Salted Caramel Sauce

Caramel sauce might be one of Hubby’s favorite things ever. He will always choose a caramel treat over a a chocolatey treat. I’ve just recently gotten more comfortable making my own caramel sauce. It actually is so much easier than I thought it was. Having a candy thermometer is a must for making caramel at home. But that’s really all you need. If you haven’t made your own caramel sauce, do it. Trust me, it’s worth the minimal effort required.

I ended up making a triple batch of this salted caramel during the holidays. I ordered some cute jars online and gave them away as gifts to some family members. Hubby also enjoyed a bunch of this caramel sauce heated up over vanilla ice cream.

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Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted caramel sauce is easier to make than you could ever imagine. And it makes a great gift!

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
1 tsp fleur de sel

Directions:

Add water to a 2-qt saucepan. Gently add the sugar to the center of the pot - it will mound, that's fine. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

Once boiling, uncover the pot and insert a candy thermometer. Continue cooking until the mixture registers 300 F and is just starting to develop some color, about 15 minutes.

Reduce heat under the pot to medium and cook until the syrup is amber and registers 350 F on the thermometer, about another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. If it simmers before the syrup is ready, just take it off the heat and set aside.

Remove the caramel from the heat and add about 1/4 of the warm cream to the pot. It will bubble furiously so be careful. Once the bubbling subsides, add the remaining cream. When it stops bubbling, whisk gently to incorporate fully. Add the butter and the salt and whisk to combine.

Refrigerate up to 1 month.

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, as seen on Erin's Food Files

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27 Responses to “Homemade Fig Newtons”

  1. #
    1
    nutmegnanny — September 8, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    I always loved fig newtons too 🙂 I have never thought of making my own. Now I know where to find a great recipe 😉

  2. #
    2
    Michael — September 8, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    I am going to have to make these. As well as making them with some blackberries.

  3. #
    3
    Eliana — September 8, 2010 at 5:52 pm

    These look amazing and waaaay better than the store bought brand.

  4. #
    4
    mybizzykitchen.com — September 8, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    My husband loves fig newtons – just added this to my ever growing list of things to make!

  5. #
    5
    Maegan — September 8, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    I liked Newtons until they messed with the recipe…Maybe this version will be yummier.

  6. #
    6
    newlywed — September 8, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    I love the idea of making these at home! I still buy Newtons from time to time…they’re so nice and wholesome.

  7. #
    7
    Melissa — September 8, 2010 at 11:58 pm

    You are so creative! My family loves Fig Newtons….can’t wait to make these!

  8. #
    8
    Evan B — September 9, 2010 at 2:42 am

    My boyfriend and I were just talking about fig newtons this evening! I was saying how much I loved them but hadnt had them recently.. and heres a way to make them myself!

  9. #
    9
    Elina — September 9, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    I moved to the US when I was 15 so I didn’t grow up eating fig newtons but I liked them at my very first bite. I’m sure the homemade version is so much more gourmet 😉 Your pics make it look like raspberry filling which I bet would be amazing!!

  10. #
    10
    Katy — September 9, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    These bring me back to my childhood! Only, these look infinitely more delicious and decadent. The Blue-Eyed Bakers must make these soon!

  11. #
    11
    Carolyn — September 10, 2010 at 9:18 pm

    They look fantastic, and I’ve never actually been that much of a Fig Newton fan. Love the polka dot background for the pics too.

  12. #
    12
    Linda — September 11, 2010 at 11:36 am

    I love fig newtons. Hopefully, I can find my figs around here so I can try these.

    http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com

  13. #
    13
    jonathan — September 14, 2010 at 8:31 pm

    Congratulations on making one of the top food blogs!

    Jonathan
    Gluten Free

  14. #
    14
    Peggy — September 17, 2010 at 9:57 am

    I was always a fig newton-lover as a kid too! Glad I wasn’t the only one and these homemade ones look fantastic!

  15. #
    15
    I Like To Cook 222 — October 13, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    I did make these and loved them! I did just what you suggested and used a little less of dough for that amount of filling and just made some grape jam filled ones with the rest of the dough. They came out perfect! Thanks for sharing!
    http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/fig-newtons.html

  16. #
    16
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  17. #
    17
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  18. #
    18
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  19. #
    19
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  20. #
    20
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  21. #
    21
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  22. #
    22
    Jen — November 17, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn – Yes, scoop out the flesh and seeds and discard the skins. Let me know how they turn out!

  23. #
    23
    Erin — January 17, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    Thank you for posting this! Great recipe and I want to try with different fillings. I used strawberry for mine – yummy!

    In response to the dough ratio, I made it the way you posted but ended up with very thin dough once it was rolled out to 12×16 inches. I think you should leave it doubled.

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    24
    Hadar — May 16, 2013 at 3:08 am

    Hi, I want to make raspberry newtons and am finding it very hard to get an easy recipe online… think I could use this dough with raspberry jam?

    • beantownbaker — May 16th, 2013 @ 8:41 am

      You could definitely use raspberry jam for the filling!

  25. #
    25
    Hadar — May 26, 2013 at 1:03 am

    I made them with 3 different fillings: strawberry jam, blueberry pie filling and vanilla cream. All came out very tasty, and also last freezing nicely.
    A few comments:
    1. The dough was not easy to deal with, even after cooling. It was sticky and fell apart easily.
    2. With the first roll I made, I sliced it to cookies and separated them on the baking pan before baking. All of the Jam oozed out. The other ones I sliced but didn’t move the pieces, and it came out well.
    3. I think in order to taste like real newtons they lack some oats/cereal. Any Idea of how to add some to the dough?

    • beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

      I would think you could grind up some oats and replace some of the flour with the ground up oats. If you try it, I’d love to hear how they turn out!

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