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Healthy Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute (Starting with Real Milk!)

Here’s a substitute for a can of sweetened condensed milk that verges on healthy and includes zero nonfat dry milk powder OR evaporated milk, unlike most other homemade sweetened condensed milk recipes out there. (Why I don’t trust nonfat dry milk powder much…) I’ll tell you the ingredients of sweetened condensed milk so it tastes just right! Homemade sweetened condensed milk is easier to make than you think. 

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe

What is Sweetened Condensed Milk?

Typically this canned delight is made so that you can have milk when fresh isn’t available. It’s condensed and sweetened so that it lasts longer. One recipe I use this sweetened condensed milk substitute in every Christmas is homemade Irish Cream.

There is also unsweetened condensed milk… they are NOT the same thing. That’s evaporated.

Sweetened condensed milk works well if you want a more creamy texture than plain old milk provides. I prefer making it at home to avoid unneeded preservatives and BPA from the lining of a can.

Ok, I know this is a post about making your own condensed milk…but sometimes you want to have a can on hand for short notice. Nothing wrong with that, just check your ingredients. I found an organic option at Thrive Market. They’ll deliver straight to your door (and give you 15% off your first order!) so give it a shot if you like to keep some handy.

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Healthy Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe (NO Dry Milk or Other Cans!)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 28 reviews
  • Author: Katie Kimball
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours 5 mins
  • Yield: 1 1/4 cups 1x
  • Category: condiment

Description

Whether you’re trying to avoid processed foods but want to make a favorite dessert recipe or you are just out of condensed milk, here’s a substitute that everyone has ingredients for and anyone with a little patience can pull off.


Ingredients

Scale


ship kroger


Instructions

  1. Mix sugar and milk together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stirring often, bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat. As soon as steam starts lifting off the milk, lower the heat even further, and when the sugar is entirely dissolved, put the heat as low as it can go. A simmer burner is great for this.
  2. The goal is to reduce the quantity in the pot (which is now about 1 3/4 cups) by approximately half. It takes about 2 hours at very low heat to reduce to one cup of liquid. You could speed it up a bit if you watch carefully and stir often. I preferred the freedom to wander the house doing other tasks, and thus allowed my process to take quite some time.
  3. Once reduced to your satisfaction, whisk in the butter and vanilla. The recipe is equivalent to just less than one whole can of brand name sweetened condensed milk. (One can = 14 ounces, which is 2 ounces shy of 2 cups. by weight, oops! The can is equal to 1 1/4 cups liquid. Substitute tables for homemade condensed milk vary from 1 1/4 cups all the way to 2 cups. Use your judgment!)

Notes

Depending on what final product your sweetened condensed milk will be used in, you will probably need to allow the mixture to cool considerably before using.

One other option for a homemade sweetened condensed milk is to add 1/2 or 2/3 cup unrefined sugar to a can of evaporated milk (like this or this). You may need to heat to fully dissolve. However, you still have to deal with the unhealthy can lining and whatever over-processing makes the milk shelf stable. Plus the whole point is using real ingredients, yeah?

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk Nutrition Info


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 2 Tbsp
  • Calories: 104
  • Sugar: 15.3g
  • Sodium: 39mg
  • Fat: 4.7g
  • Saturated Fat: 2.9g
  • Carbohydrates: 15g
  • Fiber: 0g
  • Protein: 1.2g
  • Cholesterol: 13mg
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RELATED: Why is butter better than margarine? & other superb homemade foods recipes

Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute

I went through allllll the 200+ comments for you to save you a little time – if you’re looking for how others have done the recipe, including slow cooker adaptations, dairy-free, alternative sweeteners, and even how long you can store it, I made it all nice and pretty for you:

Get the Recipe WITH All The Notes!

Homemade Condensed Milk Substitute FAQs

Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute

There are some questions in the comments section that I can help with:

Can you substitute honey?

I haven’t tried it, but if you do, use only 3/8-1/2 cup honey since honey is sweeter than sugar.

RELATED: How to bake with honey.

What about just using cream instead of milk?

Again, haven’t tried it myself, but I don’t see how it could hurt! You’d probably end up with super rich milk, since even though the fat content is higher, you’d still want to reduce it to one cup.

homemade sweetened condensed milk

Can I use 2% milk?

There is obviously less fat content in the 2% so it may (or may not) take longer to thicken up, but it should work out in the end. Why whole milk? (Actually, I drink raw milk, but that’s another story entirely)

Is there a dairy-free version?

Yes! I finally found one – a dairy-free sweetened condensed milk that uses coconut milk and looks wonderful. This helpful article gets a bit science-geeky about the whole process and also includes dairy-free.

Possibly a more hands-off method:

One commenter uses a slow cooker, on low all day with the lid slightly ajar to allow for evaporation. Whisk every so often to mix up and prevent possible scalding, since a lot of slow cookers tend to run pretty high in the long run. She says it lasts up to 4 months in the refrigerator and she can just scoop out the amount she needs!

Will you make sweetened condensed milk?
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Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

115 thoughts on “Healthy Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute (Starting with Real Milk!)”

  1. At the risk of asking a dumb question, could I leave out the sugar, butter, and vanilla and end up with evaporated milk?

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Kimberly,
      Ummmm….must not be a dumb question, b/c I’m not sure I know the answer! I know evaporated milk is really different than condensed milk, but maybe it is just the sweetener. I feel like some of the “homemade” condensed milk recipes I saw started with evaporated milk. I would Google search for that to find the answer! 🙂 Katie

      1. Evaporated milk is what you have if you don´t use any sweetener. Evaporated milk is milk where the content of water has been significantly lowered. Condensed milk is the same but sugar has been added.

        1. That’s good to know. The cans of evaporated milk I saw at Kroger and Publix all had carageenan in them and I thought that ingredient was on a “no-no” list somewhere. Is it? Too many lists of what not to eat!

          1. I realize this is an old post, but I wanted to offer tips for making evaporated milk. Start with whole or 2% milk, then simmer till reduced in volume by half, skimming with a slotted spoon every 2 minutes. Know that the volume will be slightly less once cooled. I often evaporate slightly more then I need, such as 2 cups when I need 2/3 cup for a recipe. I started making it a few years back to avoid the carrageenan. Can’t wait to to try your condensed milk recipe. It sounds a bit like making dulce de leche. I too avoid powered milk.

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  4. Would this work if I substituted the milk and butter with lactofree (Normal dairy products with the lactose stripped out) equivalents?

    I’m lactose intolerant and I’m curious to know if this would work.

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      I’ve never tried anything like that…all you do is go for it! 🙂 Katie

  5. Dear Katie,
    I just tried the recipe and the milk is still really thin. What do I do to thicken it up?

  6. now i need to buy a pot! thank you for this, i didn’t want to use dry milk, and the prepared s. c. milk is hard to find where i live. do you have to use sugar at all? i want to make fudge, and i understand that that is very sweet to begin with. and can you use soy or coconut milk to make it non-dairy?

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Eva,
      Oh, I have no idea how to adapt to non-dairy milks or how they’ll react in this recipe. You’d just have to go for it! 😉 Katie

  7. How about portion size to use Stevia. I think that it is alot sweeter than white sugar.
    Thanks for the recipe.

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Tricia,
      Stevia won’t make the milk any thicker, so I don’t know that you could sub it here…
      🙂 Katie
      So sorry it took me so long to respond…I got absolutely behind on comments when I released the second edition of the snacks book and truly have never caught up.

    2. Tricia – Did you try with Stevia? How did it turn out? I have tried with liquid Stevia in the crock pot all day (at least 12+ hours) It didn’t really reduce or thicken.

  8. So glad I was able to find this recipe. I just had a question about why do you add the butter? And if using raw milk, using the milk and cream together, do you still need to add the butter?

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Teri,
      So sorry it took me so long to respond…I got absolutely behind on comments when I released the second edition of the snacks book and truly have never caught up.

      I was just working with other recipes; I’m sure it would be fine w/o the butter. 🙂 Katie

  9. After switching from stovetop to crockpot and back to stove, I ended up using my electric skillet with a simmer setting. Came out perfect!

  10. I am glad to find this because I did an extensive search for homemade sweetened condensed milk and I only found one that didn’t call for powdered milk; it used evaporated milk instead. For those that need it you can use xylitol or WheyLow as well.

    Thanks again.

  11. LOL so cool! I was just talking to my DH about whether or not I could make our own condensed milk for our 120 biscuit recipe (which is all we use the condensed milk for) and had a google and you were top of the list which had me cheering coz I knew it’d be good and healthy and worth the effort of making versus buying 😉
    Thanks Katie 😀

  12. I have made sweetened condensed milk with, reg sugar and with Splenda, as for the milk, I’ve used 2%, whole, Soy, Almond, half and half, and every single time the recipe turned out great. Don’t be scared to try different ingredients, especially if you want a healthier option. This recipe has always been the base for my creamer for iced coffee!

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  14. Hi,

    I don’t mean to be rude, but I noticed what I think might be a mistake. You mentioned that a 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk is 2 oz. short of 2 cups. All the containers of sweetened condensed milk I have seen are measured by weight rather than liquid. The liquid measurement is actually 1 1/4 cup of liquid. On the nutrition facts it states one serving is 2 tablespoons with 20 servings. I just noticed that and wanted to mention it so there wasn’t any confusion for people’s recipes. I think it’s silly and confusing that they label it that way!

    But thanks so much for posting this recipe! I just made it and so far it looks perfect. It is cooling as I write and I can’t wait to try it when I make caramel chews!

    1. Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Jenni, Not rude at all! That’s really helpful…I didn’t have a can of condensed milk to get that detailed. Thanks! I can update the recipe now… 🙂 Katie

  15. Summer Hickman

    I’m sooooo happy to have come across this recipe as I am desperately trying to avoid canned foods due to BPA. I have a question though (and it might be a dumb one!): this states it makes the equivalent of a half a can of store bought milk. So does that mean that if the recipe calls for one can on condensed milk you need to double this recipe??
    Thanks!

    1. Summer,
      Phew, sorry I took so long to answer…although it’s kind of good that I did, because a comment just came in yesterday (below) that helps a lot. One can is 1 1/4 cups of liquid, so this recipe is just less than a cup…you’d need to make it double and then not use all of it! Something tells me I should do some math and then test the recipe again…sorry about that! 🙂 Katie

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  17. Ok, so I tried making the condensed milk again and used some raw sugar this time, and it turned out perfect, although it took freaking FOREVER to finally thicken up. We live @ 5000ft, not sure if that effected things or not. I simmered it for 3 hours in the evening (we have a gas stove and a thick bottomed pan) but it hadn’t condensed down, so I put it in the crock pot on “warm” overnight, woke up, still not condensed enough, so I put it back in the pan and simmered it while I put together my Thanksgiving stuffing, and FINALLY it thickened after a few more hours. I did turn it up slightly since I was already at the stove and could stir it frequently. I then refridgerated it for a few hours to cool it, and when I pulled it out, it was great. I actually made two pumpkin pies today, and I only had enough homemade concentrated milk for one, so I was able to open a can and compare the two. The consistancy, taste and smell were identical, but the color of my homemade was darker. So the good news is, it’s nice to know I can make it homemade, but the bad news is it takes a long time. (At least for me) I think this may be one of those rare occasions that I still will use canned since I rarely use it and its difficult to make. (Kind of like tomato paste) I appreciate the recipe though, and I love to know that I CAN make it. (Having raw milk and organic sweetner is a bonus, too!!!!)

    1. Also, I didn’t put in the butter or vanilla at the end, because it didn’t want those to dink with my pumpkin pie recipe. After finding another blog that said she freezes her condensed sweetened homemade milk, I think I’ll make some again and do that. I REALLY hate having to buy any type of store canned/ultrapastuerized dairy, especially when I have my own ingredients at home that are way better. (Note: the blog I found that suggested freezing it didn’t have a good recipe like this blog- suggested using nonfat milk powder like everyone else!)

  18. Jennifer via Facebook

    I did this for my pumpkin pie today and it worked fabulously!! I’m not paying $1.99 or more for a can again! I’m making it from now on. Thank you!

  19. Laura via Facebook

    I adore this recipe! I’ve kept it around for a while in preparation for that recipe I can’t convert.

  20. Melissa via Facebook

    This is a MUCH better option for folks! But I don’t use the canned stuff anyway. I have substituted plain past (not UHP) heavy cream for years or sometimes half and half.

  21. Did you sub the honey at a 1:1 ratio or did you use a different amount? I want to try this too! I also saw another comment asking if you could use heavy cream instead of milk? Wondering if that would work…

    1. Christin,
      Although I haven’t tried this condensed milk substitute with honey, the general rule is almost always to reduce the sweetener amount by 25% because honey is sweeter than sugar. How could cream hurt? 😉 Yum. Hope it worked out for you! 🙂 Katie

      1. Bob McBrayer

        Christin, did you use the 1:1 ratio or reduce it as Katie suggested? I just condensed a cup, using local wildflower honey; and a 1:0.667 ratio. I want to try making a test batch of Russian Fudge using it and farm pasteurized milk.

        1. I read lots of you want to use honey instead of sugar: cooking or heating honey over about 80* will destroy all of the beneficial enzymes, making it, like raw milk, a very expensive substitute…just find a good quality organic sugar, sucanet, or other, even molasses. But PLEASE! Don’t kill the honey by cooking it!

  22. Tammy via Facebook

    i use coconut milk as a substitute for anything calling for cooked milk. i use the coconut manna from nutiva or the condensed coconut cream from tropical traditions to make it. just add hot water and as much of either the manna or ccc as i want, depending on the thickness i need. heat doesn’t destroy the properties of coconut… heat destroys a lot of raw milk’s wonderful properties. …. what do you think??

    1. We buy raw milk and I never want to cook with it because I feel it a waste! I don’t want to “ruin” it. lol I’m thinking that if I want to cook with cow milk, that I can purchase some Straus Family Creamery non-homogenized milk (it is pasteurized at 170 F) instead.

      1. I buy pasteurized milk for cooking also.

        Raw milk is too expensive to cook; I want it to stay raw. I do sometimes make a low-temperature yogurt with it, but anything that requires high or long heat… I figure if I’m going to pasteurize the milk myself, might as well start with pasteurized milk.

  23. So I just tried making this with raw milk and raw local honey, and at first it was doing great, but I made the mistake of turning the stove up slightly (I was impatient) and not attending, and when I came back, the milk had formed into soft curds. At that point, my hopes of condensed milk were no longer a reality, but since I make my own cheese, I decided to treat it like regular curds and go for some sort of ricotta type. After draining the curds and squeezing them a bit, I tasted them and they were delish! Sort of like honey-infused cottage cheese, but that doesn’t do justice. Not sure how I am going to use them, or what I might have created, but I thought I’d pass it along. Now for try #2 on that condensed milk……! If anyone out there has any ideas on what I made or how it could be used, I’d love to hear them!!!

    1. You could put it in your food processor or blender and make it smooth to use it like cream cheese or ricotta in a dip for fresh apples and pears. Maybe add a little cinnamon and/or vanilla…

      1. Michele Corbitt

        Wow I have never heard anyone else speak of cottage cheese pie before. It is a family recipe my great grandmother use to make. And we carry on the traditional. Would love to know your recipe to compare thank you

  24. Any ideas on how long this stores in the fridge? I am wondering if it would separate. Thinking of making it today to use tomorrow in my pumpkin pies……..

    1. Cathy,
      Whoops, I didn’t check in on comments yesterday – how did it go? My guess is that it wouldn’t separate (or would at least go right back together). Hope it worked great! 🙂 Katie

  25. Two things…
    How would this work if you did this in a crock pot?

    And, I read that to make Dulce De Leche, you put condenced milk in a Pyrex dish and pop it in the oven until it gets toasty. Not sure how long it takes, but I may have to give it a try!

    1. Jill,
      I think a commenter above tried the crockpot, and it worked okay! Oven would be interesting, no stirring I suppose, or stirring occasionally?
      Good luck! Katie

  26. I’m excited to try this! I wonder if I could reduce it using a small slow-cooker instead of stovetop? Also, I would like to double the recipe and freeze some (prepping ahead for Thanksgiving), unless there is some reason it wouldn’t freeze well.

    1. Vicki,
      Hmmm, maybe with the lid off? I’m thinking it would take a really long time. The double boiler idea works well if you’re afraid of burning the milk.

      As for freezing, it might separate. That’s a tough one for me to predict. If you try it, would you let us know how it works?
      Thanks so much!
      🙂 Katie

      1. I made the recipe in my 6-qt slow cooker, uncovered, thinking the extra surface area would help it reduce more quickly. It took almost 3 hours on high for it to reduce from 1/2 inch deep to 1/4 inch. Then I put it in the freezer. The next day I took it out and let it thaw. It turned out great!

        1. Thanks so much for this. I’m making some now. I started on the stove, but I don’t trust the burners even though I had a digital meat thermometer set to warn me when the temp hit 195. But after reading someone used a crockpot I switched.

        2. If you line the top of slow cooker with 2 layers of paper toweling it absorbs the moisture without the heat loss. Just make sure to stir and replace the towels as needed.

  27. Thanks for the recipe! My daughter has food allergies, one of them dairy. I’ll try this with organic unsweetened soy milk and dairy free butter. Can I use raw sugar? I want to make caramel apple treats this Halloween.

    1. Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Ck,
      Raw sugar shouldn’t be a problem at all. I’ll be curious to know if the soy milk works (although coconut milk would be more natural). Do let us know – thanks! Katie

  28. Absolutely great! I live in Denmark where it is very difficult to find condensed milk in the stores, and I wanted to make key lime pie. It turned out great thanks to your recipe. 🙂

  29. Just curious if either coconut or almond milk would work? Trying to find a vegan option while using Earth Balance for ‘butter’.

    1. Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Erin,
      You know, I don’t know if those would work – would they boil down? I think the sugar is probably responsible for the texture, so I wouldn’t be averse to trying either of them. Go for it! Would you let me know if it works? I love providing options for my readers here, and I don’t really play around with almond or coconut milk all that often myself. Thanks so much! 🙂 Katie

  30. Hi Katie,
    Could I use ordinary (white) sugar, since that’s all we have? I know the unrefined is healthier, but just don’t have it.
    Thanks

    1. Janet, Absolutely, and it still helps avoid “the can.” 🙂

      Don’t tell, but I often use white sugar, especially in new recipes that I’m not sure of. The fancy stuff is too expensive! 😉 Katie

      PS – you can always replace “unrefined” or “organic” sugar with white in any recipe.

  31. This is great! I have another tab open on my computer with your latest posting and then I did search for homemade condensed milk (for this recipe http://theeccentriccook.blogspot.com/2011/07/homemade-nutella.html ) and sure enough, when I saw it was your site popping up, I smiled and was grateful I could trust it. Thanks!

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  33. Thank you for posting this. I’ve been trying to find a recipe like this for a while. I can’t sub different types of milk if they use powdered milk. I was wondering if the butter was necessary? I am trying to make a vegan version of a recipe of mine for a friend.

    1. Britt,
      The butter certainly adds creaminess, but I’m guessing you’d still get the thick results without it. I generally substitute coconut oil for butter in other baking applications that need to be dairy-free. Maybe that would help here too? Or just try leaving it out. If you think of it, I’d love to hear how a vegan version turns out! 🙂 Katie

  34. Can I can this recipe? How do I do it? I’m looking for a way to preserve a lot of raw milk and I love sweetened condensed milk. Thanks for this recipe!

    1. Rachel,
      I imagine you could, with a pressure canner only, but I wouldn’t know how to direct you on timing as I don’t own a pressure canner. I’d search for official methods of canning milk and go from there. Good luck! 🙂 Katie

    2. wow, if you do find out how to can it, let me know! I was wondering if this could be preserved. Of course, pressure canning it would basically be pasturizing it at high heat, but it would still be cool to have some home preserved condensed sweetened milk if you needed it in a hurry and didn’t want to buy it. I’ve also got a lot of extra milk and am looking for different ways to use/preserve it besides freezing butter/buttermilk, cheese, etc.

      1. I also have fresh raw milk, so wondering if you found out about canning it? That WOULD be really cool!!

        1. I think it’s possible to pressure can milk, but it seems like a somewhat taboo practice in some circles and you should probably proceed at your own risk. Jackie Clay writes about it in her book, “Growing and Canning Your Own Food,” and I think I would be up for trying to pressure can some condensed milk, although since it’s so thick I would probably treat it like pressure canning cheese instead of milk. I think I will pressure can 1/2 pint jars at 60 minutes at 15 pounds pressure (we live at 5000ft altitude). Jackie seems fine with using the water bath method, but I don’t know if I am comfortable with that. I say pressure can the heck out of it…they do commerically anyway, and at least you know your own ingredients AND can do it in a BPA free container.

        1. Yes, that would work as well I am sure. I am trying preserve as much shelf stable foods as possible to free up our freezer space for grassfed beef, wild game, and pastured poultry in addition to the stuff I prefer to freeze instead of can, like green beans (they just taste so much better!).

  35. I just found a recipe for coffee snow cream, and it called for sweetened condensed milk. Glad to have a recipe for a real version. (And this is where I wonder if I could be lazy and simply use heavy cream, just simmering that with the sugar, etc., until it melts. Hmm…)

    1. I went ahead and substituted honey for the brown sugar in order to use all local ingredients. It worked just fine. The homemade sweetened condensed milk worked just fine in my cajeta recipe also.

      1. Cool! I was hoping someone had tried it with honey. We are going to use raw, whole grassfed milk and local honey to do this recipe for use in our pumpkin pies this week. Yay! thanks, Cathy

      2. i’ve tried it with date molasses and it works great. (in case anyone is wondering?)

        we’ve got lots of cooks in the house so we do it at medium heat, stirring almost the whole time. takes about 1/2 hour.

  36. This recipe was easy! And it took me just an hour to thicken it. However, I may have overdone it. What do I do if it’s too thick? Do I add milk and heat it again?

    1. Lisa,
      If the final measurements came out right, it’s probably fine. I’m not sure about too thick! I guess that’s heading toward dulce de leche, technically. Hope it just works in your recipe – I’d just try it thick! 😉 Katie

  37. laurie bremel

    my daughter and I are trying it with fresh goats milk, hoping it comes out well. We needed sweetened condensed milk for our homemade frozen custard, also being made with fresh goats milk and our fresh farm eggs. Hope it comes out well.

    thanks for the recipes

  38. Jillayne Clements

    Thanks for the recipe! I’m planning to try it soon. I wonder if you would be interested in the recipes on my blog, www.jillayneclementscooks.blogspot.com

  39. Wow. Thankyou. Great recipe. Very easy. First thing I haven’t burnt in a while! 🙂
    Cant wait to eat my lollie cake!!! 🙂

  40. Do you think this will work for a sub in making my own creamer? I was trying to find a healthier way to make my those flavored creamers I love but they all called for sweetened condensed milk…. And I figured that was just as bad as just buying the creamer 🙂
    I mean I figure it will work great but butter just seems odd to put in creamer 🙂

    1. April,
      I don’t drink coffee, but if you’re finding homemade recipes for creamers that call for sweetened condensed milk, I would just use this and give it a go! The butter is great for sweet desserts, but I bet it would be just fine to leave it out. Our homemade hot chocolate recipe calls for butter, and I enjoyed it more w/o it last time. Good luck and enjoy! 🙂 Katie

    2. I’ve been using it to make my own creamer for the past two weeks, love it!! It’s so much cheaper! One half gallon of milk makes two batches of creamer and one extra batch of condensed milk.

  41. Does it have to be whole milk? All I have is 2%. I really don’t want to go to the grocery store right before the holiday.

    1. Belinda,
      I can’t say for sure as I’ve never tried it, but depending on the recipe you’re going to use it in, I’d think it’s worth a shot. ??? I would guess it will take longer to get thicker because of the reduced fat. Good luck! 🙂 Katie

      1. I used 2% milk and low fat margarine instead of butter, and it came out brilliantly. I even messed up the point at which to add the butter and added it to soon, so I had to simmer the mixture for a while, but it still came out well.

        1. Halo..as you mentioned you added margarine in making condensed milk right…I also reduced to whole mixture of milk sugar to half around 1 hour and added at end butter like spread which has more oil like margarine in it..so the thing is ,my condensed milk didn’t thicken as the usually told of or store bought one..can u guide or use any suggestion..






  42. Pianolady32/Muddled Mawkishness

    So glad I got the notification for the Irish Cream post! I needed this sweetened condensed milk recipe so I could make ‘healthier’ truffles. 🙂 Thanks for posting all these helpful recipes!

  43. Wow! This couldn’t have come at a better time! All my searching returned recipes with dry milk powder, which is exactly what I didn’t want to use. Thanks soooo much for this!

    1. Charlotte,
      So glad I could help! My own searching was painful to find any ideas for a sweetened condensed milk recipe without powdered milk, so I was hoping the search engines would help people find this one! 🙂 Katie

      1. I agree with charlotte. Trying to get a recipe for this that doesn’t. Call. For powdered milk is very hard. Thank. Goodness i found this one and really enjoyed it

        1. Malissa,
          I know! I had to make this one up in order to find it myself. So glad it’s working for you! 🙂 Katie

          1. I want to make homemade condensed milk but all I have is 2% milk could I use that in place of the whole milk.

            1. Malissa,
              Worth a try, but I imagine it will take even longer to thicken up. ?? Whole milk is 4% milk, just to give you an idea of what you’re working with. Might be worth waiting to have whole milk… ?? Good luck! 😉 Katie

                1. i would think that adding more butter would take care of it. or if you have cream you could probably use that also.
                  the milk powder recipes call for nonfat milk powder so 2% shouldn’t be a problem.

      2. Dianna Kasprzak

        Katie,
        You are doing such a great job with educating us on so many topics! I agree with you about the dangers of powdered milk. As an owner of an organic market, one product I have found is low-heat processed dry milk by Organic Valley. I purchase it in bulk (by the case) and it is not cheap, being organic. I would check with your local health food store and inquire as to whether or not they can get this for you. If they do not carry it, perhaps they can special order it and you can split up the case with friends. I repackage mine and double-bag it to store in the freezer long-term.

    2. One thing that I do is make mine in the crock pot with the lid slightly off to the side so that is will thicken slowly, check and stir I use a wire whip. I put it on in the morning and let it slow cook over the rest of the day. I put it in an air tight container and keep it in the refrigerator until I need it, then just measure it out and use it. I have had it keep for up to 4 months that way. I make 1 gal when it is finished reducing. I also use sugar substitute to cut the sugar down. just whip in the vanilla and butter at the very last. I let get up to room temp before using and shake or stir well before using. I have also measured out single servings in vacuum bags and frozen it. I use it at X-mass for baking and candy making.

      1. What would be the recipe for making a gallon in the crock pot? I would love to do it this way as well.






      2. Yes PLEASE!! Could you give us the amounts and ingredients to make this on a larger scale in the crockpot!! Please please share the recipe!!!

        1. 1 gallon milk
          5 1/3 cups to 7 cups plus 1 tsp. suger
          1 pound butter
          3 tbs. plus 1 tsp. vanilla

          1. Do you use the Splenda Sugar for baking or what type sugar substitute do you use? This is wonderful and I can’t wait to try it. I didn’t want to ruin my first batch with the wrong type sugar substitute. Thanks!

            1. Beverly Caldora

              Try Whey Low Sugars. Acts like real sugar with regard to consistency & taste. Has a 75% lower glycemic impact when compared to sugar.

          2. Mine looked brown and curdled when I put it in the slow cooker and ain’t reduced much. Any tips?

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