I feel I must begin this post with a warning: this recipe is extremely addictive, just ask my three sons!! First they enjoy a lick of the spoon after I season it a little, then they are asking to have it all the time. Frankly I’m surprised they haven’t gone hunting in the fridge for it.

Not only is it delicious, but this dulce de leche is so incredibly easy to make. How much easier can it get than opening a couple cans of sweetened condensed milk, pouring it into jars and letting the slow cooker do the work? I can’t think of much else that is easier than that! And the end result is completely sublime.

I’ve seen all kinds of dulce de leche recipes and I was finally ready to make my own. We were having ice cream sundaes with my parents and I thought this would be a great addition to the spread. I didn’t really want to go the traditional route and boil the can of condensed milk. I get busy and can forget things, too much room for error there.

I decided the slow cooker was the way to go for a couple reasons. I would be less likely to get distracted; it sits in there for a good eight hours, I can handle that! Plus by pouring it into canning jars you can see the dulce de leche as it cooks. This is helpful in recognizing the color you’re looking for and not overcooking. And as an added bonus the jars look nice and are ready for gift giving, if you can part with any of your dulce de leche!!

Once it comes out of the slow cooker it is so rich and creamy, it is liquid gold. But why stop there, add a little more love! You really can’t go wrong with vanilla, I add that to nearly every sweet treat. Maybe it’s an addiction, a good one though! Then of course I needed to get some salty sweet action so I added some sea salt. Not just any sea salt though, my vanilla sea salt! The end result is incredibly delicious.

Like I said, incredibly easy to make. You can halve or double the recipe too. It all depends on how much you’ll eat or give away and how much fits in your slow cooker. I used two cans of condensed milk and it filled three and a half of the Weck mini tulip jars.

In a moment of weakness the boys and I could just eat this by the spoon. We haven’t yet, but I can’t guarantee it won’t happen soon! It goes well on top of ice cream of course. Another of our favorite ways to enjoy it is a dulce de leche crepe with toasted hazelnuts sprinkled on top. We’ll be coming up with many more ways to enjoy it soon, I’ll keep you updated!

Dulce De Leche
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vanilla sea salt (regular would work too)

Pour the condensed milk into canning jars and seal tightly. Place the jars in a slow cooker and cover with water to an inch ABOVE the jars. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours. You will be looking for light brown caramel color. You can let it go a little longer if you like a thicker dulce de leche.

Once done remove from the water, open jars and evenly distribute the vanilla and salt (it will depend on the size/number of jars you used). Stir in well and cover up. Once it cools store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, if you can keep it that long! It will keep longer, but the sauce with change in texture a little, still good but not great.

Yields: 28 oz. (3-4 jars)