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
Melanie says
So easy and so delicious!!!!
Lynn says
Without a doubt the best caramel sauce ever! I used half Swerve brown and BochaSweet and didn’t use the xanthan gum at all. I just let it cook a bit longer after adding the cream, and it thickened up beautifully. Now, if I could just stop from swiping spoonfuls…
Deanna says
WOW!!! This is awesome!!!!Better than store-bought!!!!
Becky says
I knew this would be good, but didn’t think it would knock my socks off! Next time will be a double batch!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Shirl says
This caramel sauce is a “must have” item in the fridge at all times in our house! We add it to hot coffee, iced coffees, over keto brownies, as a dip for an occassional apple… its perfect every time!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Tami says
I never thought about using this for hot or iced coffee. Wonderful idea!
Astrid says
Not sure if someone has asked this before but can I sub Bocha Sweet for Allulose? It’s what I have in hand. Thanks for the recipe.
Carolyn says
I think you are asking if you can sub allulose for BochaSweet? The way you worded it, makes it sound like you want to use BochaSweet and since it already takes that… But yes, you should be able to.
Stephanie says
Hi! I made this yesterday and the taste is delicious! But the texture is… mucousy? I know that’s from the Xantham gum. I’m just wondering if maybe I went wrong somewhere or if that’s the normal texture? Thank you!
Carolyn says
Sugar free caramel doesn’t get sticky and syrupy, so yes, I suppose that’s about right.
georgie says
Cant wait to try this! Sorry just to be clear if I don’t have Bochi Sweet I can sub 6TBS swerve granular + 2 tsp coconut sugar? Or is it just 6TBS coconut sugar? Thanks in advance!!
georgie says
I also have xylitol … can I use that with the coconut sugar instead of BochaSweet?
Carolyn says
I think you should do 3 tbsp Swerve Granular and 3 tbsp xylitol, with a little of the coconut sugar just to get the colour more caramelized.
Peg says
The syrup is delicious, I made it from your cookbook. I made a dairy and a dairy free version. Thank you for your delicious recipes.
My question: could I use this recipe to make caramel candy do you think? If so, would I modify the end temperature, the amount of cream, or both to make candy instead of sauce?
Thank you
Carolyn says
Sorry, it simply doesn’t harden up enough to make candy without burning the mixture.
Maria Lelinho says
I just came across this recipe today and made it – – SCORE!! This one’s a KEEPER and it’s DELISH!!
Thank you so much for all your trial/error in developing these great low carb recipes!
Hasina says
Hi,
I live in SA and we don’t have bocha sweet available here. Anything I can substitute this with and keep it keto friendly?
Thanks
Carolyn says
Xylitol is probably your best option.
anne says
Thank you for this recipe, it made my day!
I used regular erythritol since i don’t have access to the other stuff & forgot to add water but it turned out great!
So yummy!
Chelsea Santos says
This sauce was a 10 out of 10. Wow. How am I just finding this now. Sugar-free caramel sauce is something I have been looking for, for quite sometime so thank you so much for putting the time into this recipe. I added more salt like suggested and did the salted caramel version and it was just out of this world. Stellar recipe, Carolyn.
Jerri says
Carolyn I’m new to your site and I love it! I just made the Carmel sauce and wow delicious.
I want to try all of your recipes…. ???? Thank you!!
Rod says
Hello. This recipe looks really good. I have been searching for a caramel sauce that won’t crystalize later. I don’t have Bocha Sweet. I have Swerve Brown Sugar, Sukin Gold Brown Sugar, Lankanto Monkfruit, and Sukrin:1. Is it possible to substitute or combine any of these in place of the Bocha Sweet and still make creamy caramel sauce?
Carolyn says
No, I am afraid not. All of those are erythritol based and without somethign like BochaSweet, allulose, or xylitol, your caramel sauce will harden.
Rod says
Thanks for the response.
Nanabella says
I made it without BochaSweet and it does harden in the refridge, but I live my microwave oven!
Every time I want some, I just microwave the unlidded jar on 50% power until it loosens up again, then use what I want and stick it back in the fridge!❤️
Nicole says
I’ve made this sauce before when I made your carmelitas and it was excellent! I finally got my hands on some serve brown and bocasweet so I will try this again when you mentioned it won’t harden up.. Now I have a craving for caramel popcorn for some reason after seeing this recipe again but will never eat it because it has so much sugar.
Carol Moore says
Hello,
Carolyn: just made this with Swerve Brown and Xylitol (I don’t have a dog :-)) DELISH!!! Can’t wait to try it on ice cream and am planning on making your Caramel cupcakes with the Chocolate Frosting…and maybe those magic bars as well (I mis-read the recipe and started with 1/3 cup of each sugar, so just upped the butter and cream accordingly, so now I have enough to play with a couple of recipes…another HIT!!!! Thanks so much for all your hard work on our behalf!!!!!
Lynne says
I was so impressed with this recipe I bought the book! Thanks so very much for all of the great tasting Ketogenic recipes
Carolyn says
Thanks so much, Lynne!
Nicole says
Do you think golden monk fruit sweetener would work for the recipe?
Dawnj says
I keep coming back to this caramel sauce. My search is over—it is fantastic! We savor it with cakes, bars, or off the spoon. Wonderful to be able to have caramel sauce again. I use allulose (for the high heat tolerance) comes out perfect every time. THANK YOU!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Ashley says
Thank you for a great caramel recipe! I used 3 TBS confectioners Swerve (what I had on hand) & 3 Tbs Alluose. Boiled that per the recipe with butter & thought it was getting dark so didn’t boil as long as the recipe stated. But added the heavy cream & boiled about 4 or 5 minutes until it coated the back of the spoon & thickened. Added the sea salt & only a tsp of water. So delicious & I can’t believe it turned out so well. Haven’t refrigerated it yet so we’ll see what happens. Thank you Carolyn! Using on ice cream tonight.
Carolyn says
Excellent!
Asia says
What is the purpose of the water? I just made this and it’s FABULOUS, it’s cooling now and I haven’t added the water yet. I don’t want to mess with how perfect it is!
Carolyn says
Sometimes after it cools, it’s too thick. But if you like it the way it is, leave it! 🙂