The Best Caramel Dip

5 from 1 vote

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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.

THIS recipe is the one that your friends and family are going to be begging for! When you take it to a get-together you’ll be the star of the show. And the best part – it only took you a few minutes to put together. This is the first recipe I publish online because SO many people asked me for it. You are going to love it too.

This is the best caramel dip ever. Made on the stove with butter, sugar, and sweetened condensed milk, it's the perfect consistency for dipping pretzels and apples. #homemadecaramel #carameldip #easycaramelrecipe #bestcaramel #thebestcaramel #bestcaramelrecipe #caramelapples #dippingcaramel
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The Best Caramel Dip

This caramel dip recipe is something you need in your life. It is 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 wanted to share the goodness. And goodness it is! This is the perfect homemade caramel for dipping. It’s thick and smooth, while still being scoop-able. I’ve made this recipe every fall since I first discovered it. I hope you try it and love it like I do.

I think of this caramel as party food and take it to fall parties over and over again. It makes about 3 cups of caramel dip, so there’s plenty for a crowd. It’s really simple to make, too — you are just cooking a few simple ingredients on the stove. I serve it with apples and pretzels for dipping. There’s something magical about fresh caramel and homegrown apples this time of year.

This is the best caramel dip ever. Made on the stove with butter, sugar, and sweetened condensed milk, it's the perfect consistency for dipping pretzels and apples. #homemadecaramel #carameldip #easycaramelrecipe #bestcaramel #thebestcaramel #bestcaramelrecipe #caramelapples #dippingcaramel

How do you get the perfect caramel consistency?

The goal for this dip is to be well, 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.

Can you use something other than corn syrup?

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 in caramel corn. That being said, it is a different product than high fructose corn syrup. Here’s an article from The Kitchn about it.

What should I do if I notice my caramel is burning?

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 — not the dream. 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 being careful to only stir 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.

This is the best caramel dip ever. Made on the stove with butter, sugar, and sweetened condensed milk, it's the perfect consistency for dipping pretzels and apples. #homemadecaramel #carameldip #easycaramelrecipe #bestcaramel #thebestcaramel #bestcaramelrecipe #caramelapples #dippingcaramel
apples and pretzels dipped in homemade caramel dip
5 from 1 vote

The Best Caramel Dip

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.
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 24 (Make 3 cups)

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, well, 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 less great for dipping little apple slices and pretzels.
  • I often get asked about switching out the corn syrup in this recipe, but 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 in caramel corn. That being said, it is a different product than high fructose corn syrup. Here’s an article from Serious Eats about it.
  • 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 — not the dream.
  • 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 being careful to only stir 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 of 24 servings, Calories: 170kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 62mg, Potassium: 81mg, Sugar: 31g, Vitamin A: 162IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 61mg, Iron: 0.1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Other easy desserts you might like:

This post was originally published in October 2009, was republished with updated text, recipe instructions, and nutritional information in October 2017, and was updated and rephotographed again in September 2019.

This is truly the BEST caramel dip, and it’s perfect for your next party because it’s always a crowd favorite (and it only takes you about 20 minutes to put together — you can’t beat that!).

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168 Comments

  1. Just wondering if I cooked a little longer could this be made into chewy carmel candy? Also, I am thinking about making this and a hot fudge sauce for Christmas gifts do you have a hot fudge recipe too?

    1. It’ll keep a good long while in the fridge though I did notice that it starts to get grainy as it ages. I’m not sure if that’s something you could heat back out of it (by warming it up slowly) or not. I’ll have to try!

    2. Turned out perfect!! I wanted it thick, so I continually slowly stirred and used a candy thermometer. Once at 220 degrees I took off heat and stirred in vanilla. Smooth and thick enough to hold up while dipping cut up apples, but not quite firm enough for individual carmels. Love the flavor!!

  2. Made this for our Halloween party and it was perfect. I did get some brown flecks near the end of stirring but it wasn’t too bad so I just kept going and hoped for the best. Once it cooled you couldn’t see them or taste them. I cooled it down, refrigerated it and then reheated it for about 3 minutes at 50% power in the microwave. Perfection!!

    1. Great idea with sticking it in the microwave! I’m going to try that one. Thank you for the review, that means a lot to me.

  3. This was exactly what I was looking for so my kids (one with braces and one missing two front teeth) could enjoy caramel apples this fall! This was easy and quick and tasted great, thanks! We may never go back to whole caramel apples.

  4. Can you freeze this dip? Or can you freeze sweetened condensed milk? I don’t need an entire batch of this (single girl here) but it sounds divine!

    1. You can freeze the sweetened condensed milk for up to three months! That would be your better option opposed to freezing the caramel! ENJOY!

  5. How much does this recipe yield. I plan on using sm jelly jars. Also how long does this stay good. Giving as christmas gifts with apples. Thank you

  6. I love this recipe! I thought at first the sugar wouldn’t dissolve down but it’s the smoothest recipe I’ve tried! Perfectly thick for dipping. Thank you a million times over!

    1. Yes! Just let it come to room temperature or warm it up before serving again because it gets really stiff in the fridge.