Gingerbread Caramel Sauce
Drizzle some holiday cheer over cakes, cupcakes, hot chocolate and more. This Gingerbread Caramel Sauce is made using my true caramel method with the addition of cozy gingerbread spices for a holiday treat everyone will be obsessed with!
If you’re looking for more gingerbread recipes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Healthy Gingerbread Hot Cocoa with Bone Broth, Festive Gingerbread Snack Cake Without Frosting, Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies, Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars or Frosted Gingerbread Banana Bread.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Gingerbread Caramel Sauce
- Ready In: 15 minutes
- Makes: 30 ounces
- Main Ingredients: cane sugar, salted butter, heavy whipping cream, gingerbread spices
- Flavor Profile: creamy caramel sauce combined with your favorite gingerbread cookie!
- Dietary Info: gluten free
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: Perfect for coffee, hot cocoa, lattes, drizzling on cakes and more!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Tastes like Christmas in a Jar: Warm ginger, cinnamon, and cloves blend with buttery caramel for the ultimate holiday flavor.
- Elevates Anything it Touches: Drizzle it over ice cream, pancakes, lattes, cookies, oatmeal, popcorn… it instantly makes everything festive. Try it on top of Quick One Rise Cinnamon Rolls From Scratch for a holiday twist.
- Quick + Easy to Make: Just a handful of ingredients and a few minutes on the stove. If you love Homemade Caramel Sauce with Bone Broth, you'll love this too!
- Perfect for Gifting: Pour into small jars, tie with ribbon, and you’ve got a homemade holiday treat everyone will rave about. This is what I’m gifting this Christmas!
- Homemade True Caramel: I make my Homemade True Caramel here and add in gingerbread spices. This method of dry burning the sugar creates a true caramel flavor that is the best! If you love caramel, you'll also love Homemade Chewy Chocolate Caramel Candy and Homemade Chewy Coffee Caramel Candies.
Ingredients
- Butter: Use a high quality butter that you like. But, make sure you are using a sweet cream butter with ~80% butterfat. Stay away from European butters with higher butterfat content as those will cause the caramel to burn (and it won't even be your fault!). Check out the Best Salted Butter for Baking for even more info!
- Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar and dry burn it to create a true caramel flavor!
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Organic heavy whipping cream gives this caramel is silky smooth texture.
- Spices: I use a mix of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves for a true gingerbread flavor. If you have a gingerbread spice mix you like, you can use that in place of all three spices. Try my Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix!
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results. My true caramel sauce has only three ingredients, and the ratio of them really matters to get the best consistency, so using a scale is key.
- Use high quality ingredients for the best flavor.
- I use salted butter, but if you are using unsalted, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt in when you stir in the spices.
- Make sure to use a high heat spatula so your spatula doesn’t get warped or melt off while making this caramel.
- If you have a gas range, you’ll want to cook this more towards low as gas ranges can be much more powerful.
- I like to strain this caramel sauce to ensure no clumps of spices are left.
- Store caramel sauce in a glass jar.
How to Make Gingerbread Caramel Sauce
- In a 3-quart pot, add the cane sugar. Put over low/medium heat (if using gas, stay lower).
- Once the sugar on the bottom starts to melt, stir with a high heat spatula to keep from burning. The dry sugar will then sink to the bottom, so it can melt. Sugar clumps will form.
- Continue to cook until the sugar turns into a liquid.
- Once the sugar has completely melted into a liquid, add the butter. Be careful because steam will rise up quickly. Stir the entire time to incorporate the butter.
- Once the butter is completely combined, add in the cream a little at a time. Be careful, because the cream is colder than the sugar mixture so more steam will rise up quickly. Stir rapidly to combine completely when each amount of cream is added. Once about half the cream is added you can add more at a time.
- Continue adding in, while stirring, until the cream is completely combined.
- Remove from the heat and add in the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
- Whisk to combine completely. You can strain the caramel with a strainer to remove any clumps. (This is optional, but if you are new to caramel making, this is a good idea as you learn). I also like to do this to ensure there’s no spice clumps. Transfer to a glass jar (or small jars for gifting).
Recipe FAQ’s
Do ginger and caramel go together?
Yes, they make a wonderful pairing as the spice of the ginger compliments the sweet caramel flavor. That’s why this Gingerbread Caramel Sauce is so good!
What is true caramel?
True caramel means that the sugar is dry burned. The sugar caramelizes, which is what creates a “true” caramel flavor. The act of dry burning the sugar is what separates a true caramel recipe from a recipe where ingredients are just added in together to create a caramel flavor. I believe that true caramel has a much better and more gourmet flavor than other recipes where everything is just added into a pot together and cooked.
How to Use Gingerbread Caramel Sauce
- Use on top of waffles and pancakes instead of syrup. Try it on Homemade Malted Milk Waffles, Homemade Eggnog Waffles, or Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes.
- Add into your favorite latte for a gingerbread caramel latte.
- Add into hot chocolate, use this in place of regular caramel in my Caramel Hot Cocoa or add it into Bone Broth Hot Cocoa or Creamy Dark Hot Chocolate With Homemade Whipped Cream.
- Drizzle on top of cupcakes to make them extra festive. Try it on top of Simple Vanilla Cupcakes or Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes.
- Add on top of cakes like Vanilla Buttermilk Sheet Cake with Vanilla Frosting.
More Christmas Recipes
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Gingerbread Caramel Sauce
Indulge in the holiday season with this Gingerbread Caramel Sauce. This true caramel recipe with the addition of cozy gingerbread spices makes the best homemade caramel sauce that will bring holiday cheer to anything it's drizzled on.
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- 3-Quart Pot
- High Heat Spatula
- Strainer
Ingredients
- 454 grams cane sugar
- 113 grams salted butter
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- In a 3-quart pot, add the cane sugar. Put over low/medium heat (if using gas, stay lower).
- Once the sugar on the bottom starts to melt, stir with a high heat spatula to keep from burning. The dry sugar will then sink to the bottom, so it can melt. Sugar clumps will form.
- Continue to cook until the sugar turns into a liquid.
- Once the sugar has completely melted into a liquid, add the butter. Be careful because steam will rise up quickly. Stir the entire time to incorporate the butter.
- Once the butter is completely combined, add in the cream a little at a time. Be careful, because the cream is colder than the sugar mixture so more steam will rise up quickly. Stir rapidly to combine completely when each amount of cream is added. Once about half the cream is added you can add more at a time. Continue adding in, while stirring, until the cream is completely combined.
- Remove from the heat and add in the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
- Whisk to combine completely. You can strain the caramel with a strainer to remove any clumps. (This is optional, but if you are new to caramel making, this is a good idea as you learn). I also like to do this to ensure there’s no spice clumps.
- Transfer to a glass jar (or small jars for gifting).
- Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks or in the fridge for even longer.
Video
Notes
Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results. My true caramel sauce has only three ingredients, and the ratio of them really matters to get the best consistency, so using a scale is key.
- Use high quality ingredients for the best flavor.
- I use salted butter, but if you are using unsalted, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt in when you stir in the spices.
- Make sure to use a high heat spatula so your spatula doesn’t get warped or melt off while making this caramel.
- If you have a gas range, you’ll want to cook this more towards low as gas ranges can be much more powerful.
- I like to strain this caramel sauce to ensure no clumps of spices are left.
- Store caramel sauce in a glass jar.
Nutrition
Calories: 175kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 1gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 36mgPotassium: 22mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 410IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 0.1mg
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This Gingerbread Caramel Sauce adds holiday vibes to anything you use it on! I love using this for hot chocolates, lattes, and waffles!