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Easy Slow Cooker Caramel Recipe

January 16, 2013 Amy 13 Comments

I know you have seen the slow cooker caramel recipe pinned a thousand times on Pinterest, but I just had to try it myself to see if it really would work. I was completely amazed I could make homemade caramel in my slow cooker. As you can see from my previous slow cooker recipes, we have a small love affair going on. Please don’t tell my husband, but I think he already knows. I swear the slow cooker is on nearly all the time around here.

Easy Slow Cooker Caramel Recipe

Homemade caramel recipe

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Caramel Recipe:

1 Can sweetened condensed milk (I love one ingredient recipes, don’t you?)
water

Directions for Slow Cooker Caramel Recipe:

How to make caramel

1. Remove paper from can of sweetened condensed milk.

2. Place can in a plastic bowl inside the slow cooker pot. This prevents the can from leaving a rust mark in the bottom of the slow cooker.

3. Pour water into the slow cooker until it covers about 1 inch above the can.

4. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook for 4-5 hours.

5. Ta da the easiest homemade caramel recipe in a can!

This caramel recipe tastes close to a dulce de leche with its rich smooth and creamy caramel feel. I accidentally left mine in for five hours and it seemed to come out richer and darker than most of the pictures I had seen before on Pinterest. The high heat from the slow cooker slowly caramelizes the sugar in the can to a yummy brown caramel color. I also saw people cooking it on low for 8 hours and it did not look like the sugar caramelized to a nice brown caramel color like mine. Now what are you going to do with this awesome caramel you just made in your slow cooker?

I made caramel granola brownies and I also used this to make coffee with caramel. There is a little trick to using this in coffee. It is a good idea to warm this up in the microwave for less than a minute and slowly add coffee while stirring to dissolve in the coffee completely. Otherwise you will get a lumpy mess in the bottom of the coffee and it is not very appetizing to drink lumpy coffee.

Haven’t you always wanted a simple caramel recipe you can make on your own? Now you know how!

Homemade Recipes, Sides, Snacks caramel, slow cooker

About Amy

Amy Greene has a passion for creating items from scratch. She created Mainly Homemade to inspire families to cook homemade meals and create homemade crafts to create lifelong family memories. Receive creative family memories in your inbox.

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Comments

  1. Miz Helen says

    January 19, 2013 at 11:38 am

    What a great way to make this delicious Caramel Sauce. Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    Reply
  2. Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says

    January 21, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    Double YUM! This sounds awesome and SO easy! Got it tweeted and pinned! Thanks for linking up at Gluten Free Fridays!

    Reply
  3. Pary Moppins says

    January 24, 2013 at 6:57 am

    I too have a deep love of my crockpot. While in England, I learned to make caramel in a saucepan but the same concept. Put marbles in the bottom of the pot, then place the condensed milk on top. Cover a couple of inches over the can and boil for 2 hours, topping up when necessary. The marbles were there so you would hear if the water level got too low. I like your method much better. Found you through Bloggy Moms. It’s always nice to find a fellow Texan on the interweb. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Jennifer Vallet says

    September 11, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    Has anyone used this for making caramel apples? I just wonder if the caramel will “dry” at room temperature…and not make a messy apple.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      September 12, 2013 at 8:18 pm

      I am not sure this would be good for apples. This makes a soft caramel for eating or dipping. It is more of a caramel sauce.

      Reply
  5. Rod Benson says

    December 1, 2014 at 10:16 pm

    Do you put the lid on the slow cooker?

    Reply
    • Amy says

      December 2, 2014 at 9:59 am

      Yes. Keep the lid on the slow cooker until it is finished.

      Reply
  6. Cheryl Spiers says

    December 2, 2014 at 8:09 am

    Made this for the first time last night as a trial run for Christmas Gifts this year. It came out great and tastes wonderful!

    Reply

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