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
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar replacement
- 3 tbsp allulose, or BochaSweet
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 2 tbsp water
For Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 1/2 tsp 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
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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I seem to have a problem making this. It never does come to a boil. What temp should it be at when it boils? I’m stirring the mixture in the pan and it gets very hot but never boils. Also I used 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup Bocha Sweet, and 1/4 cup Lakanto brown. The recipe says 3 tbsp of each of the sweeteners but 3 tbsp is 1/8 cup. Should it be 1/4 cup of each or 3 tbsp?
What kind of pan are you using? Also… 3 tbsp is not 1/8th of a cup. TWO tablespoons would be 1/8th of a cup. And you need to follow the recipe. Don’t use 1/4 cup, use 3 tablespoons, as specified. Also… stop stirring! You’re distributing the heat and not allowing it to boil.
Ok that helps. I was stirring lots to prevent it from burning, or so I thought. Using a standard kitchenaid saucepan. I thought the video said to use 1/4 cup of each sweetener. I’ll try again with 3 tbsp of each. Hopefully this time it works and my smoke alarm doesn’t go off …
Thanks Carolyn! I’ve now made not one but three successful batches. This is a great recipe and really simple to make now that I know how. Impressive for sugar free caramel!
@ Carolyn: and yet you say in the VIDEO to use 1/4 c for both “sugars”, and in a reply in the comments that the 1/4c is “better than the 3 T of the “sugars”……..
So NOW I’M confused!
Please just follow the written recipe. Either way works, it depends on how sweet you want it to be.
This is incredible. I had to stop myself from “taste testing” it so I had enough for the salted caramel bars I just made (and am impatiently waiting to cool). Honestly could have just eaten it with a spoon!
This is so so good. I doubled the recipe and I am glad, otherwise I would have run out of it as soon as it cooled down enough to eat it!!
Hi Carolyn, living in Canada has it’s drawbacks for available sweeteners on the market 🙁
Swerve brown sugar I can get easily but not Bocha Sweet or allulose for that matter.
Is there another Keto sweetener that I can use for this recipe?
Granulated Monkfruit and/or Eryithritol are readily available to me, if that helps.
Thank you! ☺
They won’t work, because they will recrystallize. Monkfruit is usually erythritol in disguise (it’s mostly erythritol with a tiny bit of monk fruit to make it taste sweeter).
I am in Canada too and I ordered it online. No issue getting it.
Tell me where so I can tell my fellow Canadians! I can get it easily in Oregon…
You can get Lakanto brown, Swerve brown, and Bocha Sweet at Sweet and Sprouted in Saskatoon. I’ve ordered online and they have great shipping. I get Lakanto at the health food store also.
I am in Ontario and can get Allulose at Loblaws as well as online through Amazon. Some Loblaws are better than others so check around. ☺️
Hey, that’s great to hear! Canada’s finally on board… 🙂 I will be curious to see if I can find it in Vancouver next time I am up there.
I have been making this and keeping a jar in the fridge for my coffee and for a spoon of sweetness here and there. Thank you for this recipe!!! Tastes amazing!!
Oh. Wow. This was delicious! It was so rich and buttery it reminded me of Werther’s originals. I served it warm on some Rebel vanilla ice cream with a generous topping of whipped cream – yummmmmmmmmmmy. And I was a little behind in my fat consumption yesterday and since it has a good amount of butter and heavy cream it’s a nice little fat bomb, too!
This is an easy recipe, but it doesn’t make a lot. Delicious.
I have tried this 2 times with no luck. Once you get it to boil, do you keep boiling or do you turn it down to low? Do you stir constantly? I am the first to say I am new to making keto/low carb sweets and I am not the best at it yet. It has been hit and miss. I have used the exact same items except I did substitute Allulose for the Bocha Sweet. The first time I really burnt it. This last (2nd) time I did better but it still has a lightly burnt taste. The color definitely looks better though. It is edible but not great with the burnt slightly aftertaste it leaves. This time I did turn the burner down a little and cooked it a little less time, like 3 1/2 minutes instead of 4 1/2 like I did the first time.
I don’t know in what way you are not having luck so it’s hard to help. But watch my video and you can see me do it step by step: https://youtu.be/4rubujPa_xU . Your mixture should be bubbling the whole time. You shouldn’t need to stir it constantly but do stay nearby and watch it, and stir if you need to. The one thing that is possible is that you aren’t using a good pan… it’s a lot easier to burn ANY caramel (even the kind with sugar) if your pan is not a heavy duty one.
Thank you Carolyn, I think it may have been my pan. It was not super thin but not heavy either. I dug out a heavy saucepan and will be trying it again tonight or tomorrow.
update…I made it again, using a heavier and thicker saucepan and the caramel sauce turned out great. I made a sugar free cinnamon swirl bread that was a little dry. So I poked holes in It and drizzled the warm sauce over it and it was so good. But the sauce is so good by itself, I catch myself dipping my spoon in it for a quick taste. Thank you.
Glad it worked out! Thanks for checking back in.
Hi Peggy. Did you use allulose in the recipe when it worked?
Yes, I didn’t have bocha sweet so I used allulose. It turned out great.
Hi Carolyn;
I absolutely love your recipes. They are all yummy. I’m living in the UK so I don’t have access to some of the products you use. (Like Allulose) but I’m doing my best. I have a question. My favourite go-to sweet is Salted Caramel. I put it in the freezer, and eat it like ice cream. However, lately, I’ve been having trouble finding Granulated Bochasweet. The question is can I use a powdered one?
Yes, the powdered should work fine.
I know apples aren’t keto friendly but this carm sauce looks a
amazing. would this work drizzled over apple slices?(since I’ve been
issuing carmel apples)
Drizzled over should be fine!
What cook book are these recipes in?
Not all of my recipes are in cookbooks… this site contains hundreds of recipes that aren’t in any of my cookbooks.
Yum! is there a substitution for the heavy cream ?
Coconut cream.
I love your recipes!! I have gotten my hubby on board and he loves this new, healthy lifestyle we have embraced! Thanks for what you do… it has truly made a positive impact in our lives☮️????
I am so glad!
Amazing! Tastes just like caramel! Oh thank you so much for creating this recipe!
Can you use Allulose instead of Bocha Sweet? Bocha Sweet is extremely pricey !
Carolyn,
Is that liquid allulose (which I have) or powdered?
Unless I specify liquid, it’s granular. Liquid is much more of an unusual ingredient for most people.