Best Salted Caramel Sauce (Ever!)

Recently Steph was commenting to me how funny it is that everything on Pinterest is the best. Best chocolate cake recipe. Best quick cleaning tips. Best way to to lose a few pounds. We get it though, right? Who wants to pin "Mediocre Lasagna" or "Just Okay Cupcakes"?

But trust me, the caramel recipe I'm sharing today truly is the best. Seriously. It's warm, buttery, and slightly salty. And it opens up a whole new world of delicious treats: caramel popcorn, caramel cookies, caramel lattes, caramel apples...a few of which we'll be sharing very soon!
Salted Caramel Sauce (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 T butter
2 teaspoons sea salt

Directions:
1. Put water and sugar in a stainless steel saucepan, then cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover and insert a candy thermometer. Continue boiling until the mixture starts to have some color and reaches 300 degrees F. This should take about 10 minutes, but start checking it at 7.  

2. Meanwhile, pour the cream and vanilla into a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Turn off once simmering.
3. Reduce your sugar mixture to medium heat and watch it carefully until it turns an amber color and registers 345 degrees. Watch carefully, as the temperature can climb quickly!

4. Take it off the heat, and carefully add in 1/4 cup of the cream/vanilla mixture.  This will bubble like crazy, so don't pour the whole thing in! Continue to slowly add the rest of the cream. Stir it until smooth.
5. Stir in butter and salt. Taste and add more salt if desired. Pour into glass jar to cool. Makes approximately 2 cups.

The final step is the best: Take out a spoon and have a bite! And by the way, this makes a great holiday gift...so enjoy your own batch now, then whip up another soon!

What do y'all think? Any caramel-lovers out there willing to try this?