How to Make Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk
This post may contain affiliate links.Learn how to make homemade sweetened condensed milk with just TWO ingredients! Perfect for coffee, pancakes, or your favorite treats. Let’s get sweetening!
Who doesn’t love the rich, creamy sweetness of condensed milk? It’s the secret ingredient that makes desserts like cakes, pancakes, and ice cream irresistible. But did you know you can make it at home with just milk and sugar? Homemade sweetened condensed milk is easy to whip up, lets you control the sweetness, and skips the preservatives. Plus, it’s a lifesaver when you run out of the store-bought kind mid-recipe!
Making it is simple: just simmer milk and sugar until it thickens into a creamy syrup. It takes a little time, but the result is worth it—a silky-smooth mixture perfect for drizzling, stirring into coffee, or baking. You can even customize it with vanilla, butter, or alternative sweeteners.
Once you try homemade, you might never go back to the canned version. It’s fresher, tastier, and so rewarding to make. Grab a pot and whisk, and let’s get cooking—your desserts will thank you!
Homemade sweetened condensed milk is a game-changer for so many recipes! Use it to make No-churn Mango Ice Cream, Malaysian Honeycomb Cake, Mango Sago Dessert, or even Chocolate Pudding. Drizzle it over Dorayaki pancakes, Pumpkin Mantou, stir it into tea, or use it as a cake filling—it adds a rich, fresh touch to every treat. Get ready to level up your desserts!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredients Note
Fresh milk – You can use dairy or non-dairy milk based on your preferences. You can even use almond milk or oat milk. I find that full cream dairy milk turn to be the most delicious in making homemade sweetened condensed milk.
Sugar – In this recipe, I use regular granulated sugar. If you prefer to use other favorite sugar of your own, please do so.
Butter – I use unsalted butter because I have salt in this recipe. If you decide to use unsalted butter, omit the salt. Butter will add smooth texture to the condensed milk. It adds richness to the milk and I think it adds buttery smell and taste in the condensed milk.
Salt – Salt will enhance the overall flavor.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
Substitutions & Variations
Honey, maple syrup, palm sugar, coconut sugar or erythritol. Of course, the end flavor will be different depending on the type of sugar you use.
How to Make
STEP 1. Pour milk into a sauce pan with sugar and salt inside.
STEP 2. Stir well using a spatula and set it on a stove with medium heat. Let it simmer.
STEP 3. You will see that the milk bubble up a few times. Let the water content dry up until the milk thickens. Put in the butter.
STEP 4. Strain the milk so you have a smooth texture. Pour into a jar to keep.
Pro Tips
- The total cooking time takes around 30 minutes until you can see it thickens. Be patient.
- Do not leave it unattended. Stir with a spatula when it bubbles up.
- Heat a glass jar in the oven for 5 minutes or cook in a boiling water for 5 minutes to kill off the bacteria.
- Use oven mitt to hold the glass jar. Be very careful because it is hot. Pour the condensed milk into the jar while it is still hot. Put on the lid. Turn it upside down to kill the bacteria in the space under the lid. This way of bottling will keep your condensed milk shelf life longer.
How to Use
Sweetened condensed milk is versatile. You can use it to make any baking products like Pandan Milk Bread, Fermented Cassava Cake, Thai Butter Cake.
Spread Ube Halaya on a Japanese Dorayaki and sprinkle with condensed milk on top of it, then you have a nice breakfast. Pumpkin Mantou is also great to go with condensed milk.
FAQs about Sweetened Condensed Milk
Condensed milk is gluten free since it does not use any gluten product. It is suitable for people with celiac disease or other gluten-related diseases.
Of course! I think this recipe even tastes better than the store-bought one. You can make a few jars to keep in the refrigerator if you use condensed milk a lot.
Yes, it is cheaper and more delicious. You use fresh milk and the flavor of the milk come through. Store-bought condensed milk contain proservatives or additives, while homemade condensed milk uses none.
If your condensed milk isn’t thickening, it might need more time on the stove. Ensure that you are cooking it at a low enough temperature to prevent burning, and be patient as it reduces.
Storage and Shelf Life
Homemade condensed milk can stay up to 10 days in the chiller. If you put it in the freezer, you can have it up to three months. Simply transfer the jar to the chiller one day ahead if you want to use it.
More Recipes That Use Condensed Milk
- Rose Milk Tea
- Oolong Milk Tea
- Butterfly Pea Flower Latte
- Earl Grey Latte
- Turkish Coffee
- Fresh Korean Strawberry Milk
Homemade Sweetend Condensed Milk
Ingredients
- 300 gr milk full cream
- 125 gr sugar
- 1 gr salt optional
- 10 gr unsalted butter optional
Instructions
- Pour milk into a sauce pan with sugar and salt inside.
- Stir well using a spatula and set it on a stove with medium heat. Let it simmer.
- You will see that the milk bubble up a few times. Let the water content dry up until the milk thickens. Put in the butter.
- Strain the milk so you have a smooth texture. Pour into a jar to keep in the chiller.
Video
Notes
- The total cooking time takes around 30 minutes until you can see it thickens. Be patient.
- Do not leave it unattended. Stir with a spatula when it bubbles up.
- Heat a glass jar in the oven for 5 minutes or cook in a boiling water for 5 minutes to kill off the bacteria.
- Use oven mitt to hold the glass jar. Be very careful because it is hot. Pour the condensed milk into the jar while it is still hot. Put on the lid. Turn it upside down to kill the bacteria in the space under the lid. This way of bottling will keep your condensed milk shelf life longer.
You will be amazed at this homemade sweetened condensed milk recipe! It only uses two main ingredients, but the result is even better than store-bought ones!