Here’s a really easy oven method for making Homemade Dulce de Leche using only one ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. Dulce de leche is a dessert sauce/spread that is thick and creamy and decadent. It has a toffee or butterscotch-like flavor. And it can be used in all kinds of dessert recipes. I always use homemade dulce de leche for making Alfajores!
Watch the video in the post that shows you how to make this recipe, then scroll to the very bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can try making this at home.
What is Dulce de Leche?
Created in Argentina, dulce de leche is a sweet, creamy, thick spread made by slowly cooking milk and sugar (or sweetened condensed milk) until it thickens and turns golden brown. It’s a more popular dessert spread in Latin America, but it has become more popular in the U.S. in recent years.
Homemade Dulce de Leche
I have an intense love for anything caramel, and most specifically- Dulce de Leche. If you’re not familiar with this Latin treat, you should plan on making its acquaintance very soon.
Cans of it already made can be found in Latin markets, or if you’re lucky they might actually carry it in your regular neighborhood market’s Latin products aisle and Walmart always has it too. The dulce de leche that you buy in the can is okay, but if you make your own you’ll be much happier with your homemade version.
Some cooks boil the can of condensed milk until it caramelizes (or use a pressure cooker or an instant pot), but the trouble with that method is that you’re never quite sure when it’s done. It’s generally advised not to boil sealed cans due to risk of explosion from the buildup of steam and pressure. I don’t use the boiling method!
How to make Homemade Dulce de Leche:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post. Here’s an overview.
- Preheat oven to 425℉.
- Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Place the pie pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan so that it comes about halfway up the pie pan.
- Bake for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. Give it a peek at one hour. It should be a caramel color and have a nice, thick texture.
- Remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth. That’s it!
What’s the difference between Caramel and Dulce de Leche?
- Caramel is made by heating sugar until it melts and browns. Then cream and/or butter are added in to make caramel sauce.
- Dulce de Leche is made by slowly heating milk and sugar together (or sweetened condensed milk), resulting in a thick, creamy spread with a milky caramel flavor that is not quite as sweet as caramel.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t use evaporated milk! It’s not the same thing. You can use any brand of sweetened condensed milk.
- Any shallow baking dish that is oven-safe is okay to use. I suggest using a cake pan if you don’t have a pie pan.
- The longer the cook time, the darker your dulce de leche will be.
- If you do not have an electric mixer to smooth out the texture after cooking, use a whisk instead.
What can you use dulce de leche for?
Use it as a filling for cakes, cupcakes, cookies and bars, pies or crepes. Use dulce de leche as a topping for ice cream or cheesecake or as a dipping sauce for churros or sliced apples. Or you might even want to just eat it by the spoonful! It’s some pretty addicting stuff.
How do you store dulce de leche?
Dulce de leche has a shelf life of 2 weeks in the refrigerator if it is kept in a sealed container.
You can also freeze homemade dulce de leche. Let it cool completely, then store it in an airtight container, leaving a little space for expansion. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge and stir before using.
If you are looking for more DIY dessert sauce projects to try, you might also like my recipe for Hot Cherry Sauce or this Salted Caramel Sauce. Easy Raspberry Sauce, Hot Fudge and Hot Blueberry Sauce are good homemade sauces too.
Homemade Dulce de Leche
Ingredients
- One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425℉.
- Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place into a larger pan and pour boiling water in a larger pan and around pie plate (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don’t let any water seep up and into the pie plate.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. At the one hour point, peel off the foil and check for progress. If the mixture has thickened and turned a caramel color, it’s done. If it doesn’t quite look thick enough or dark enough, cover it up and bake it a little longer (mine took 75 minutes).
- When the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel, remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
Notes
- The recipe calls for one 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, but you can use any size can for this method.
- Store in a covered container until ready to use (within a few days). Probably storing in the refrigerator is best, but return to room temperature when ready for recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I needed dulce de leche for an ice cream recipe, but only had sweetened condensed milk on-hand, so this recipe worked out great. I have found other recipes online, but none offered timing for baking. I prepared a double batch (2 cans) in the same pyrex pan, baking them for 90 minutes (checking at the 1 hour point).
Never having actually seen dulce de leche I didn’t know how thick it should be, but luckily it turned out fine. Thanks for your help!
My Argi Mother in law only ever cooks it by placing the whole tin of condensed milk(minus the label) in the pot of water to cook on a steady low heat. She adds lemon skin to the water – can’t recall why – something about the metal. She does many tins at a time, and then leaves them in the fridge until she has a baking session. Its devine. Saves on washing up too.
Can you pour more than one can into a larger bowl and cook a bigger batch at one time?
Pam- I suppose that would work, but might be too much for a pie plate. I might rather use two pie plates with a can in each.
Thanks for this recipe!! My grandmother taught me how my great-grandmother used to make this a long time ago by submerging a can of condensed milk in boiling water on the stove for 3 hours. Why 3 hours ? I never asked. (hey…she is a grandma right, I suspected she just knew.) I suspect it never really needed that long. However with the new pop top cans I became scared of how the pressure inside the can would hold up.
I am so excited about trying this recipe as it is a family x-mas tradition!!
Thanks
another way to do it is just to place the unopened can of condensed milk in a pot, cover with water and let it boil for 2 hours… let the can cool completely before opening.
I can’t wait to try this!! I could eat this without adornment…just a spoon is all I need and I’m good to go! 🙂
Definitly it’s a lot safer than using the pressure pan.
I normally buy ready to use from Nestlé. It’s really good.
Your recipe is absolutely wonderful. I love the ease of cooking the milk in the oven. Mine came out just perfect. Thank you for a great and easy way to make dulce de leche
Thanks for writing back. The cream at the bottom underneath the skin was definitely usable and very delicious. I am going to try it again tonight and this time use foil. I think you may be right in that the seal needs to be very tight in order to keep the moisture in. The condensation might keep that skin from forming.
Hi Recipe Girl! I tried making this last night. The problem I had was that a brown skin formed on top, which caused the rest of the condensed milk to not brown. I removed the skin and tried to bake it longer, but the skin kept forming, bubbling up, and then breaking into the cream beneath. Maybe it was because I used a thick ceramic pie plate and covered it with a top from a pot…I also used my roasting pan to put the entire thing in – maybe the sides were too tall? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Did you run into the skinning problem at all in making this?
Thanks!
Julia,
I didn’t have any trouble with a skin forming on the top. I had my sweetened condensed milk in a ceramic pie plate and covered it tightly w/ foil. I’m guessing that the top from the pot didn’t create a tight enough seal and that’s why it formed a skin?? I also used a roasting pan… set the covered pie plate in there and then poured boiling water around it. Sorry you had trouble- I’d try it again using foil. At the end it comes out a little lumpy (as the pic shows) but when you beat it for a few minutes it becomes nice and smooth. Good luck!