Caramel Macaron Filling
This thick caramel macaron filling is easy to make and only uses 6 ingredients! It’s rich, buttery, and the perfect, thick consistency for piping.
How to Make This Thick Caramel Macaron Filling
To make sure this caramel macaron filling turns out as amazing as possible, let’s walk through each step together.
Or if you’re more of a visual learner I’ve also included a video of the process below.
The first step is to heat the sweetened condensed milk, butter, brown sugar, and light corn syrup over medium heat in a heavy saucepan.
Stir frequently and let the mixture come to a gentle boil. Once this happens, turn the heat down to let the caramel simmer.
Continue to stir frequently until the mixture thickens and becomes a medium caramel color (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and fine salt.
Pour into a separate container, then set aside to cool to room temperature. If you make this in advance, cover the bowl and store it at room temperature overnight or in the fridge for up to a week.
This is what my caramel looks like once it cools to room temperature.
If you refrigerate the caramel, heat it in the microwave in short 15-second intervals until it reaches room temperature and is a more workable consistency.
You can also remove the caramel from the fridge and set it out for an hour or two until it comes to room temperature.
Substitutions & Swaps
Below are some swaps and substitutions that can be made in this recipe.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – This is a MUST in this recipe! Evaporated milk cannot be used in its place.
- Light Brown Sugar – This recipe turns out best with light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses, which can throw off the consistency of the caramel.
- Light Corn Syrup – Using a bit of corn syrup in the caramel gives it a glossy, silky smooth consistency. I don’t recommend skipping it!
- Vanilla Extract – A bit of vanilla extract helps enhance the flavor of this filling, but if you don’t have any on hand you can omit it.
- Fine Salt – I like to use fine salt (like table salt), but you can also use kosher or sea salt if needed. Feel free to adjust the amount of salt to your preference.
How Much Caramel Does This Recipe Make?
This recipe makes about 2 cups of caramel filling. This is enough to generously fill about 30 macarons.
You can double or triple this recipe to fill more macarons if needed, but it will need more time to come to room temperature and thicken.
For reference, I usually pipe my macarons with a diameter of 1 1/2 inches, so they’re about the size of a standard macaron.
Making This Caramel Macaron Filling in Advance & Storage Tips
This caramel be made up to a week in advance and I usually make it the night before and store it in an airtight container or in a bowl sealed tightly with plastic wrap.
If you make it in advance and it’s a little bit too cold/firm to pipe, let it sit at room temperature until it softens.
Macarons filled with this caramel filling should mature for a few hours or overnight in the fridge before being eaten. This gives them time to develop the best texture and taste.
Refrigerate desserts with this caramel filling for up to a week in an airtight container.
Freeze desserts with this filling for up to a month in an airtight container.
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you try this caramel macaron filling, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and comment below.
Don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and #chelsweets if you share on social media! I love seeing your delicious creations.
Other Posts You Might Like:
Caramel Macaron Filling
Ingredients
Caramel Filling
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk 396g
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks 113g
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 100g
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup 60g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 4g
- 1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
Equipment / Tools Needed
- Small saucepan
Instructions
Caramel Macaron Filling
- Heat 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup light corn syrup over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir frequently and let the mixture just begin to bubble (if you have and are using a candy thermometer, cook until the mixture hits 212 F/ 100 C). It will start bubbling up on the sides of the pan first. Once this happens, turn the heat down to low to let the caramel simmer.
- Continue to stir frequently until the mixture thickens and becomes a medium caramel color (about 10 minutes). You should be able to drag a spatula through the mixture and see the bottom of the pan for a second or two once it's ready. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp of fine salt.
- Pour into a separate container, then set aside to cool to room temperature. If you make this in advance, cover the bowl and store it at room temperature overnight or in the fridge for up to a week. If you refrigerate the caramel, heat it in the microwave in short 10-second intervals until it reaches room temperature and is a more workable consistency.
can this be used as a cake filling? What’s the difference in consistency between this macaron filling recipe and the caramel filling recipe for the Twix cake? Please let me know at carolann7290@yahoo.com.
Hi Carol,
They are actually based on the same recipe, and have the same consistency!! It is wonderful to fill both cakes and macarons, as well as cupcakes and cookies! Hope that helps, happy baking!
It seems that I may have went a bit far heating my caramel filling, as it is a bit firm when it cooled. Is there a way to use it or is this expected?
Hi Julie,
So sorry to hear that! If you warm it up a bit in the microwave, you should be able to get it to soften up a bit to let you fill the macarons with it, but I’m not sure how hard it will set once it’s inside the macarons. Fingers crossed the microwave trick will still work with your caramel!
Hey Chelsey! I’m trying to make a bourbon caramel filling. Could I just add some bourbon to this? Thanks
Hi Kim,
Great question! This caramel gets pretty firm, and I’m not sure you’d be able to incorporate the bourbon after it’s been cooked! And I’m assuming you’d want to do it after so that it doesn’t all cook off while the caramel cooks. You could try stirring it in though as it cools? If you try it, please let me know how it goes!
The butter is not incorporating into the mixture! Please help
Update, the butter incorporated when it cooled but it has a weird grainy texture…
Ugh, so sorry to hear that Crystal!
Did you use a candy thermometer? If the butter had a difficult time incorporating and it ended up with a grainy texture it sounds like it may have gotten a little bit overheated. Sometimes even when you use a candy thermometer once it reaches that temperature and you remove it from heat it keeps heating up from the heat in the pan and that can throw off the consistency. If you make this again it might help to remove it a little bit before it reaches the full temperature just so that way it doesn’t get overcooked, especially if you’re using a thick pan that retains a lot of heat. You also want to make sure you pour it out of the pan as soon as possible once it’s done cooking. I hope that helps for next time, happy baking!!
What temperature is it at when it is done, after “about 10 minutes”?
Hi Gayle,
Great question! I don’t usually record the temp during that final step because the final temp doesn’t really matter/have to be closely monitored (you turn the heat down to low for those last 10 minutes). What really matters temperature wise is that the mixture initially gets heated up to 212 F/ 100 C, and that you immediately turn the temp down after that so it doesn’t overcook! The finally 10 minutes just helps some of the moisture evaporate and intensifies the flavor. Hope that helps, happy baking!