I know you’re going to see this caramel and think I’m a liar.
You’ll think it was made with naughty things heavy cream, white sugar, and bricks of butter.
I don’t blame you; this caramel sauce is pretty amazing. Rich and golden, lusciously velvety. And I will tell you that it’s sweet, but not cloyingly so, with a touch of salt, a subtle smokiness, and a hint of coconut. How could it be made with anything but those wicked (lol!) ingredients?
Looks are deceiving like that.
As it happens, there isn’t a drop of heavy cream or a grain of white sugar, and there’s only one tablespoon of butter in the whole recipe. Oh, and there is a vegan option as well. Be still my fluttering heart.
Just think of the possibilities with this recipe:
Coffee (Hello iced coffee season…and homemade frappuccinos!)
French toast, pancake, and waffle topping
Ice cream and frozen yogurt topping
Oatmeal, yogurt, and pudding topping
Fruit drizzle or dip (It’s a perfect “fondue”, especially after chilling in the fridge overnight – see the photo at the bottom of this post.)
Filling for homemade chocolate-caramel candies
Filling for sandwich cookies or layer cakes
Spread for toast
Pleasure that comes from eating it off a spoon
I would feel guilty about introducing you to this not-so-guilty pleasure right before beach season, but I don’t. Reach for this caramel sauce instead of its cousin that’s laden with heavy cream and white sugar, and I think you’ll be just as satisfied.
- 1 (14 oz/400 g) can full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk
- ¼ cup (60 ml) pure maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup (50 g) coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Combine the coconut milk, maple syrup (or honey), and coconut palm sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil, then turn heat down so it doesn’t boil over, and boil until thickened, dark amber in color, and reduced to between 1 to 1¼ cups, about 15 minutes, whisking frequently. (The cooking process is all about evaporating off the extra liquid. Because of this, it could take longer depending on the weather; I made mine on a dry day, but I would expect the cooking process to take a bit longer on a humid day.)
- Turn off heat and whisk in the vanilla, salt, and butter until smooth.
- Cool completely, and then use or store in lidded glass jar in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Vegan Option: Use maple syrup (instead of honey) and use a vegan “butter” spread (instead of butter). If you go with a vegan "butter" spread, you may want to start with a bit less salt at first and add more to taste.
This sauce should keep for up to three weeks stored in a lidded glass jar in the fridge. After refrigerating overnight, it will thicken slightly and become opaque like the photo directly above (note that even after refrigerating this sauce does not need to be reheated to have a caramel sauce consistency; in fact, I don’t recommend reheating it since this may change the texture). The other photos that show the caramel’s darker color were taken on the same day it was made; either way it tastes amazing.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Erica says
April 19, 2013 at 5:28 amHow yum! Another creative sauce. Yayy for coconut milk
Rosa says
April 19, 2013 at 5:44 amOh, yummy!
Cheers,
Rosa
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
April 19, 2013 at 5:47 amI absolutely loooove this idea!! Yum!
thelittleloaf says
April 19, 2013 at 5:52 amThis looks utterly divine! I saw Oh Ladycakes’ recipe for this recently and have been meaning to make ever since – you’ve persuaded me that this weekend it’s a MUST.
Faith says
April 19, 2013 at 8:31 amthelittleloaf, I love this sauce so much I was thinking about making another batch this weekend! Maybe I’ll try someone else’s version. I will have to check out her recipe to see what she uses as the sweetener!
Lucy says
April 19, 2013 at 8:55 amOh wow, I can’t believe this doesn’t have any cream in! It looks so decadent and just like traditional butter-laden sauces – so clever.
Alyssa (Everyday Maven) says
April 19, 2013 at 11:45 amYum Faith – what a nice treat to have tucked away in the fridge!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
April 19, 2013 at 11:53 amI think I need a few jars of this sauce in my fridge, plus plenty of spoons for dipping ;).
Krista says
April 19, 2013 at 12:39 pmYum, yum, yum!
I do have a question, though. Could you sub the coconut palm sugar with something else? I don’t have that ingredient on hand….;)
Faith says
April 19, 2013 at 2:58 pmKrista, The closest substitution would be light brown sugar (lightly packed). Hope you enjoy it!! :)
Carrie says
April 19, 2013 at 4:11 pmAny chance on leaving the coconut sugar out all together and this still working? Maybe increasing the amount of honey a little?
Faith says
April 21, 2013 at 12:42 pmCarrie, I haven’t tried it, but it might work…let me know if you give it a try!
Joanne says
April 20, 2013 at 5:37 amSooooo I need that caramel in my life! I plan on spooning it over EVERYTHING.
Erica says
April 20, 2013 at 11:48 amEating it off a spoon sounds perfect!!!! It looks creamy, smooth and delicious, Faith!
Abby says
April 20, 2013 at 4:21 pmI’m going to dream about this sauce until it ends up on my pancakes!
Jenn and Seth says
April 21, 2013 at 5:00 pmoh my gosh this looks amazing Faith!! I wanna dip ALL THE THINGS in it :)
tania@mykitchenstories.com.au says
April 22, 2013 at 7:10 amIts a great recipes isn’t it I love coconut sugar
grace says
April 22, 2013 at 8:00 amhow magical. i’m now more convinced than ever that the coconut is one of the top 5 foods god ever created. :)
dixya@food, pleasure, and health says
April 22, 2013 at 2:50 pmyum yum yum. I could eat this by spoonful all day
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz says
April 22, 2013 at 3:36 pmI won,t lick the spoon, but eat the whole jar. Love anything with coconut, maple syrup and lovely hint of sea salt
ashley - baker by nature says
April 22, 2013 at 7:57 pmHeck to the yes!
Nutmeg Nanny says
May 6, 2013 at 5:12 pmGah! Caramel, coconut and Paleo! Could this get any better?
Elizabeth says
July 22, 2013 at 4:05 pmI’m going to try this out tonight but I’m going to use homemade coconut milk. I can’t get mine to come out as creamy as the canned stuff. I’ll let you know how it goes. Looks yummy!
Debbie says
September 11, 2013 at 11:22 pmCan’t have any dairy, substitutions for the butter??
Faith says
September 12, 2013 at 7:54 amHi Debbie, Like I mentioned in the Notes above, you can make this with a vegan “butter” – basically a dairy-free margarine. Hope you enjoy it if you give it a try!
Michelle Grant says
September 15, 2013 at 7:02 pmI just made this yesterday and it tastes fantastic. It does seem to have a slight grainy texture…has this happened when you made it? Not sure what I did wrong. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear.
Thanks so much for the delicious recipe!
Faith says
September 16, 2013 at 12:56 amMichelle, I’m so glad you enjoyed this, thanks so much for letting me know! When I make it, it’s always completely silky smooth without any graininess. The only thing I can think of to ask you is when you added the sea salt…did you do it as the recipe says and add it right after you turned off the heat and then whisk until smooth (basically to dissolve the salt in the hot caramel)? If you waited longer than that and added the salt later, maybe that caused graininess, but that’s all I can think of. Hope this helps! :)
Emily says
October 3, 2013 at 7:46 pmI’d love to try this with apples :-)
Melinda @ Recipefiction says
October 13, 2013 at 6:32 pmI just wanted to let you know that I ended up using this sauce as a base to make caramel apple sauce which in turn I added to my apple muffins. I made them for a friend’s birthday and they were a huge hit, she loved the sauce! Thank you for the recipe and the inspiration.
Michelle says
January 25, 2014 at 11:01 amI just made this to spoon over some ice cream- so delicious!! It turned out so thick and creamy and smooth. It was fun to make too. I found coconut palm sugar at Vitacost.com.
Lisa | Mummy Made.It says
October 14, 2014 at 12:46 ami love caramel!!! I eat it by the spoonful
Amy says
October 16, 2014 at 12:14 pmThis was really good…. until I added the salt. I didn’t even add quite all of it and our whole family felt it was too salty. I think the salt in the “butter” (I used earth balance soy free buttery spread) would be sufficient salt. Will definitely make again, just not adding salt. Thank you for the recipe!
Faith says
October 16, 2014 at 12:28 pmAmy, Thanks so much for trying my recipe and for your comment! I just want to mention that the recipe actually calls for unsalted butter, so using a different product (like a “buttery spread”) definitely impacted the final outcome. Also, if you used fine salt instead of coarse salt (which is what the recipe specifies), the end result will be too salty. I hope this helps!
Julia says
October 17, 2014 at 10:05 amI’m making this right now! I can’t wait to try it! :D Hope you’ve had a marvelous week, my dear!
Julia says
October 17, 2014 at 10:37 amAnd it’s most excellent! Thanks so much for a great recipe, Faith!!