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Apple cider in a caramel sauce, it’s the perfect fall treat! This caramel sauce is perfect as a dip for apple slices, on top of pancakes, drizzle for cinnamon french toast, or as a filling for cinnamon rolls. Any way you choose to have this apple cider caramel sauce, it is absolutely delish!
Fall calls for homemade cider caramel sauce.
We’re talking freshly made cider that’s simmer until it’s sticky and ladened with sweetness. The syrup is great to use on pancakes, homemade caramel apple cinnamon rolls, between layers of sponge cakes and brownies, fall desserts, and basically anything else you like to drizzle with caramel.
That drizzle of caramel sauce that’s dripping makes me want to stick my face underneath it and just ladle it directly into my mouth. TMI? I think so.
Making homemade cider or apple cider caramel sauce is the perfect fall activity, especially after you’ve picked fresh apples from an orchard and are looking for ways to enjoy them other than just fresh apple slices. Visiting apple orchards was my top bucket list item when we went to Stowe and Woodstock a few years back and I wish I could’ve brough home buckets of apples to turn them into delicious treats.
This recipe is really quite simple and requires only a few ingredients. There is no need for a fancy candy thermometer. All you need other than the ingredients is a spatula or spoon and a medium saucepan. It takes about 15 minutes to make the recipe itself but make sure to allow enough time for cooling.
Ingredients for apple cider caramel sauce
- Apple Cider: Or basically unpasteurized apple juice. I use my homemade sweet cider to make caramel sauce when possible.You could also purchase premade cider during the fall for this recipe.
- Brown sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar for this recipe. The difference between these two ingredients is the amount of molasses added during processing. SO keep in mind that dark brown sugar will just yield a darker apple cider caramel.
- Salted butter: I like to use salted butter to curb the abudence of sugar in this recipe. Apple cider is naturally sweet, then we addbornw sugar, and sothe salted butter helpscurb the sweetness in the recipe a bit while amplifying the natural apple flavor. If you only have unsalted butter, just increase the sea salt or kosher salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Heavy cream: a very common ingrdient for most caramel sauce recipes.
- Ground cinnamon: Cinnamon helpsboost the apple flavor and adds a natural sweetness to the recipe as well. It does give the caramel a slight texture. So if you don’t want that, simplyomit it form the recipe.
- Vanilla: typically I’veused vanilla extract for this recipe. Nowadays, youcan easily get vanilla bean paste and that would leave your caramel with a delicious speckle if you’d liek to make that swap. I suggest 1/2 teaspoon bean paste to replace the 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
How to make apple cider caramel
- Bring the cider to a boil. We’ll start with a whopping 2 cup apple cider that we’ll boil until the mixture concentrates to 1/3 cup.
- Add other ingredients. Once you’ve made a concentrate, add the brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and cinnamon and let it bubble away a little longer.
- Simmer until it darkens. Now let it thicken and cook further until the color is gark. Keep in mind we’re keeping this in the pot at medium-high heat.
- Stir. Once it darkens in color, remove the sauce pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and the sea salt.
- Let it cool, it’ll thicken. Give it a taste and adjust with more salt if you think it needs it. Then let it cool. You’re going to think this sauce is too thin. But once it cools it will thicken up significantly.
Benefits of making homemade apple cider caramel sauce
- Make the house smell like home. Something magical happens with the sheer amount of sugar and cinammon and butter and apple cider that goes into this recipe. It smells like the holidays are approaching and it is so exciting!
- Elevate your morning. we’re talking 24 hours a day from the time you make it till the time you literally lick the mason jar clean (because, you will.) Perfect to add a dizzle to your morning coffee. Might I add that a dash of pumpkin spice to said coffee would make your morning even more enjoyable?
- Dip, drizzle, pipe and swirl. Drizzle this delicious caramel sauce on shortbread cookies, use as a dip for fresh apple slices, garnish cupcakes, and even use as sauce for your cinnamon french toast or buttermilk pancakes! Readers have mentioned you might want to skip topping your ice cream, though, so far, that’s the only one I wouldn’t recommend.
Serving cider caramel
- Halloween Snack Board
- Salted Caramel Apple Dip
- Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Easy Maple Honeycrisp Apple Fritters
Apple Cider Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 5 tablespoons SALTED butter
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- BOIL: Add the apple cider to a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Allow the apple cider to cook down to about 1/3 cup.
- ADD: Reduce the heat and add the brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and cinnamon and increase the heat back to medium-high heat.
- SIMMER: Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes until the caramel thickens and starts to become dark in color.
- STIR: Remove from heat, add the vanilla and the pinch of sea salt; stir to combine.
- LET COOL: Set aside to cool, the caramel sauce will thicken a little once it cools.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
I’m making this and have 2 questions.
1. When you have added all but the vanilla and salt, are you supposed to reduce heat and just keep it boiling?
2. Are you supposed to stir it while it’s cooking?
Very yummy! I will say, the recipe timing is very misleading. It probably took 20 mins to reduce down the apple cider, then another 10-15 to boil the caramel, so closer to 35-40 mins total.
Very good caramel! I will be saving this recipe but will half the cinnamon next time.
What happens when you reduce the cider? Why not start with 1/3 cup?
Because the flavor of the cider intensifies greatly when reduced. Definitely worth reducing.
I made this caramel sauce and the flavor was delicious but my sauce was not glossy and smooth, more grainy. Was I supposed to stir the sauce once all the ingredients were added to the cider?
This is amazing sauce! Drizzled warm over an apple coffee cake. So good! Thanks!
Going to try my hand at canning some today!! I’ll let you know
Just made this delicious and easy recipe. But just as an FYI, it doesn’t work as an ice cream topping! It completely firms up. But no problem, plenty of other, non cold, uses!
I stumbled across your caramel sauce while reading your veg enchilada recipe, which also looks delish and I plan to make. 🙂
Just wanted to mention yet another use for the sauce…drizzled over apples in a pie! Years ago I had an apple pie recipe that contained a cider reduction and it was declared “the best apple pie I’ve ever tasted” by a chef/restaurant owner friend of mine. Misplaced the recipe a few years back and am so thrilled to find your caramel sauce recipe! Looking forward to picking wild apples at the cabin in the fall, cooking up some cider and resurrecting an old favourite.
Oh, also scrumptious drizzled over morning oatmeal on chilly mornings!
Thank you from the bottom of my tastebuds 🙂
Would it be thick enough for filling macarons?
Hmmm. I think it would be thick enough once it’s had a chance to cool. Not too sure about the spreadability though!
I used this recipe for macrons and it was so, SO good! I used a piping bag to apply the carmel.
How do you store the sauce after it is prepared? I’d love to give these out as Christmas gifts 🙂
Hi Jen,
Thats a great idea. The sauce can be kept in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 days and up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
Sounds great, can’t wait to try it. Does it need to be refrigerated or can it sit on the counter? I’m thinking about Christmas giving.
Hi Sandra,
The sauce can be kept in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 days and up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
Can you can this with either a hot water bath or pressure canner?
I’m not sure if this recipe can be canned or not. If you decide to can it, please let me know if it’s suitable for canning.
Thanks! 🙂
So if Apple juice okay, I can use pasteurized cider, right? Thanks. Looking forward to making this recipe.
Hi Rick,
Yes, pasteurized cider is fine to use. 🙂
This is seriously the BEST caramel dip ever! To make it easier, I used 1/3 c. frozen apple juice concentrate instead of boiling down cider. It works great!
So glad you enjoyed the caramel sauce, Marcia. That’s a great idea, thanks for sharing! 🙂
This sounds completely heavenly! Pinned! : )
I am literally drizzling this caramel sauce on everything!