Imagine silky ribbons of this honey caramel sauce draped over vanilla ice cream, greek yogurt, or your favorite slice of cheesecake. Or, serve as a dipping sauce with fresh fruit!
Think of this honey caramel sauce as the breezy, more delicately flavored cousin of traditional caramel. Honey doesn't caramelize quite as harshly as regular sugar. So where typical caramel is strongly flavored by all of that deeply roasted sugar, honey caramel stays more subtle.
This means that you will be able to taste the notes of whatever honey you use in the sauce itself! This sauce is a great way to highlight a special honey variety like wildflower, orange blossom, or acacia.
Last summer we got a jar of peach blossom honey from a family friend and while that honey is long gone (it didn't last very long with the two of us reaching for it every day!), I think it would have taken this honey caramel recipe to the next level.
The key is not to let the honey bubble too hot or for too long. You're looking for gentle caramelization that intensifies flavors while also preserving the nuanced flavors of the honey itself. To which of course we will add heavy cream and butter, for a silky, dreamy, ethereal sauce that is hard to resist eating by the spoonful.
ingredients for honey caramel sauce
honey caramel sauce recipe
Imagine silky ribbons of this honey caramel sauce draped over vanilla ice cream, greek yogurt, or your favorite slice of cheesecake. Or, serve as a dipping sauce with fresh fruit!
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 ¼ cups 1x
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cut the butter into smaller pieces. For 4 tablespoons (¼ cup), I usually cut into about 16 cubes, but it doesn't have to be perfect. The most important thing is to get the butter broken down into smaller pieces that will melt into your caramel more rapidly.
- Combine the honey and granulated sugar in a medium pot over medium heat. Let the mixture cook, whisking occasionally, until the granulated sugar melts completely and the mixture turns deep golden and caramelized. Important! While the honey and sugar don't take up a lot of space, the mixture may bubble up quite a lot later in the cooking process, so make sure to choose a tall sided pot that has plenty of room for expansion.
- Remove the honey mixture from the heat and whisk in the room temperature heavy cream. This is the point at which the sauce may bubble up a lot, so be prepared.
- Whisk in your cubed butter, letting it melt into the sauce to create a smooth and glossy caramel.
- Allow your caramel to cool for about 5 minutes, then stir in the vanilla extract and the salt. Letting the caramel cool briefly will help to preserve the nuanced flavor compounds of the vanilla, which can be sensitive to high heat.
- Check the texture of your honey caramel sauce. If you think you may want it thicker, return it to medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for a few extra minutes. Keep in mind that the sauce will thicken quite a lot as it cools too! Serve as desired.
Notes
Tips and Tricks for Caramel Success
- If you have one, use a light-colored pot or saucepan when simmering your honey and sugar mixture. This makes it easier to see changes in color as the sugars caramelize and darken.
- Make sure to store your caramel sauce in the fridge in a container that seals tightly. Honey has certain properties that can cause it to pull moisture from humid air, which could make the texture of your sauce thinner over time. I usually store my honey caramel sauce in a jar with a lid.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Sauces + Dressings + Dips
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Tbsp
- Calories: 72
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 31.3 mg
- Fat: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 8.4 g
- Protein: 0.2 g
- Cholesterol: 12.8 mg
FAQs
Will honey caramelize like sugar?
Not exactly, which is why this caramel honey recipe has a lighter, more delicate color as compared to traditional caramel recipes. The reason honey caramelizes differently than sugar is due to water content. While granulated sugar has a moisture level close to 0%, honey is usually somewhere around 20% water. In order to caramelize as quickly, and as darkly, as sugar, all of that water would need to boil off, which would dramatically change the flavor of your honey sauce.
How do you keep caramel sauce from crystallizing?
Since it doesn't have much granulated sugar to start with, this honey caramel is less likely to crystallize than traditional caramel. Bonus! So if you've had trouble with caramel sauces turning out crunchy in the past, give this one a shot because it is far more forgiving.
dig in!
Enjoy & let me know what you think 🌙 💛
