The Best Caramel Dip
on Oct 06, 2017, Updated Aug 21, 2024
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This is the best caramel dip recipe ever. Made on the stove with butter, sugar, and sweetened condensed milk, it’s the perfect consistency for dipping pretzels and apples.
I have a few favorite fall recipes that I always make for fun fall parties and events: apple cider, my favorite apple cheese board, and this Caramel Dip.
This caramel dip recipe is something you need in your life. It’s actually the very first recipe that I published as a blogger way back in 2009. I didn’t even have a picture of the end product, but I wanted to share the goodness. And goodness it is! I’ve made this recipe every fall since I first discovered it. I hope you try it and love it as much as I do!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This is the perfect homemade caramel for dipping. It’s thick and smooth while still being scoopable.
- I think of this caramel as party food and repeatedly take it to fall parties. It makes about 3 cups of caramel dip, so there’s plenty for a crowd.
- It’s really simple to make, too—just cook a few simple ingredients on the stove.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter – I use salted but if using unsalted butter, add a tiny bit of salt
- Brown sugar – either light or dark will work
- Corn syrup
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Vanilla extract
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make the Best Caramel Dip
- Melt butter over medium heat.
- Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk, stirring to combine.
- Stir constantly until it comes to a light, bubbly boil.
- Remove from heat right away and add the vanilla.
Recipe FAQs
The goal for this dip is to be dippable, so you’ll want to bring the sugar mixture to a nice bubble but not a full boil. If you boil it too long or hard, you’ll end up with a thicker caramel that is great for dipping whole apples but less great for dipping little apple slices and pretzels.
I often get asked about switching out the corn syrup in this recipe, and I haven’t played with that much, so I don’t recommend doing it. I only use corn syrup in this recipe, my white cloud frosting recipe, and caramel corn. That being said, it is a different product than high fructose corn syrup. Here’s an article from The Kitchn about it.
If you see that the bottom is starting to scorch (you’ll see little flecks of really dark sugar when you stir), remove the pan immediately. If the caramel hasn’t finished cooking, you can return it to the heat, being careful to stir only the top of the caramel and avoiding scraping up the burnt sugar on the bottom of the pan.
Expert Tips
- Don’t wander away from this recipe while it is cooking! You need to do a lot of stirring, or the bottom of the dip will scorch and burn.
- If the caramel does start to burn, remove the pan from the heat. If the scorch isn’t too bad, you won’t be able to taste it, but you still might have little flecks of dark sugar in your caramel. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than feeling like you ruined the whole batch.
- I serve it with apples and pretzels for dipping, and it’s also fabulous on churro waffles and an easy apple cake.
More Fun Fall Recipes & Projects to Consider
Pies, Crisps & Tarts
Healthy Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Dessert Recipes
Easy Pumpkin Donut Holes
Halloween Recipes
Halloween Food Ideas for Kids
From Scratch Recipes
Butterbeer
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The Best Caramel Dip
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, light or dark
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, (14 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk, stirring to combine.
- Stir constantly until mixture comes to a light bubbly boil, with just a few bubbles popping through the surface of the caramel (see notes for more details).
- Remove from heat right away and add the vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with apple slices and pretzels, or drizzle over ice cream.
Video
Notes
- The goal for this dip is to be dip-able, so you’ll want to bring the sugar mixture to a nice bubble but not a full boil. If you boil it too long or hard, you’ll end up with a thicker caramel that is great for dipping whole apples but not for dipping little apple slices and pretzels.
- The corn syrup is a necessary ingredient so please don’t try any substitutes! (See my note above for more details, as well as this article from Serious Eats.)
- Don’t wander away from this recipe while it is cooking. A lot of stirring needs to be done so the bottom of the dip doesn’t scorch and burn.
- If you do see that the bottom is starting to scorch (you’ll see little flecks of really dark sugar when you stir), remove the pan from the heat right away. If the caramel hasn’t finished cooking, you can return it to the heat while carefully stirring the top of the caramel and avoiding scraping up the burnt sugar on the bottom of the pan. If the scorch isn’t too bad, you won’t be able to taste it, but you still might have little flecks of dark sugar in your caramel. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than feeling like you ruined the whole batch.
I just made this but only had 1/4 cup of corn syrup…it came out fine. In Mexico we make Dulce de Leche with just condensed milk, no butter, corn syrup or brown sugar and it’s delicious. But you have to cook the condensed milk for HOURS. However, because I know it doesn’t use corn syrup, I figured this would be fine with just a little bit and it is.
Thank you for the recipe. Every day my husband had apple slices with caramel dip. During the coronavirus pandemic, he can’t get his favorite caramel dip. He loves this dip and I don’t think he’ll be buying any more at the store!
Fun! Thank you for letting us know what worked for you!
I just made this with my oldest daughter, it was so easy. It is also so good even some of the pickiest eaters in my house liked it. Question though, since it is such a large batch. Will it save in the refrigerator for later use on ice cream or other creations? If so, how long will it keep?
Yes, it’s great in the fridge, just warm it up a bit before using it. It’ll last about a week.
California is on “Stay-at-home” orders and I have all the ingredients, including pretzels! I was wondering why I bought corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk and now I finally remember. I’m going to make this with the kids to pass some time. Hoping it’s delicious.
Ohhh I love the pretzels, good luck with staying at home! I’m cheering for you!
I just made a batch of this with Korean rice syrup which is wonderfully thick and has a toasty flavor and it came out ah-mazing!
I’m sharing it with a corn-free family. Winner-winner!
Ohhh that sounds wonderful, thank you for sharing your success!
I made this recipe times 5 to package with apples and give us Christmas gifts. It turned out great as long as I used my bigger pot that doesn’t scorch easily. It’s the milk that burns easily, so I didn’t add it until everything else was heated up. I also added 1/4 teaspoon of salt for flavor. I’ve already wrote this recipe down to keep keep in my recipe file to use for yours to come!
That’s soooo awesome! And I love that you had luck working a big batch, thank you for sharing your tips and tricks with us. What a delicious gift idea!
I plan on making this recipe for Christmas gifting this year but I bought the light corn syrup made with vanilla would that be okay to use and then maybe just leave out the vanilla extract or still add vanilla extract and then how long does this caramel keep in a jar?
I bet the corn syrup with vanilla will have enough flavor that you can omit the vanilla extract, that sounds delicious, I’ve never seen it before. And it’ll be best within 3 days but it’ll last about a week in the jars.
Can you can this caramel sauce?
As a general rule you don’t can anything with dairy products in it, so no I don’t home can this and I don’t know of a way to do it. Sorry!
This sounds exactly like what my husband needs for his apple dipping addiction. Thanks so much for the recipe! The store bought caramel is getting expensive. How do you store this and how long would it be good for?
He’ll love it! I store it in the fridge and it’ll last 2 or so weeks, just warm it a bit before serving as it gets very stiff in the cold.
Can this recipe be made in advance and stored for up to 4 days? I would love to make this for a Thanksgiving caramel apple dipping favor. Thanks!
It should be just fine. It does tent to get just a bit grainy with time, but if you are warming it up a bit again, it’ll smooth it back out. If you are serving it at room temperature I’d make it only 2 days in advance!
This is by far the easiest and most delicious ? caramel recipe ive ever tried. I used sweetened condensed coconut milk and it worked beautifully. I boiled it a little longer so it was thicker to top a cheesecake. was a hit with the while family!
Whattttt?! I didn’t even know they made sweetened condensed coconut milk! Do they sell it or did you make it. That’s so cool, thank you for sharing that.