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Home » Recipes » Desserts Recipes

Homemade Jack Daniels Caramel Sauce

Published: Apr 1, 2020 Last Updated: Oct 16, 2022 by Marye 768 words. | About 4 minutes to read this article.

15 minutes mins
Homemade Jack Daniels caramel sauce is perfect for topping on ice cream, using as a dip for apples, over cakes, or in your latte! Decadently rich and creamy! Difficulty: moderately easy. 3 out of 10.
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Caramel sauce being poured into a jar - text overlay for Pinterest.

This decadently rich and creamy homemade caramel sauce is the glory-hallelujah of all caramel lovers everywhere. A generous glugg of Jack Daniels whiskey warms it up and keeps it from being cloyingly basic. The recipe is so easy - and just 5 ingredients.

It's fabulous over a simple pound cake, as a dip for apples, or drizzled over ice cream.

Jar of finished caramel sauce.
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  • Shopping list
  • Instructions
  • Tips
  • Kaffeeklatch
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

Shopping list

Keep this in your refrigerator and use it over ice cream. Or stick a spoon in it and eat it from the jar when the day is particularly stressful - no judgement here.

  • Sugar
  • White corn syrup
  • Butter
  • Jack Daniels Kentucky Whiskey (or bourbon, or rum...heck, throw in some tequila and see what happens...)
  • Heavy (whipping) cream

Instructions

This dessert is not a dessert to impress your mother-in-law or the boss with - save it for the people you really like. It makes great gifts, too.

  1. Combine the sugar and water in a pan.
  2. Whisk over medium heat until all the sugar crystals dissolve. The sugar will form wet lumps before it dissolves, just be patient.
  3. Add the corn syrup
  4. Let the mixture come to boil.
  5. Don't stir it at all -- but watch carefully and allow the sugar to turn a dark golden brown.
  6. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time.
  7. Allow the mixture cool slightly, about 5 minutes at most.
  8. Whisk in the cream and Jack Daniels until smooth.
  9. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Tips

  • Use a bigger saucepan than you think you'll need. The mixture can bubble up a bit when adding the cream and you don't want it to run over.
  • Add about ½ teaspoon of salt for salted caramel sauce.
  • Use bourbon, scotch, or rum in place of the whiskey

Storage

Homemade caramel sauce should be kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. It will be fine for at least a month. You can freeze it for longer storage - just thaw and heat a little before serving.

Sugar crystals

Sometimes you'll get sugar crystals in your gorgeously, almost perfect caramel sauce. Here's how to keep that from happening --

  • Use a wet pastry brush to wash the sugar from the sides of the pan.
  • Corn syrup helps keep crystals from forming.
  • Don't stir the caramel until you're adding the cream.
Spoon dribbling caramel sauce into a jar.

Kaffeeklatch

This recipe was part of a combination I created over 10 years ago - banana bread pudding with Jack Daniels caramel sauce. Over the years the banana bread pudding proved to be a flop... but the sauce?

Everyone loved it.

So, I made it easy and removed the poor quality recipe and left the part that everyone loved best. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Next time try this Dunkaroo Dip!

📖 Recipe

Jar of caramel sauce on a wood table.
4.71 from 17 votes

Jack Daniels Caramel Sauce

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Homemade Jack Daniels caramel sauce is perfect for topping on ice cream, using as a dip for apples, over cakes, or in your latte! Decadently rich and creamy! Difficulty: moderately easy. 3 out of 10.
Course Dessert,Sauce
Cuisine Amercian Heritage
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings:16
Calories:147
Author:Marye Audet-White
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • ⅔ cup water
  • ½ tablespoon corn syrup
  • ½ cup butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces.
  • ¼ cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
  • ¼ cup heavy cream

I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

  • Combine sugar and water in a pan.
  • Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. The sugar will turn into wet lumps before it dissolves.
  • Stir in the corn syrup.
  • Let come to boil and allow the sugar to turn a dark golden brown. Do not stir during this time.
  • Remove from heat and whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time.
  • Allow the mixture to cool slightly, about 5 minutes at most.
  • Whisk in the cream and Jack Daniels until smooth.
  • Serve warm over puddings, ice cream, etc.
  • Will keep in the refrigerator in a tightly covered jar for two weeks.

Notes

  • Use a bigger saucepan than you think you'll need. The mixture can bubble up a bit when adding the cream and you don't want it to run over.
  • Add about ½ teaspoon of salt for salted caramel sauce.
  • Use bourbon, scotch, or rum in place of the whiskey
Storage
Homemade caramel sauce should be kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. It will be fine for at least a month. You can freeze it for longer storage - just thaw and heat a little before serving.
Sugar crystals
Sometimes you'll get sugar crystals in your gorgeously, almost perfect caramel sauce. Here's how to keep that from happening --
  • Use a wet pastry brush to wash the sugar from the sides of the pan.
  • Corn syrup helps keep crystals from forming.
  • Don't stir the caramel until you're adding the cream.
You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 53mg | Potassium: 3mg | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 232IU | Calcium: 4mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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    Originally published March 13, 2012. Last updated April 1, 2020 to improve reader experience, better images, and delete the older portion of the recipe.

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    About Marye

    With a 40 year focus on the importance of family and a passion for southern comfort food, Marye Audet-White is an expert in melding the two together effortlessly. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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      Love it? Give it 5 stars!




    1. Matt k

      November 30, 2022 at 3:13 pm

      5 stars
      I didn’t T really want to buy a bottle of Kari syrup, could I use real maple syrup?

      Reply
      • Marye

        November 30, 2022 at 7:23 pm

        I've never tried so I can't really say.

        Reply
    2. Nicole Richardson

      August 02, 2022 at 6:47 pm

      How long before it would turn golden brown. I had it on the heat for at least 15 minutes on medium. I finished making it and tastes great just not golden brown. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Marye

        August 14, 2022 at 9:52 pm

        It's always turned golden for me relatively quickly.

        Reply
    3. Kelly

      December 13, 2021 at 2:38 pm

      Such a bummer. Followed directions & after the 6th T of butter, mixture seized up & turned into crumbly rocks. Any suggestions?

      Reply
      • Marye

        December 13, 2021 at 7:11 pm

        I've never had that happen. Sugar based sauces seize up when you let them crystalize on the sides of the pan. It's super important follow the instructions not to stir it until you put the butter in. If it does seize you can often fix it by putting it back over medium-low heat and letting it melt back down - but no stirring!

        Reply
    4. Kimberly

      September 08, 2017 at 7:23 pm

      Did not see the actual recipe for the bread pudding part just two copies of the caramel sauce. Not sure if that is right or not. Or if the recipe is located elsewhere for the bread pudding part?

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        September 13, 2017 at 1:35 pm

        Oh Kimberly! I think somehow that recipe has been lost from the page - I'll need to re-do it. So sorry!

        Reply
    5. Josh

      April 01, 2016 at 8:41 pm

      I tried to make this sauce but dont understand if its 2/3 cup water or if its 2 or 3?

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        April 03, 2016 at 9:08 pm

        🙂 typo on my part. 2/3 is correct.

        Reply
    6. Joycene

      May 27, 2013 at 11:02 am

      Yesterday at TGI Friday's I had a piece of one of the best cakes I've ever had. I believe it was called "Tennessee Jack Daniels Whiskey Cake " and it came with a sauce which the Jack Daniels Caramel Sauce sounds like. The cake at TGIF's had pecans in the sauce, however. Does anyone know the recipe that would be best for the cake part? It was a fairly substantial cake to support the sauce, rather than a fine-crumb cake. It was delicious! Help appreciated. Thanks.

      Reply
      • Marye Audet

        May 28, 2013 at 10:01 am

        I imagine it was a pound cake. That's what I would try first. 🙂

        Reply

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