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.
We are kind of Carmel snobs at our house (we make caramels every Christmas). I am so glad I stumbled across this recipe for caramel dip. It is SO GOOD! I followed the recipe and make a charcuterie board with Granny Smith, golden delicious and Honey Crisp apples. We had mini chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, sprinkles and chopped peanuts. It was a hit!
Somewhat disappointed with this recipe. Caramel is two light, even after cooking it twice, and tastes more like condensed milk than a true caramel flavor.
That’s really weird, did you forget an ingredient?
This stuff is incredible!!! The perfect consistency. I made a caramel, Cream cheese and skor bits dip and it was a HUGE hit! Just wondering if the caramel can be put in the freezer? Will it thaw nicely?
You know I haven’t actually tried putting it in the freezer and now I must! Let me know if you beat me to it and how it works out. I think it would reheat fine and if it’s too thick just add a splash of cream when gently reheating…
Great recipe. Consistency was perfect. I think I will pair it with apples and toppings for a fun dessert at game night.
Thanks !
I highly recommend pretzels and apples both! That sweet + salty is so good!
Does this dip have to be refrigerated?
If it’s just a day or two no, but if you want to store it longer than that I would.
I made this recipe – Caramel dip last night. I like it but it doesn’t taste caramel enough. It’s pretty sweet … sweetened condensed milk too strong. Can I add something to eat to curb the sweetened condensed taste? Thank you
Made a Carmel apple bar using this for the dip for my daughter’s high school cheer team. HUGE hit!! the favorite item of the dessert table! I served the dip with topping choices of chopped nuts, chocolate sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, regular sprinkles, and a squirt bottle with chocolate. No one used the chocolate syrup because the dip was so good. It was up against some heavy hitters too (cupcakes, cheesecakes, candy, cookies etc)
Perfect caramel dip! Don’t stop stirring, and keep on medium heat. Very creamy and perfectly dippable. Apples tonight and pears tomorrow. Thank you for a simple, quick recipe that is sooooo yummy!
We loved this so much! It takes a while to cool down after cooking so be careful not to burn your mouth. We put this in the fridge after and it hardened up pretty good so we had to microwave before it was dippable again. Definitely recommend!
If I make this a couple of days ahead, I assume I should refrigerate it? If I do that, will it thicken up too much, or will it just thin out to normal when I reheat it?
Yep, it’ll be thicker when it’s cold so just reheat it a bit before serving.
This was easy and oh so yummy! Our family loved it as a dip for our freshly picked pears and drizzled over popcorn. The only thing is, I did not realize what a big batch it would make so next time I will simply cut it in half. We will definitely be making it again!
Party-sized batch indeed! Pears sound wonderful! Thank you for the suggestion.