This is a 1 ingredient, 15 second recipe for a Caramel made from sweetened condensed milk in the slow cooker!
This is how to make sweetened condensed milk caramel: Place sealed cans of sweetened condensed milk in slow cooker, fill slow cooker with water, slow cook on low for 8 hours. Output: Perfectly smooth, no stir, thick, deep flavoured caramel sauce. It’s incredible!
Sweetened Condensed Milk Caramel
“This keeps for a month in the fridge. But it won’t last that long.”
Dulce De Leche. Smooth, rich and thick with a deep caramel flavor, this South American export is the king of all caramels. The literal translation of “dulce de leche” is “candy of milk”. And that’s exactly what this is – milk and sugar that’s been slow cooked.
Made from scratch using milk and sugar, it requires a lot of attention for the first hour to make sure the caramel at the bottom doesn’t burn, then a further 2 hours of cooking (and checking….and cooking….and checking…). So if you’re more like me, this effortless version made with condensed milk in a slow cooker will appeal to you. This is how this goes down:
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Place sealed cans of condensed milk in slow cooker. You don’t even need to take the labels off. (3 seconds)
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Fill slow cooker with hot tap water (10 seconds)
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Turn slow cooker on for 8 hours on low (2 seconds)
“Use no-brand condensed milk if you want to save on cost. I promise you no one will know the difference.”
When you open those cans up, you are going to be amazed at the deep golden colour and the smell of the rich caramel is going to make your mouth water. Dig deep and be strong – do not get stuck in with a spoon because you won’t be able to stop!!
This caramel is quite thick, a spreadable consistency (shown in the top picture) and perfectly smooth. If you want to make it a pourable consistency, you can whisk in a touch of milk or even water, or heat it up in the microwave.
I don’t get fancy serving it up, I usually just warm it up slightly and pour it (generously) over vanilla ice cream, or spread it onto a biscuit. Because it’s so rich, I don’t think it needs much else to make it shine. But here are other suggestions for things you can use it for:
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As a sweetener + milk in coffee
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Use as spread on muffins or toast
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Spread on sweet plain biscuits like graham crackers or shortbread
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Drizzled over cakes and cupcakes. Fancy!
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Caramel layer in slices
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Over crepes and pancakes
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Cheesecake
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As a dip for churros (it is, after all, South American!)
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As a gift (if you like anyone enough to give this away to)
It’s pictured here used in this Shortbread Dulce De Leche Cookie Sandwiches. It could also be used to stuff a brownie (see these Salted Caramel Stuffed Brownies).
I hope you give this a try! It really is handy to have in the fridge. I’m especially glad that I made this batch today because I’ve just organised to have a bunch of friends over this weekend! 🙂 – Nagi x
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Sweetened Condensed Milk Caramel (Dulce de Leche)
Ingredients
- 2 cans sweetened condensed milk (395g / 14 oz each) (see notes)
Instructions
- Place cans in slow cooker on their side. Don’t worry about removing the label.
- Cover cans with hot tap water until the water is about 5 cm / 2” above the cans.
- Set slow cooker for 8 hours on low.
- If you want your caramel to be a really dark golden colour, slow cook for a further 2 hours.
- Remove cans from slow cooker using tongs. DO NOT OPEN CANS WHILE HOT. The contents might burst out – dangerous!
- Submerge cans in cold water to cool before opening. It only takes 10 minutes or so.
- Open cans.
- If not using right away, transfer into jars or air tight containers, do not leave it in the can.
To make on stove top
- Place cans in a large pot and cover with water so that it is 5 cm / 2 inches above the cans.
- Place on a small burner and bring JUST to boil - don't walk away, you don't want to leave the cans boiling in water.
- Then turn down the heat to medium low (or low if you stove is powerful), put the lid on and let it simmer for 2 hours to get the consistency and colour as per the photos you see, otherwise for 3 hours if you want to darker and thicker.
- Remove from the pot. Allow to cool before opening (otherwise the Dulce De Leche might burst out when you open it). You can speed up the process by submerging the cans in cold water.
Recipe Notes:
• As a sweetener + milk in coffee
• Use as spread on muffins, toast or graham crackers
• Drizzled over cakes and cupcakes. Fancy!
• Caramel layer in slices
• Over crepes and pancakes
• Cheesecake
• As a dip for churros (it is, after all, South American!)
• As a gift – jar it and add labels and/or tags 7. Nutrition facts per serving assuming 3 cups (2 cans of sweetened condensed milk) serves 12 people.
Nutrition Information:
I accidentally cooked it on high for six hours instead of low, in the crock pot. What will happen when I open it? Is it ruined?
Yeah, not a good idea. Our crock pot blew up! We had caramel on everything within 15’
Oh, Nagi, I love that you posted these instructions. I grew up in Ukraine and this brings back sweet (caramel sweet!) memories of my childhood and all the lovely pastries we would enjoy at weddings, where tables would be overfilled with food of all sorts.
There is a buttercream that Ukrainians have been making for eons – creamed butter and this dulce de leche slowly added in. I think you’d love it!
Thanks for all of your fab recipes! Xo
I won’t be making this again, unfortunately. It’s missing the wonderful complexity of caramel sauce made from scratch. I had fun trying this experiment though!
If I fill a small cake pan and cut them into cubes will they stay firm?
I make carmel pie using the crockpot recipe. Just open the cans n put it in a graham cracker crust n spread. U can add melted chocolate on the crust before filling too. Everyone loves it
Sweetened condensed milk caramel in slow cooker!! The label on the can says do not heat in can ?? Is this warning to be ignored for slow cooking
Came out lighter than the pictures but still pretty tasty. Can left a mark on the crockpot liner.
This is simply amazing! And it’s amazingly simple! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Very disappointing. Followed the recipe EXACTLY. The contents were dark brown and the consistency cottage cheese
Would this work for caramel tart filling?
Turned out exactly like the picture, it was so easy thank you for posting this I was going to do the stove-top method but I found this and I’m so glad I did no fuss about water levels or watching it just pop it into the crackpot and wait…that was the hard part. It’s really rich and hard not to keep eating, I am planning on pouring it over a chocolate cheesecake with chocolate Gamache I’m hoping to add a flavor to complement all of the chocolate that is in my cheesecake.
What if I do 1 can only will the time to slow cook be different
No Shanno the cook time is the same. N x
Wow! I tried this and it really works! So good! Instead of jam in some thumbprint cookies I used this then topped it with a little melted chocolate. And what was left I made some turtle bark by melting chocolate then spreading the caramel and adding chopped pecans. Let it cool and broke it into bite sized pieces. Excellent. I think the next time I make a chocolate cake I’ll put this in between layers and maybe even on top too
Can you make this on high in the crockpot? What about in the instapot?
No Tee, it needs to be low and slow to caramelise properly and definitely DON’T cook it under pressure. On low on the slow cooker is the way to go. N x
Do I put the lid on the slow cooker?
I’m wondering this as well!
Yes. You must put the lid on the slow cooker or it will not come to temp, and it will lose all the water.
I want to do a caramel for apple slices. Will this work as a dip?
Yes Kathleen! See Note 6 – I use it for churros! N x
Excellent!
Our church is holding a “trunk-or-treat” event and we want to serve apple slices with caramel. Purchasing the store packages would be too expensive, but this will be very economical. Blessings! K 🙂
This looks fantastic! What a great idea! I really can’t wait to try it. I love how you give the directions to cook this on the stove, too. Thank you again!
Please be sure to use the FULLY sealed cans and NOT the ones with the pull tabs.
What happens if you use a can with a pull tab? (… I ask as I turn on my Crock Pot with just such a can in it.)
All I have are pull tab cans. Did it work???
It worked just fine for me!
Can this be done with sweetened coconut condensed milk too?
I tried it and it works. Mine came out a light brown color the first time.
Thank you for this. I’ll give it a try.
I honestly haven’t tried Pat – one to add to the list! N x
I may give it a try sometime soon. I think it would be delicious in a banoffee pie.
Sweetened condensed coconut milk works great. I do it all the time, it’s hard to find a good dairy free caramel and this method is awesome.