This vegan caramel sauce stays soft, perfect for pouring over ice cream, drizzling on cakes, and dipping apples. Making dairy-free caramel sauce at home is actually quite easy, once you have the right recipe! It took me a couple failed batches to figure out the best way to cook down the sugar. I encourage you to learn from my mistakes and avoid any wasted sugar in your own kitchen. Here are a few things I think you should know before getting started…
Tips for making caramel:
When I tried dissolving the sugar with a little water, it all crystalized (which you do not want when making caramel). In this recipe, I do not use any water to dissolve the sugar, rather, melt it straight in the saucepan. That being said, we also tried it having dissolved the sugar in a cup of water, and cooking down the sugar water until it caramelized. This worked as well, but you have to watch it carefully because it will go from liquid to crystals in mere seconds.
The second important thing you should know about making vegan caramel sauce, is to bring your ingredients to room temperature before you start. If you add cold coconut milk or butter into your hot sugar, it will harden immediately. This makes for a delicious caramel candy, but not so great for the soft caramel sauce we are aiming for.
The last important thing to keep in mind, is the source of your coconut milk. Do not use refrigerated coconut milk from the carton (it is quite watered down). For this recipe, use canned coconut milk that is nice and creamy.
When you start cooking down the sugar, you will notice that it starts to clump together, this is fine, just keep stirring. Stirring the sugar keeps it all relatively at the same temperature will help it come to a melting point at the same time. This will keep it from burning. You don’t want the bottom half of your pot burning the sugar, while the sugar on top still is not even dissolved yet. Keep stirring, and it will all liquify around the same time.
Dairy Free Caramel Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
1 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Coconut Milk, canned & room temperature
3 Tbsp Vegan Butter, room temperature
In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, stir the sugar constantly, until it melts completely and turns a light amber color.
Once the sugar has melted, turn the temperature down to low and whisk in the coconut milk and vegan butter. Remove from heat, and transfer to a container for storage in the fridge.
Vegan Caramel Sauce
Try this recipe for vegan caramel sauce, perfect for pouring over ice cream, drizzling on cakes, and dipping apples!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 3/4 Cup Coconut Milk, Canned
- 3 Tbsp Vegan Butter
Instructions
In a medium saucepan over low-medium heat, stir the sugar constantly, until it melts completely and turns a light amber color.
Once the sugar has melted, turn the temperature down to low and whisk in the coconut milk and vegan butter.
Remove from heat, and transfer to a container for storage in the fridge.
Notes
Bring the vegan butter and coconut milk to room temperature before cooking.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1 TbspAmount Per Serving: Calories: 88Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 19mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 0gSugar: 12gProtein: 0g
Calculated nutritional values are only estimates.