A couple of years ago, I grabbed a jar of Trader Joe’s Caramel Sauce as an impulse by, deciding it was something I must have. I had just finished gathering dozens of apples from a local orchard with a plan to make apple pie and thought the caramel sauce would be delicious on top of homemade vanilla ice cream alongside a slice of pie.

I wasn’t wrong.

I live far away from Trader Joe’s now and it’s not so easy to keep a jar of sauce on hand for when I want it for dipping apples or making homemade caramel mochas.

On my last grocery shopping trip, I got a tub of the Lighthouse Old Fashioned Caramel Dip but was sadly disappointed after trying it as it’s basically just high fructose corn syrup and overly sweet.

Cue my need to DIY! My mother-in-law adds sweetened condensed milk to her coffee, so I always have a couple of cans on hand for when she visits.

So, I set about making homemade caramel sauce by boiling some cans for what seemed like forever. I’ve used a crock pot in the past with okay results, but I wanted to speed up the process a bit.

The first can I opened wasn’t quite ready; the condensed milk was slightly brown and thicker but hadn’t reached a caramel taste or consistency. I added another hour and the second can came out perfect! I waited for it to cool and added in some sea salt to contrast the sweetness.

For convenience and taste, I still prefer the Trader Joe’s sauce, but my homemade version came in a close second.