Crockpot Caramel Dulce de Leche Sauce

When Michelle told me about making truly the easiest caramel sauce ever (short of buying it and opening the jar haha) - I almost didn't believe her because it sounds to good to be true. Then she brought me the cutest gift of a small jelly jar filled with the caramel packaged with an apple on top and wrapped in a cellophane bag tied with a piece of jute. Oh my gosh this is SO cute....and I will totally be stealing this idea come Christmas (or Thanksgiving) time for neighbor and co-worker gifts!

Get this - all you do is put unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk in a crock pot, cover with water by at least an inch, cook on low for 8 hours. See, I bet you are doubting this is going to work too aren't you?! Well it does!

Remove the cans from the hot water after 8 hours with some tongs (obviously the cans are going to be smoking hot), let them cool before opening. Then scoop out the deliciousness and transfer to a serving dish, or spoon into small ball jars for gifting, or I'm thinking about putting it into a small crockpot so it's warm and serve with apple slices and toppings (this is also Michelle's idea that I'm stealing - she set up a whole caramel apple bar with nuts, sprinkles, crushed candies, etc. You could put out bamboo skewers or fondue forks or sticks or something to spear the apples and dip in the toppings...great idea right?).