The best things in life are simple - like this 2 ingredient sugar free caramel sauce. Vegan and delicious, it can be used in candy or as a topping for ice cream, cakes, pancakes or waffles.
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There is beauty in simplicity. Think of the clean lines in Scandinavian design. There's no fluff, no frills, no sofa cushions with an attitude larger than yours. The Scandis are the masters of creating an atmosphere that's grown-up and hygge (the infamous Danish trend word that describes anything cosy, charming or special) at the same time. Theirs is a simplicity that oozes friendliness and warmth.
There is calmness and infinite style in simplicity. Take the Japanese tea ceremony, a celebration of the sacred in everyday life. Every movement is deliberate, thoughtful, meaningful, perfection, like a graceful dance. If you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing a tea ceremony, you'll know it's as calming as meditation. Unless you're a child maybe, in which case it's probably more like... I'll let you finish that sentence.
And last but not least, simplicity is all about easy. I love easy. Who doesn't?
Easy means no struggle. No hassle. No annoyances. Easy is fun! It's gratification without having to fight for it. How wonderful is that?
Now, I do see there's an argument for how much more proud/happy/on top of the world you feel when you've worked hard for something and succeeded. That you truly DESERVED whatever it was that you strived for and you EARNED it. That's what my parents told me and that's what I tell my own children.
Here's the secret no parent will ever tell you.
When something is easy, it feels just as good. Because at the heart of easiness lies being CLEVER.
Why This Recipe Works
This sugar free caramel sauce recipe is beauty, perfection and EASY rolled into one. That's pure joy.
2 ingredients, friends! If a recipe contains only one ingredient, I'm not sure you can call it cooking. Unless it's an egg maybe.
Let's dive into the nitty-gritty details here. Classic caramel sauce is made with butter, cream and sugar. There are many good low carb versions of caramel sauce online which just replace the sugar with natural sweeteners such as erythritol, xylitol or stevia.
My interest got piqued when I heard from a vegan friend of mine that you can make caramel with coconut milk and agave or maple syrup.
The Key Ingredient
I have been playing around with a new product by Sukrin (at least new in the UK) - their fibre syrup. I normally do not go on about a specific product, but this syrup tastes good and has been approved by my daughter, who can sniff out "diet foods" like nobody else I know. It is made with a beneficial prebiotic plant fibre called isomalto-oligosaccharide.
Instructions
To make the caramel sauce, all you need to do is grab yourself a can of good quality coconut milk (not the milk you can buy in the 1-litre tetra packs - it's got to be a can so you get a higher fat content) and add 4 tablespoons of syrup per 1 US measuring cup of coconut milk. I used a 400ml can, to which I added 7 tablespoons of syrup.
Then you let it bubble away happily on the stove until it has reduced by half and turned into a wonderfully sticky, thick caramel sauce. That's it!
Uses
- You can make homemade candy (watch that space, coming right at ya next week)
- pour it over cakes
- spoon over pancakes such as almond cream cheese pancakes or almond flour banana pancakes
- enjoy with keto waffles
- add some pumpkin spice and boom, it's a Christmas sauce.
In terms of simplicity, this sauce is a total winner. No, hang on. You're the winner. Because you get low carb and sugar free (which equals clever), delicious and EASY in one spoon of happiness. Perfection.
Disclaimer
Update October 2019: if you are diabetic, use the Sukrin fibre syrup with caution. Since posting this recipe in 2017, Sukrin have updated their website with the following statement:
"Experience has shown that Fibre Syrup can be digested differently from person to person. For many people, the majority of Fibre Syrup acts like fibre in the body, while for some people it appears that a portion of the fibre can cause the blood sugar to rise. We therefore recommend people with diabetes to be careful when using Fibre Syrup, and expect an impact on blood sugar levels. The blood sugar rise should be lower than for regular syrup and sugar, but may be higher than what one would expect from a product with such a low sugar and high fibre content. Unfortunately, we don't have sufficient documentation to give an exact GI value yet."
I enjoy the flavor of this caramel recipe and still make it (in 2023). I also have a keto caramel sauce on my website that uses allulose instead of a fibre syrup.
More Sugar Free Sauces
- Sugar Free Strawberry Sauce15 Minutes
- Keto Caramel Sauce10 Minutes
- Sugar Free Applesauce (Unsweetened)25 Minutes
- Blueberry Cream Cheese20 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
2 Ingredient Sugar Free Caramel Sauce (Low Carb, Vegan)
Ingredients
- 400 g / ca 1 ⅔ cup can of full fat coconut milk
- 90 ml / 7 tbsp Sukrin Fibre Syrup
Instructions
- Put coconut milk and fibre syrup into a small non stick pan and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat and let it reduce to half the amount, stirring frequently. This takes around 20-30 minutes.
- Pour your thickened syrup into an airtight container and let it cool down.
Cat
For the fibre syrup..which one? Gold? Caramel? You don't specify. Thanks.
Katrin Nürnberger
I used Sukrin Fiber syrup gold.
SandyK
Question on the diabetic front. My T1D son's dietician dissuades use of any of the *itols bc they have been proven to cause gastric distress in a decent portion of the population, us included. I know it is fairly new to the market, a bit pricey, and less known. But have you ever tried allulose? It has blown my mind in every attempt so far.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Sandy, I have actually posted a keto caramel using allulose recently, because I know that many people prefer not to use fibre syrups. It is delicious and I can recommend that you try it. Allulose is tricky to find in the UK (and Europe) at the moment, it was available online for a little while but then they stopped carrying it. I still have a bag though 🙂 But I know it's readily available in the US.
Tami
I know your comment was from back in June 2020, but Allulose can also cause gastric distress in some people. I am one of those unfortunately. I bought 2 bags from 2 different companies to try out thinking that this new sweetener sounded perfect. Now I am stuck with 2 partially used bags and a lot of wasted money. I guess every sweetener can affect different people differently. I have been experimenting with bocha sweet. But that is incredibly expensive. It is supposed to have the same qualities of the Allulose.
Marion Robinson
Made this for the second time today, as my blood sugar shot up last time,
I tried it, about 4 months ago.
Only had a small amount, & my blood sugar hit the roof again Sadly I won't be able to have this again.
I Love your site, & was wondering if you could think of another recipe, as simple as this,
as it's a shame not to be able to eat this ! Thanks anyway, & stay safe out there .
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Marion, I have just published another keto caramel recipe that uses allulose. It's a fairly new sweetener and the benefit is that it does not re-crystallise like erythritol.
karen
Because I love most of your recipes I did want to try this. Sooooo disappointing that it is not only not Keto but really bad for diabetics. I am thinking that it wouldnt hurt to add a disclaimer at least for diabetics. but, thank you. Looks good as usual.
Katrin
Hi Karen, this is a recipe I did quite a while ago and I think you are right, I will add some info about the syrup which has emerged in the meantime. It's definitely not a Keto recipe, but not all my recipes are. I'm following a low carb diet but am not actively trying to stay in ketosis. Lots of my recipes (and many things I eat) are Keto though. 🙂
Deborah
I bought a bottle of this looking forward to all the great recipes I was going to make with it, then saw a very troubling video testing blood sugar responses to a wide range of sugar replacements. The video was done by Highfalutin' Low Carb. on YouTube.
While he found no increase in blood sugar from most sugar substitutes, the sole exception was the Sukrin fiber syrup. It spike his blood sugar WAY up, even higher then pure table sugar.
I wish this wasn't so, but the fact is it just is not a viable low carb product....it will knock you out of ketosis, will mess up your weight loss, and will have all the bad side effects (like hunger) of glucose.
So sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Katrin
Hi Deborah, thank you for the comment. I have seen the video. However, do keep in mind that everyone will have a different reaction to different sweeteners. I am not trying to be in ketosis, but I have personally not have any problems with the syrup.
Laurel
Try using allulose. It browns like sugar. I've been making jam with it.
Katrin Nürnberger
I've been testing allulose and will actually be posting a caramel recipe with it soon! 🙂
Roxana Lopez
That is not the only video I've seen showing this. KetoConnect also did blood glucose tests with sweeteners. Sukrin Fiber Syrup was found to raise their blood sugar. I got a blood glucose meter myself after seeing these videos, and tested my reaction with my own recipes that use Sukrin Fiber Syrup. Blood sugar spike! I won't use it anymore. BUT there's a good substitute: ChocZero Vanilla Syrup.
Katrin
Thanks Roxana, I'll check it out 🙂
Margo
Is there any GF substitute for Sukrin Fibre Syrup?
Katrin
The only other sugar free syrup I have tried so far is the sugar free maple syrup by Lakanto. It's more liquid than the Sukrin syrup, so you'll need longer to reduce it, but it is gluten free.
Roxana Loopez
ChocZero makes a vanilla syrup that will substitute well in most recipes.
Jeanette
Hi Katrin:
Brit living in the US. Tried this recipe and whilst it tasted great, it did not have the consistency; it was rather thin.
I used the Sukrin Fiber Syrup, but wondered if it was the coconut milk. Any brands you can recommend? I really want that thick consistency, as shown in your photo.
Katrin
Hi Jeanette, I normally use the Biona coconut milk. But I have made this recipe with another brand, not sure any more what the name was. Next time, just use the firm part of the can, so there's less liquid to evaporate. Then you should definitely end up with a caramel looking like the one in the images!
Robyn Filiaga
The notes above mentioned that a caramel candy would be forthcoming. I am looking to make the thicker candy version that I can wrap in wax paper and give as gifts for Christmas. Did that ever happen? I don't have access to the syrup you mentioned, but my area has a pure maple syrup butter that I was thinking to try. With the thicker consistency, I wondered if it might be better for the candy version. Thanks.
Katrin
Hello Robyn, so sorry fo the late answer. I never got around to making candy, so thank you for the reminder. If you want to give it a go, you could try simply reducing the liquid further without burning the mixture. This is what I had in mind. Eventually, you'd be left with candy. You could also start off with coconut butter instead of coconut cream and probably save yourselves a lot of time as coconut butter is firmer to start with. Let me know if you give it a go! I'd love to hear how it turned out.
Renie
As a diabetic I have to be very careful about all forms of sugar.
On the bottle of Sukrin Fiber Syrup Gold on sale in Germany it says it is calorie reduced with no added sugar. It also states that it is a source of glucose. It therefore isn't sugar-free. Is it possible that this is a different product to yours?
Katrin
I think it is the same product. The fibre syrup is low in carbs because of the added fibre and it tastes good. I don't need to measure my blood sugar levels, so I never have. However, if your health demands that you must be 100% careful with yours, it may be better to stick to an erythritol-based product. I have just made a caramel sauce for my pumpkin cheesecake which you may want to check out.
Renie
Thank you. I'll use that recipe instead.
Martha MARCHAND
Hello I'm trying to get ready to have a fall party and I'm looking to make sugar free caramel apples would this recipe work for that
Katrin
This sauce stays sticky, so I don't think it's ideal. I can't think of a way to recreate a glossy crispy coating right now that's sugar free - I'll let you know if I come up with something!