Meet your new best friend for ice cream!
Homemade caramel sauce is a special treat. The flavor of this homemade peanut butter caramel sauce is far superior to any store bought you can buy. Full of cream and loads of chunky peanut butter, this caramel sauce is rich and decadent. I’ve made this caramel sauce a few times, and I always want to eat the whole batch with a spoon. Especially if you like peanut butter and caramel together, this is the perfect sauce for ice cream or the beginnings of an incredible cake filling.
Really this is so good you could spread some on almost anything! It’s fantastic spread over pieces of sliced apple. And for a great treat try it sandwiched between some vanilla wafers. But the best way to enjoy this decadent caramel sauce is slightly warmed and spooned over some ice cream.
Making caramel can be a bit daunting. It’s actually not very difficult if you follow the directions and have a good candy thermometer. You will have this most luxurious peanut butter caramel sauce. It is worth every effort. There is some corn syrup in this recipe I find that it helps stabilize the sauce and helps keep it from crystallizing. I love the crunch of chunky peanut butter in this sauce as it gives its own unique texture. You could use creamy instead if you desire for more of a smooth caramel sauce.
Let me know in the comments below what you have done with this fantastic Peanut butter caramel sauce. There are many other delicious ways to enjoy it.
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup butter cut into pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ½ cup chunky peanut butter you can use smooth, but it won't be crunchy
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set up an ice bath to quickly cool the caramel in a large bowl or in the sink.
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Combine the water and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Blend together. Wipe down the sides of the pan with a wet paper towel to help prevent crystals from forming in the caramel
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Heat the sugar mixture over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full boil. Do not stir the pan.
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Stir in the corn syrup being careful not to get much on the sides of the pan.
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Place a candy thermometer onto the side of the cooking syrup.
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Continue to boil until you just start to see the mixture begin to brown and then the whole caramel turns to a honey color. Do not leave this unattended.
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Let the mixture reach 310° on a candy thermometer.
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Carefully remove the pan from the heat and place into the ice bath to stop the cooking process. You only need to place it in the bath for a minute just to prevent it from getting too dark.
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Let the mixture cool for another 2 minutes.
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Add the cream, butter, and salt. Be careful as the caramel is still very hot and may sputter.
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Stir until the butter is melted and all the ingredients have been incorporated. If there are some hardened bits of caramel that are stubborn to melt together, place the pan back on the heat for a few seconds at a time to melt the caramel and continue to stir until everything is smooth. It will take some effort and may seem like there is just a big clump of caramel. But keep going it will blend eventually.
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Let the caramel cool for 20 minutes.
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Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla, blend until it is thoroughly combined.
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Let cool for 1 hour.
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The finished caramel can be stored in the fridge for 2 weeks, or even frozen and rethawed.
The finished thick caramel can be rewarmed slightly either on the stove or in the microwave and poured over ice cream. It can be spread on apple slices or blended with whipped cream for a fantastic cake filling.
