble up a bit but keep stirring.
9. As the caramel starts to cool it is time to add the salt if you want salted caramel. While stirring, add the salt and keep stirring until dissolved and combined. You do not need to add the salt if you would like to make a regular caramel sauce.
10. If you decide to use the vanilla, let the caramel cool a bit before you add the vanilla.

Nutrition

Calories1839kcalCarbohydrates203gProtein4gFat117gSaturated Fat74gPolyunsaturated Fat5gMonounsaturated Fat30gTrans Fat3gCholesterol330mgSodium1207mgPotassium145mgSugar204gVitamin A4023IUVitamin C1mgCalcium104mgIron0.3mg

Video

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