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.
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Have made plenty of your recipes and a die hard fan: always frustrated that we don’t get Swerve in the UK (or I could buy 485g for £61! on Amazon). We have a stevia/eritherol sweetener called Truvia. Do you think this makes a good sub?
Where can I find the composition of Swerve to try and compare? Is it pure erythritol? What is the consistency like? Truvia is quite grainy, like white sugar.
Yes, I am sorry it’s so pricy elsewhere. Here’s the info on Swerve: http://www.swervesweetener.com/about-swerve/
Truvia is an okay substitute but it doesn’t come in powdered form, as confectioner’s Swerve does. You will get better results if you attempt to powder the Truvia yourself in a coffee grinder or some such thing.
Maybe grinding some erytrhitol with inulin powder (the other component of Swerve), generally sold almost worldwide and in a very fine powder, could you give a sort of “DIY Swerve”, even if you’ll have to play to guess the exact proportion because on Swerve’s laber they do not indicate the percentage of each ingredient obviously…
Really good one! Wondering if a dairy-free version using canned coconut milk would work?
A few readers said that they had good luck with that.
Hi! This looks delicious and I would love to use it to make the pecan pie. I am slowly building my low carb baking pantry and I don’t have xanthan gum, but I do have guar gum. Since it is such a small amount, do you know/think guar gum would work as a substitute in this recipe? Thank you so much for working on these recipes, they are very inspiring!
FYI to all- I made this with half Swerve and half Splenda and it came out wonderfully. (I used the 2 tbs of coconut palm sugar). I made the recipe once before with all Swerve and I don’t like the cooling effect. Also Swerve is too darn expensive. Yes, I know Splenda is artificial. At this point in my eating adventures, that doesn’t really bother me. This batch is delish, the color is fantastic, the consistency is perfect!
HI!!! I’m making the magic cookie bars and just finished my first ever batch of this caramel sauce. (which WILL NOT be my last!) I was so stinkin surprised! The first words out of my mouth when I tasted a bit – “Daggone. That’s good stuff.” I laughed at myself for being so surprised. 😉 Thank you for sharing your creativity in these delicious recipes!
Thanks! Glad you like it. I can’t make it too often or I’d eat the whole batch! 🙂
My kitchen smells divine as I just finished with your FABULOUS recipe for CARAMEL SAUCE. Carolyn- my hat off to you !
I did however burn my tongue- really stupid of me ! It is sooo hot and stays hot for quite a while. Never ever add the water to the just completed boil as I did. I lost 1/4 of the perfect concoction as it bubbled all over my stove.
Lesson learned*always follow directions to the letter!
Thank you Carolyn so much! Barbara
Made this today with xylitol and coconut sugar since it was all I had in the cupboard and it turned out good. Tastes just like the caramel on caramel corn. Not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to taste, but it’s still good so that’s all that matters.
I did burn the first batch though, and I feel it prudent to mention to people that sticking your finger in the pot to taste-test it to see if it’s worth saving is like the worst idea. Ever. Your finger will hurt for a while. :p
Yeah, it gets VERY hot!
I love you. Marry me? Oh dang, I went stalker creepy again 😉 I just made this and oh em gee. Yum. Love. My type 1 daughter and type 2 friends and family are going to have a very Merry Christmas, indeed.
I’m on my second batch of this caramel crack in two days. This will be the death of me.
Okay! Finally made this, AND, OMGEE! Best sauce ever! One million times over. My dad who is visiting from home, Hawaii, is a lover of the other white crack. That being sugar. Well, gave him some Breyers Low Carb ice cream (hey it fills the void) drenched with sauce. He had two bowls and didn’t even now it was refined sugar free. This is a man who was born with a sugarcane stick in his mouth. I’m now needing to make another batch. First batch will be gone in 2.5 seconds. This is the next best thing to sliced bread.
“Know” not now. Oops.
Wonderful! So glad he didn’t notice at all 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
Well I have kept at it (making the caramel sauce). What I found today was that the granular Swerve DOES make a difference. I used the granular and it cooked right up just like you said! I thought I would let you know just in case anyone else has that same problem( not browning up). I am making your salted caramel brownie cupcakes & toffee recipes. Thanks for taking all the hard work out for the rest of us by coming up with these delicious ideas.
That is VERY good information! Thank you for keeping at it.
I must have done something wrong. I followed the directions exactly except I cooked it in the microwave instead of the stove. I was scared to “overcook/burn it” like the recipe warned so I just cooked about 2 minutes total. I guess just enough to melt the butter then i put the cream in. the end result is not thick or brown. It’s really runny and yellowish??
what did I do wrong?
Thanks
Yes, well…caramel sauce like this requires the heat of a stove to caramelize. So what went wrong is that you cooked it in a microwave. Not really sure what else to say.
Hi there, thank you for the response. Even though the caramel sauce did not turn out for me I made the salted caramel cream cheese frosting for cupcakes. OMG, they were SO good. so, thank you for that.
I tried again tonight (the caramel sauce) because I am making your pecan pie bars! I did it on the stove this time and and cooked it and cooked it (around 21 minutes). I was scared to cook any longer (swerve is expensive and I did not want to ruin it) but it never did get to the golden color of yours in the pictures. The pecan pie bars are cooling right now. I am excited to try.
I live in East TN. I wonder if we have different altitude issues than where you live? Would that make a difference in cooking times? I’m new to baking & eating low carb.
I don’t think the altitude would be a problem. Did you use coconut sugar or molasses? That would give you the colour you want.
Well, one other thought. I bought swerve powdered instead of granular. Maybe that was it. I used coconut sugar instead of Molassas. When I made the bars I didn’t have vegetable glycerin so I used sf syrup. They came out more like cookie bar than what yours looked like. They tasted really good though and I guess that’s what matters. Thanks!
Yes, taste wins in the end! I don’t think the powdered swerve would keep it from getting golden and caramelized but I could be wrong.
I commented on your magic cookie bar recipe, but this caramel is so good I had to thank you here too. I didn’t think low-carb caramel was possible, but I am sooooo happy it is. Thank you Carolyn!
In case anyone is looking for substitutions, I used xylitol instead of Swerve and it turned out great (for my other sweetener I used coconut sugar). I put my bars in the fridge last night and the caramel hasn’t crystallised at all.
Bravo Carolyn..
This is the first low carb caramel I have made looks and taste like caramel.
Come summer, caramel sundaes will be on the menu…
I hope your move is going well!
Thanks, Vicki!
Will it work with regular molasses? Does it need to be the blackstrap? 🙂
Kapu- I used regular molasses and think it turned out well.
THANK YOU. I’m an espresso junkie looking for syrups that don’t use Splenda. Two tablespoons of this in my breve make me not miss my much mourned white chocolate powder. I used Swerve and molasses and skipped the Xanthum gum since I don’t have any. It works beautifully in coffee. I’ll be making this in bulk!
Wha??? In coffee? Why didn’t I think of that. I’m trying it TODAY! 🙂