Healthy Salted Caramel Sauce

Homemade salted caramel drizzle is amazing. Especially when it’s sans heavy cream and butter. 

Even though this caramel is healthier, it still has all the delicious taste of salted caramel made with cream and butter = can we make an extra jar please?

This caramel is also easier to make than traditional salted caramel so you can have some simmering on the side when you’re making dinner.

I recently had some homemade salted caramel at a friend’s house and it was so delicious I knew I had to make it. It was also so delicious I knew I had to eat it often and that everyone should eat it with me, even if they are allergic to dairy and eggs or vegan.

This salted caramel has a coconut milk base and the use of coconut palm sugar instead of regular granulated white sugar really gives it the amazing taste and the rich brown color.

I have tried making healthy salted caramel with white sugar and it really just does not taste or look as good, so make sure you get some coconut palm sugar. You can find some at almost any grocery store and also Amazon so please please please go get some and try this caramel sauce because it will change how you eat caramel (can we say more caramel please?). 

In the close-up of this sauce, you can see that it is very thick and has an amber color. You can adjust the thickness to your liking. If you like caramel to be thick like this one, just simmer it for longer on the stove (evaporates the water in the caramel) and also keep it in the fridge a couple hours before you spoon it out to give it a chance to finish thickening as it cools. If you like it thinner, don’t simmer for as long on the stove.

Salted Caramel is perfect for drizzling, dipping, eating straight from the jar. You can drizzle it over your apples, pancakes, popcorn, cupcakes, whipped cream, ice cream — anything!

Here I am drizzling it over some ice cream. This is a vegan coconut ice cream dazzled by some toasted coconut flakes, pecan pieces, salted caramel, with two rolled chocolate cigars sticking out (post on that coming soon!).

Make some. Give some to your vegan friend. They will love you forever and always 🙂

Vegan Salted Caramel

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Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup coconut milk fat not Light
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch optional
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Put a can of coconut milk in fridge overnight so the coconut fat separates from the liquid. After it separates, scoop out 3/4 of the milk fat (top layer). If your brand of coconut milk has a lot of fat it will be solid. Mine did not have as much fat and was a thick white fluid. Don't scoop out the clear liquid part under the fat.
• Put coconut milk fat, maple syrup, palm sugar, salt, and sifted cornstarch in a saucepan. Sifted cornstarch is optional, but will make the syrup thicker. Sift to avoid cornstarch clumps.
• Boil on medium-high heat, stir often. Once it boils, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
• After 30 min, stir in 2 tablespoons Earth Balance and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract while simmering at low heat. Pour into a jar and let cool in the fridge. It will thicken in the fridge as it cools. Let thicken for a couple hours or overnight if you want it super thick.

Notes

Recipe makes about 1 cup of caramel. The caramel keeps in the fridge for one week.