Caramel Syrup

I love making my own coffee syrups and creamers. I think I've conquered about every flavor I want (I'm not into the nutty ones--good thing as I don't know what I'd do for those!). Caramel took a little longer for the syrup (for the creamer I usually just make a can of sweetened condensed milk into caramel and then add 1 1/2 cups milk). But I think I recently got it where I like it. Most caramel syrup recipes online just said sugar, water, and caramel. Well, here where I live I have to make the caramel first. Then add it to a syrup. So there is an extra step. I had some caramel sauce left from something recently and I tried turning it into a syrup. Worked great in a hot latte. Not so great in an iced coffee. Any guesses why not? Butter. The butter from the caramel sauce just hardened right up in the iced coffee. Gross. So I tried making the caramel sauce, minus the butter, specifically to then add to a simple syrup. It worked a lot better. So that's what I'm sharing with you today! Hope you enjoy adding it to a coffee--hot or cold!

Caramel Syrup 
Part 1:
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbs water
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp vanilla

Part 2:
~1/3 cup caramel sauce
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water

Part 1: In a medium sized skillet or saucepan, mix together sugar and water for caramel sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. The water will begin to evaporate out and the sugar will be hard. Allow sugar to melt and turn an amber color (see instructions in this caramel sauce recipe). Immediately remove from heat when sugar is melted and colored--it can get burnt very quickly! Stir in whipping cream and vanilla. Set aside.

Part 2: In a separate saucepan, stir together sugar and water. Once sugar has melted and syrup is beginning to bubble around the edges, reduce the heat, stir in caramel sauce, and allow to simmer for about 4-5 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Variation:
Caramel Vanilla -- add an extra teaspoon of vanilla to the caramel sauce!

Notes: I wouldn't make a habit of leaving the butter out of this caramel sauce, but it worked great for giving the syrup a caramel flavor. I kept mine in the fridge after it was made. The sauce made just about the right amount for the recipe and it nicely fit into a recycled ketchup bottle! Shake well before using.