Homemade Caramel Coffee Syrup

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Bring Coffeehouse Flavor Home With Homemade Caramel Syrup

If you love the coffee shop drive through for a little treat in the morning, but you’d like to take the burden off your wallet a little bit, this easy homemade caramel syrup will become your new BFF.

Rich, buttery and just the right amount of sweet, it blends seamlessly into hot or iced coffee and lattes. You only need a few pantry ingredients and less than 20 minutes to make it, and it tastes so much better than store-bought syrups, we promise.

Homemade Caramel Syrup Ingredients

A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.

• sugar – regular white granulated sugar serves as the foundation of this caramel syrup.
• corn syrup – this plays a vital role in preventing the sugar from crystalizing during the caramelization process. Don’t skip it!
• vanilla extract – adds warm flavor and aromatic dimension to the syrup.
• salt – it might seem like an unconventional ingredient for a sweet syrup, but it plays an important role in balancing flavors.

 How To Make Caramel Syrup For Coffee

1. COOK. In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook over medium-low until the sugar dissolves, then increase to medium heat and continue cooking until the syrup turns a light amber color, swirling occasionally.

2. FINISH. Remove the syrup from the heat and carefully stir in the vanilla, a pinch of salt, and the remaining water.

Caramel Coffee Syrup vs. Caramel Sauce

At coffee shops like Starbucks, there’s an important difference between syrups and sauces:

• Caramel syrup is the liquid that comes in big bottles with pumps. These pumps of flavor (“flavor shots”) are usually the first thing a barista adds to your cup – they’re the base of most flavored drinks. The recipe below is the equivalent of this type of syrup.
• Caramel sauce, on the other hand, is thicker and has a richer taste. It’s what you see the barista drizzle over the top of the whipped cream as a finishing touch to a decadent coffee creation. Use our Microwave Caramel recipe to create something similar. We also will purchase Torani brand for a store-bought version when we don’t feel like making it.

Caramel Flavor Syrup For Coffee Storage

Allow the syrup to cool completely before transferring it to a clean, airtight container (a mason jar works well). Transfer it to the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.