This sugar free caramel sauce is ooey and gooey and it stays pourable! Best of all, it tastes just like real caramel sauce. This is the only keto caramel sauce recipe you will ever need. I am excited to bring you this updated recipe and a new instructional video.
Want to hear something crazy? I just improved my keto sugar free caramel sauce recipe! It was always truly amazing and by far one of the most popular low carb caramel recipes out there, but now it’s even better.
And I attribute this improvement to two “secret weapon” ingredients: The new Swerve brown sugar replacement and Bocha Sweet. The combination of these two keto sweeteners results in the most perfect caramel that stays soft and pourable for days. It can even be refrigerated and still stays soft, with absolutely no recrystallization.
Creating a really good, true-to-life caramel sauce with erythritol has been one of my low carb goals for a long time now. Almost from the first moment I started baking and cooking low carb, I found myself wondering if it was possible and absolutely determined to find out.
Creating Keto Sugar Free Caramel Sauce
I’d tried a few store-bought sugar-free caramel sauces and they were simply awful. They were laden with chemicals and they tasted like it too. So I had to find a way to make homemade sugar-free caramel sauce from scratch, and I set my sights high.
It had to be:
- Gooey
- Smooth and creamy
- Have true caramelized-sugar taste
- Not harden and recrystallize upon cooling
Anyone who has ever worked with erythritol-based sweeteners will know that the last issue was the biggest challenge to overcome. I’ve made some great-tasting and great-looking sauces along the way, but they all had a tendency to harden up pretty quickly.
Even my previous recipe, which I considered almost perfect, did begin to solidify and get a bit grainy as it cooled. The addition of some Yacon syrup, molasses, or even coconut sugar definitely helped offset that reaction, but it also added a little to the carb count. Some people objected to these additions but I felt that they were worth it to get really good low carb caramel sauce.
But honestly, both Swerve Brown and Bocha Sweet have totally changed the sugar free caramel sauce game. Completely and utterly. How so?
- Swerve Brown gives the sauce a perfect caramel color without the addition of Yacon or molasses
- Bocha Sweet keeps it soft and inhibits the crystallization of the erythritol
- The combination of the two gives it the ideal caramel sweetness
I first tried a bit of Bocha Sweet in my caramel sauce a few months ago and was astonished to pull it out of the fridge the next day and still have it be perfectly pourable. And when the long-awaited Swerve Brown finally came out, I tried the two together and I knew I had perfected this recipe.
But please don’t worry if you can’t get your hands on these sweeteners. I am putting notes in the new updated recipe so that you can still make it the old way, with Swerve and a little Yacon syrup. It’s still amazing and delicious!
So put away all those awful store-bought, chemical-laden sugar free caramel sauces because this keto caramel sauce recipe will blow your caramel-loving mind. Check out the video in the recipe card!
I’ve actually been using this caramel sauce recipe in many of my other dessert recipes for a while now, like my maple pecan pie. But I use it so often and found myself rewriting it so frequently, I decided that it needed to be a stand alone recipe.
Believe me, it deserves it! It’s already part of some of my favorite keto dessert recipes and it will be part of many more to come. But it truly is good enough to be have its very own recipe post. Sometimes I just make some for the heck of it, just to keep in the fridge. It’s fantastic slathered on a piece of very dark chocolate with a little sea salt sprinkled on top. Or drizzled over low carb vanilla ice cream. Or simply licked from the spoon.
I really don’t think there is a better low carb caramel sauce out there. Back when I first wrote this post, I said if there was any way to improve on this recipe, I would find it. And I truly believe I just did. I can die happy now!
How to enjoy your keto caramel sauce
- Keto Caramel Cake
- Keto Salted Caramel Brownie Bites
- Keto Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Turtle Cupcakes
- Keto Salted Caramel Butter Bars
- Keto Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
The Best Low Carb Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar replacement
- 3 tablespoon allulose or BochaSweet
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 2 tablespoon water
For Salted Caramel Sauce:
- ½ teaspoon additional kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, Swerve, and Bocha Sweet. Bring to a boil and cook 3 to 5 minutes (be careful not to burn it).
- Remove from heat and add cream. Mixture will bubble vigorously.
- Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine. Add salt.
- Return mixture to heat and boil 1 more minute. Let cool to lukewarm and stir in water until well combined.
- For salted caramel, simply stir in additional salt at the end.
- The sauce can be stored in the fridge for a week or so (I've actually stored mine for several weeks). Just gently reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan to make it pourable again.
Video
Notes
Karen Masters says
Thank you so much for this recipe!! It turned out awesome
I used Monk fruit instead of Boca Sweetner cause that’s what I had on hand along with Swerve Brown Sugar
I even doubled the batch
My Christmas Dreams are now a reality
Carolyn A Jordan says
Is there anything else I can add in place of Bocha sweet to keep the caramel soft. I really dislike the flavor of stevia. I assume the Yacon syrup doesn’t help with keeping the caramel soft? I will definitely try the swerve as I have used it in other recipes and like that and the Lankanto monkfruit sweeteners. Your recipe looks fantastic :> Thank you!
Carolyn says
You can use allulosse instead.
AmyT says
Love Love Love! Used this over your pumpkin cheese cake recipe rather than the one included with that recipe….well because I love this recipe! Made for Thanksgiving. Wanted to skip the turkey and go right for dessert. For those who critize Bocha sweet….I met my keto goal in 5 months using it. That’s down from 186 to 128 and kept it off for 7 months. Never felt better. Could not have been successful without this site. Thank you. You are amazing!
Carolyn says
Wonderful news!
Janet says
Sounds so yummy! Can I use the confectioners bocha sweet in this recipe? I want to buy it for this and your coconut pecan frosting your the german chocolate cake. Don’t want to buy both granular and confectioners if I don’t have to.
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Carolyn says
Yes, I think you could. It’s simply more finely ground Bocha Sweet.
MM says
OMG!!!!! I wanna drink this through a straw! (Ew, right? But…) Rarely do I go to the trouble of posting reviews, but this stuff is UNREAL! I’ve been cooking LCHF for a decade now, so I’ve tried plenty of so-called “Best” low-carb and keto recipes and I am not easily impressed. I’m not picky, I just have high standards when it comes to food. Not only do Carolyn’s recipes consistently turn out correct for me, but they are also fairly forgiving when it comes to substitutions. Had to sub my baking blend sweetener I make myself (erythritol/xylitol/stevia) for the Bocha Sweet. Added a tiny touch of caramel extract (because I can’t help but experiment). This caramel sauce is, hands-down, spectacular and so easy to make. If anyone has ever whined to you about low-carbing or ketogenic eating being “too hard” then hand them a sample of this and you will shut that conversation down to a full stop. If you are on the fence about making this, get off the fence and do it. I am waiting on Carolyn’s recipe for Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake to come out of my oven so I can be in Falltime Heaven. Not sure if the sauce will make it another 10 minutes.
Carolyn says
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Kimberly says
Oh my word, this was for real amazing! I just ran out of Swerve Brown so I used lakanto golden sweetener instead. I can’t believe how simple it came together and how good it tasted after just 10 minutes by the stove.
Thank you Carolyn, you are a low carb magician! ❤️
Lisa says
Hi, I made this recipe (doubled it! LOVED it!) and used molasses as you suggested. Do you think vegetable glycerin and/or guar gum (lakanto maple syrup ingredients) would work to keep the sauce non crystallized and pliable?
Carolyn says
Possibly, I don’t really use vegetable glycerin.
Alexus1993 says
O M G this recipe is amazing! It took me a while to get all the right ingredients off Amazon but totally worth the wait and money! Super yummy! Literally finger-licking good! It’s cooling down now and I can’t wait to use it on top of stuff … like your Twix thumbprint cookie recipe! That might be next! 😉 This is now my second recipe that I’ve tried from you. Thank you! Thank you!
Michelle says
I have a question about the bocha sweet. Why is this necessary? I mean, if I’m already using swerve, why do we need to use the two different sweeteners? I hope I don’t sound rude, I really just don’t understand why I couldn’t just use Swerve on its own.
Carolyn says
Not rude at all and I cover this issue at length in other posts… Swerve is mostly erythritol which tends to re-crystallize upon cooling in liquid applications like sauces and ice creams. Bocha Sweet does not, and in fact inhibits the recrystallization. The Swerve Brown gives it a lovely caramel color and flavor and the Bocha Sweet keeps it soft.
Tonnia says
I have put off making caramel sauce because I thought for some reason it was hard to do or tricky to set up. The only thing hard in this recipe was waiting for it to cool off enough to sample it. I made mine salted caramel for the salted caramel magic bars. I cannot wait till they come out of the oven and cool off. I plan to make more and try it in my morning coffee instead of the syrups I usually buy.
Carolyn says
Enjoy!
Susan says
I love your recipes! I have everything for this recipe except Bochasweet. Is there anything that I could buy at my usual grocery store that would be a good substitute? I’m sorry if this question has already been asked and answered. Thanks so much for your reply!
Carolyn says
Xylitol is your best bet.
Jenny says
This caramel syrup is DELICIOUS. Thank you so much for working to create a recipe where it doesn’t harden once in the fridge. You’re amazing!
Carolyn says
So glad you like it!
Lynn Ellis says
I have the caramel cake cooling as I type. Looks good. I made the caramel sauce and had to use black strap molasses. I find it has more of a black licorice taste than a caramel taste. Good thing I like black licorice. I’d rather in this instance that it did taste more like caramel, but, hey, I’m gonna eat it anyway. I am diabetic and I’ve tried many of Carolyn’s recipes. I will say they are awesome. After being off low carb since my hospital stay I’ve decided I need some low carb treats in my house for my bedtime snack so my sugar doesn’t rise. Hopefully this will be a good jumpstart for me.
Rebecca says
Although I only found this recipe today, it looks delicious and I would like to make it for a get-together this weekend. However, when I researched the Bocha Sweet, I found so many people reporting intestinal issues after eating it. Are you still using it regularly? I typically use Erythritol, but would love to find a sweetener that does not have the “cooling” effect. I did read someone say “you just need to get used to the Bocha Sweet in order to overcome the gi problems.” But I am on a low carb diet and typically do not eat anything sweet. But would love an occasional treat like your caramel cake. But only eating it occasionally would not allow me to “get used to it.” I really appreciate people like you who create recipes like this. It gives me hope that I can look forward to having my sweet tooth satisfied once in a while – instead of giving up what I crave FOREVER. Thank you so much.
Carolyn says
I, nor anyone in my family, has had any issues with the treats I make that include Bocha Sweet. However I simply cannot say wither or not it will affect you.
Pebbles Worthington says
Oh. My. Goodness. I made your salted caramel sauce & hot fudge sauce today. I am flat out just blown away. They are both absolutely fantastic! I love your blog and have NEVER had a bad result from any of your recipes. They are all so so good. Thanks for all that you do! Please, keep doing it! ❤️
Carolyn says
I’m so glad to hear it!
Alan says
Is it just me or is bochasweet not 3g carbs per 4g serving? how is that low carb?
Carolyn says
Because it doesn’t affect blood glucose. Same as Swerve or any erythritol sweetener. Bocha Sweet and Swerve are the only two I trust for this because I have tested them on myself.
Tiffany A says
Looking forward to trying this…. what size jar does the recipe make 4oz, 8oz?? Thank you
Carolyn says
It makes 1 cup. Which is 8 ounces.
Tracy says
I made the past version of this before your recent changes and it was good then. Now it’s amazing!!! Thank you so much!!!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
San says
THANK YOU! I have been craving caramel, and can’t wait to try this recipe tomorrow! Am making sugar free apple crisp ti use up some apples, and want to drizzle caramel over the top. You ROCK.
Sarah says
Carolyn! You are my hero! I cannot BELIEVE how F*$#ing good this sauce is! Honestly, it’s better than sauces I’ve made with regular sugar. I followed your recipe except for the water to thin it because I love a thick sauce… it’s totally amazing! THANK YOU!
Carolyn says
So glad you think so!