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dessert recipes side dish
September 12, 2018

How to make condensed milk caramel without blowing up your kitchen

In today’s post: Learn how to make delicious 1-ingredient condensed milk caramel THE SAFE WAY! Makes a perfect caramel apple dip.

One of my very favorite side dishes to take along to barbecues or potlucks is a big plate of apples with creamy homemade caramel apple dip. Everybody loves it (and I mean everybody!), it’s great for kids who might be a little picky, it’s inexpensive, and best yet it’s SO EASY to make! And you only need one ingredient: sweetened condensed milk.

Learn how to make amazing caramel apple dip with just one ingredient!

Now, maybe you’ve heard of sweetened condensed milk caramel before, and maybe you even know someone who has experienced a condensed milk caramel disaster: the “old” method of making caramel sauce from condensed milk involved cooking the milk in an unopened can, which when done incorrectly can lead to the can exploding!

Learn how to make amazing caramel apple dip with just one ingredient!

Cooking sweetened condensed milk in the unopened can is a cool concept, and I know many people have had success with that method. However, you do have to simmer the can on the stovetop for a few hours (or cook it in a crock pot for 8 hours) and it MUST stay covered with water the entire time. If you remember to check it regularly to ensure the water hasn’t boiled off it’s probably perfectly safe, but if (like me!) you have a tendency to get distracted, you run the risk of letting the water boil off –  and that can cause the can to explode, shooting hot caramel and sharp pieces of can all over the place! Using a crockpot is a better bet than simmering on the stove because it’s much less likely to boil dry, and if you watch the water level I’m sure you’d be fine, but comments like this one make me a little wary:

“I blew up a crockpot and covered my kitchen in caramel and glass doing this recipe(a few years ago now), the pan was on very low with a lid on but over the hours the steam escaped and it still boiled dry as I left it overnight! If I had been in the kitchen I would have been very badly burned and cut as glass, bits of pot and caramel went everywhere! We had to repaint the walls and roof once we had scraped off the caramel, not fun 😛 Please can I warn your lovely readers to use LOADS of water and check it/top up if needed!”

 

This caramel sauce is delicious, but nothing’s delicious enough to risk life and limb! So, cook it the safe and easy way instead. Here’s how:

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel the SAFE and easy way.

How to make sweetened condensed milk caramel (aka caramel apple dip)

Watch this video to see how easy it is to make (written instructions follow):

 

1 – Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk) into a metal baking pan like a pie plate or an 8×8 pan. Cover it tightly with foil.

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel without blowing up your kitchen!

2. Place your baking dish into a larger pan – I use a disposable foil pan. Pour enough water into the larger pan to come up 1 inch.

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel without blowing up your kitchen!

3. Place both pans into a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours, or until the caramel sauce is as dark as you’d like. The photo below shows the milk before and after baking.

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel without blowing up your kitchen!

4. Whisk sauce until smooth. Serve warm (it will be more like a caramel sauce) or chill (it will get thick like a dip).

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel without blowing up your kitchen!

Easy and safe! If you forgot about the caramel using this method it would eventually burn, but nothing’s going to explode all over your kitchen. Sounds good to me.

Sweetened condensed milk caramel tips

  • Store your condensed milk caramel in the fridge. It should keep for a couple of weeks, although it never lasts more than a few days at my house.
  • This makes about 1 cup of sauce. When I serve it as a caramel apple dip, I usually cut up 7 apples to go with it.
  • Little pots of caramel and a few apples would make a lovely gift – just remind people it needs to be refrigerated.
  • You can also use this sauce on ice cream or brownies. It will get a little thick in the fridge, but it loosens up nicely when microwaved for a bit.

Learn how to make amazing caramel apple dip with just one ingredient!

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel the SAFE and easy way.

Looking for more delicious fall recipes? Check out these posts:

Caramel Pumpkin Poke Cake

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

 

Learn how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel the SAFE and easy way.

 

 

 

 

 

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Home » recipes » dessert » How to make condensed milk caramel without blowing up your kitchen


22 Comments

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Comments

  1. Lara says

    June 25, 2014 at 6:11 am

    I always cook mine in the can, however I always leave 3-5 hours to do so and NEVER leave the house, I check on it about every 1/2 hour or so. If you cook it in the original can, you can do several at a time and not open it, it’s then shelf safe and you can open it later.

    Reply
  2. Sara Dimmick says

    June 25, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    I’ve always wanted to try this!! So glad i never did it in the can, I know for sure I would have an accident on my hands! For sure trying it soon! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Ange says

    June 27, 2014 at 9:07 am

    Thanks for the great post, love your pictures. Have been wanting to try the crock pot method was concerned about all the issues people have had using that method. Your way is the safe way. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. CTY says

    June 27, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    Thank You, THAnk YOu, THANK YOU! I have seen this done in the can all over Pinterest and couldn’t help but think this is an accident waiting to happen. Another concern was what chemicals/metals/can liner would leach into the caramel when heated in the can.
    Just wanted to say, I love bringing apples to a get together because, 1. I slice a few right away & the rest on demand (with one of those whole apple push slicers) which cuts down on waste due to apples turning brown from sitting too long. 2. At pot lucks they can be placed on the side dish table, appetizer table or the dessert table (depending on which table needs it most). 3. They are healthy for anyone on a restricted diet (they can skip the dip). 4. Inexpensive and easy to find in all kinds of stores. 5. Can be even healthier by swirling in some all-natural peanut butter (DH’s preferred way).

    Reply
  5. Loretta says

    July 7, 2014 at 12:07 am

    This sounds great and I can’t wait to try it! But… If you are using as glass pan for the water bath, DO NOT add more water after its been in the oven. The glass pan can explode from the difference in water temp. Just put more water in at the start of you think you might want darker caramel.

    Reply
  6. Lexy says

    August 7, 2014 at 8:57 am

    Any hints on how to keep apples from turning brown if one would take this to a function where it won’t be eaten for several hours?

    Reply
    • Jill says

      August 7, 2014 at 10:13 am

      pour some lemon juice over the apple and this should keep the slices pristine

      Reply
    • Rosanne Fullerton says

      October 12, 2014 at 11:39 am

      How long will unopened jars last in the refrigerator? Thanks

      Reply
    • esa3316 says

      November 17, 2014 at 11:05 am

      Orange juice works best for keeping apples from turning brown and doesn’t make them as tart. I usually slice the apples and coat them with orange juice and store them in a sealed plastic container with a little juice in the bottom. They will keep a couple of days without turning brown.

      Reply
    • Carol says

      September 25, 2015 at 8:50 pm

      You can also use lemon-lime soda to keep apples from turning brown.

      Reply
    • Jen says

      October 4, 2015 at 12:31 pm

      If you soak sliced apples in sprite (or any lemon lime soda pop) for approximately discounted then drain they will not Brown. Have done this for my son’s lunches and they stay unchanged f or days s. Plus they arrenot soured from ‘re lemon

      Reply
  7. Shannon says

    November 6, 2014 at 11:57 am

    Pour pineapple juice over apples to prevent browning.

    Reply
  8. Diane says

    November 30, 2015 at 11:02 am

    Okay, I want to take this one step farther. Any suggestions on how to turn this into caramel candy WITHOUT adding corn syrup or store bought caramels?

    Reply
  9. K. Paddock says

    August 9, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    I Pop the lid off, cover can with foil securely. Put can on the wire rack in your instant pot. Fill with water until half way up the side of can. (You can do several cans together.) Manuel pressure for 40 minutes. Quick release remove cans onto counter, remove foil. Let sit 20 minutes add a splash of vanilla if you like and stir it up good. Waa Laa!
    Fast, safe and yummy!

    Reply
    • Kristi C says

      September 21, 2018 at 2:22 pm

      Yes!!

      Reply
  10. Lea says

    November 5, 2019 at 11:49 am

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! I can’t tell you how excited I was to see this instructional recipe. I have managed to find a sugar free sweetened condensed milk but of course since it’s homemade it doesn’t come in a can….I considered a few options like putting it in a mason jar and in the hot water bath but I was worried about an explosion and then I didn’t think using the crockpot would work either….and I tried on the stove top just to cook it longer when making it to see if I could turn it into caramel but that didn’t work all that happened was after so much of the milk evaporated I had an extremely thick milk and then after it was in the fridge it had turned into a thick block which was almost impossible to do anything with.

    I’m sooo excited to try it, I’m going to do it today.

    Reply
  11. Cody says

    March 4, 2020 at 1:15 am

    How long will unopened jars last in the refrigerator? Thanks

    Reply
  12. Heidi says

    March 25, 2020 at 1:20 am

    I have tried to make carmel sauce for so long and finally decided that it was something that I am just not good at. I tried this method of putting it in the oven and wouldn’t ya know…..I made carmel….good carmel! Thank you very much for sharing this. I’m eating it by the spoonfuls!

    Reply
  13. ijicrack malik says

    August 10, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Thank you very much for sharing this site here.

    Reply
  14. Richard Son says

    August 10, 2020 at 1:10 pm

    Nice work is done by admin here. I love the way he is working

    Reply
  15. Smith Tom says

    August 10, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    Finally, I found this site here.

    Reply

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    June 26, 2014 at 3:08 am

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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