Healthier Salted Caramel Sauce
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Healthier Salted Caramel Sauce that’s made with coconut cream and maple syrup, can easily be made vegan and is ready in just 20 minutes. It tastes just like your favorite caramel sauce recipe, but it’s a little bit better for you!
I’ve made this healthy caramel sauce no less than two dozen times. It’s one of my fall staples to keep around the house, so when a dessert needs a little something extra, I simply drizzle it with this caramel and that usually does the trick. Feel free to browse all of my dessert recipes for some inspiration.
Recipe features
- A healthy caramel sauce that’s primarily made with coconut cream and maple syrup
- Option to keep this dairy free + vegan
Ingredient notes
Coconut cream – Only the coconut cream part. You can use full fat coconut milk instead.
Maple syrup – Normally you can use honey in place of syrup, but for this recipe, I do NOT recommend it. You definitely need to use maple syrup.
Coconut sugar – Can sub cane sugar
Butter – Regular or dairy free
Salt – This is a salted caramel recipe, so you definitely have to add salt. I recommend starting with 1/2 tsp, but personally, I like adding more than that. So, do a taste test and add more as needed.
Vanilla extract – No substitutions
Coconut oil – No substitutions, though you can omit it if you don’t have it
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Add ingredients to saucepan. Place the coconut cream, syrup, sugar, butter, and salt in a saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Boil for about 1 minute, being careful not to let it spill over.
Step 2: Simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 3: Stir. Once the 15 minutes are up, reduce heat to low and stir continuously for 3 minutes. Remove caramel from the heat, then stir in the vanilla and caramel sauce. Then pour caramel into a glass jar and top with extra caramel sauce.
FAQs and tips
- The longer the caramel sits, the more it’ll thicken. So, I highly recommend making this a day or two in advance. Just follow the instructions as written, then let it sit at room temperature, giving it a few stirs throughout the day. Sounds silly, but it works!
- If you don’t do the above step, the sauce will still taste the same, but the texture just won’t be as thick and caramel-y.
How should I store this?
Store caramel sauce in a glass jar/container at room temperature. If you choose to refrigerate it, it’ll solidify, so you’ll have to heat it back up in a saucepan before using it.
Recipes that pair well with caramel sauce
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Gingerbread Cake with Caramelized Pears
- Pumpkin Hummus
- Vegan Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Healthier Salted Caramel Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup coconut cream, cream only
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp butter, regular or dairy free
- 1/2 tsp salt, or more
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the syrup, coconut cream, butter, sugar, and salt to a saucepan. Bring mixture to a low boil and boil for 1 minute.
- Then, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Once the 15 minutes are up, reduce heat to low, then stir continuously for 3 minutes. Remove saucepan from the heat, then stir in the vanilla and coconut oil.
- Pour caramel in a jar or container and allow it to cool; Add more salt as needed.
- Note: I recommend making this sauce a day or two in advance; the longer it sits, the more it'll thicken. I also recommend giving it a few stirs throughout the day (again, will help it thicken). If it ends up being TOO thick, simply microwave it for 30 seconds.
Notes
Nutrition
UPDATE NOTE: This post was originally published in October 2015. It was updated with new text and photos in September 2020.
Hi I made this yesterday and it turned like rock hard
What did I do wrong ?
I also found when I added the coconut oil it secreted feol everything and was hard to incorporate?
Thanks
Hi Aimee — I’m sorry that happened! I wanted to retest this myself to try to troubleshoot, so I apologize for the delay. The first time I made this, mine also turned rock hard, and I believe it’s because I boiled it too much at the beginning. The second time I made sure to bring it to a LOW boil over medium heat for only 1 minute before reducing the heat to low for the remainder of the cook time. This is the only thing I can think of — before posting the recipe to my site, I tested it several times and didn’t have any problems. I hope you give it another shot! Also, if it does turn slightly hard, you should be able to microwave it to loosen it.
Excellent flavor and I love that it calls for maple syrup as the main sweetener. I followed the recipe to a T and it came out grainy for me. I tried gently reheating and added some additional coconut cream in hopes to melt sugar crystals back to liquid. As it cooled again to RT, it was still grainy. Not sure what I did wrong! Regardless of the less than desired grainy texture, it’s delicious and will be the perfect topping for my coconut cream chocolate pudding tonight!
I tried this recipe. It tasted great but ended up sugary..what did I do wrong and can I fix it?
Sugary.. how so?
Question, have you ever made this using cows milk heavy cream instead of coconut cream? I am looking for caramel recipe that uses maple syrup or honey, but not the coconut sugar or coconut cream. I don’t mind the other ingredients. I have maple sugar, too, but I don’t want to waste it all if you have tried it and it didn’t work. Thanks!
I tested it today with heavy cream and it works just fine. Thanks for asking Sarah! Let me know how it turns out!
How long will this last on the counter?
It should stay good for at least a week, though the texture may harden a bit so if it does, simply pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it.
Hi Erin, this looks so good, thanks for sharing this with us. I have a question: can I use this caramel to make homemade turtles??
I don’t see why not!
This caramel sauce is delicious! I’ve been craving a caramel latte, so I whipped this up and added it to my coffee with some almond milk. So good! I’ll definitely make it again.
Thank you for your recipe. I made this last night to drizzle over an apple cake, but I found the sauce too oily. So I refrigerated and scooped off the coconut oil which had risen to the top and was now hardened enough to remove. The carmel sauce underneath the coconut oil was superb. I usually give recipes 5-star ratings that I try from Pinterest, but I’m giving this recipe a 3-star rating, because as I mentioned the sauce was too oily and soaked into the cake. I would make again, but omit the coconut oil, refrigerate overnight and then drizzle over a cake or any other dessert of choice. Thank you….and very sincerely as I know you work hard to get your recipes right!
Hi Sheryl — I’m sorry this didn’t work out, though I am glad you still enjoyed it! For next time, I don’t recommend refrigerating the caramel for the exact reason you mentioned: the coconut oil solidifies in the refrigerator. Instead, store it at room temperature (a small mason or weck jar with a lid works great), and then if it’s still too hard, simply microwave it for 30 seconds.
Hey Erin….Thank you for your kind reply! I did try your sauce again, took your advice…and wahooo….success! Thank you so much for such a kind, professional reply three years ago! I’m slow at responding, but nevertheless, out here, loving all the recipes!:)
It was so good!
Can you send the nutritional information on this recipe …. and the wheat flour cinnamon roll recipe?