Vegan Caramel Sauce
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Using just seven simple ingredients and in five minutes, you can make your own Homemade Vegan Caramel Sauce! It’s the perfect naturally sweetened caramel sauce to pour over all of your scrumptious desserts, and is gluten-free and vegan, with a nut-free option too!
Say hello to your new favorite filling, dip, spread and eat-from-the-jar sweet treat! I thought it was especially fitting to add this Homemade Vegan Caramel Sauce on the Healthy Little Vittles blog as we head into Fall for drizzling over alllll our favorite cooler weather treats. Hellllloooooo caramel apples!
Caramel Ingredients
Making your own caramel cannot be simpler using common ingredients like plant butter (or coconut oil), nut/seed butter, maple syrup, vanilla, plant milk, salt, and baking soda (for color!). You may even have those ingredients in your pantry already!
It only takes a few minutes to make your own vegan caramel on your stovetop using seven simple ingredients.
Ways To Use This Vegan Caramel Sauce
fresh fruit
brownies
waffles
pancakes
muffins
cupcakes
Pumpkin Spice Latte Whoopie Pies
Caramel Apple Chia Pudding
Caramel Apple Cider Cookies
Caramel Apple Crumb Bars
Salted Caramel Pumpkin Pie Bars
Browned Butter Caramel Popcorn
Or drizzled over your favorite pumpkin spice latte. You can even chill it in a candy mold for a pop-in-your-mouth caramel fudge goodie. I like to use sunflower seed butter, which also makes this caramel nut free! But you can use almond butter, peanut butter, or cashew butter too.
Recipe Notes & Swaps
You need to make sure to follow adding the ingredients exactly in the order I say. Otherwise, the caramel sauce will not thicken into that perfectly “sticky” caramel texture.
The caramel will thicken up as it cools. You may speed up the process by chilling it in the fridge for a bit, stirring occasionally.
The baking soda is optional. It doesn’t add to the taste or texture but it will make the caramel have that lush caramel color. Note: the color will be different based on the kind of nut/seed butter you use and the brand. For example, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter and cashew butter will make a lighter (more true) caramel color. Almond butter will create a darker caramel. All of them still taste delicious regardless.
If you want to swap out the plant butter for coconut oil, you may also do that. The butter gives it a more rich and creamy flavor, but I get it if you wanna swap it out 😉
Making your own caramel at home has never been simpler and bonus that it’s gluten-free, vegan, and optionally nut-free! Also check out my Salted Cacao Caramel for a fun caramel twist… Woohoo! I hope you’ll be drizzling this homemade Vegan Caramel Sauce on erryyyythang this fall! Comment below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook if you make it!
This recipe was inspired by and adapted from Pinch Of Yum.
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Vegan Caramel Sauce
- Total Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: ~ 1/2 cup
Description
Using just seven simple ingredients and in five minutes, you can make your own homemade Vegan Caramel Sauce! It's the perfect naturally sweetened caramel sauce to pour over all of your scrumptious desserts, and is gluten-free and vegan, with a nut-free option too!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegan/plant butter (may sub with coconut oil instead if you wish)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, optional to give it a more caramel color
- 2 tablespoons oat milk (or other creamier plant milk like cashew or coconut)
Instructions
In a small saucepan, melt the plant butter/coconut oil over high heat. Once melted, whisk in the maple syrup, vanilla and pinch of salt. Next, whisk in the nut/seed butter, whisking continuously until the mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk in the baking soda (if using) and oat milk until it's smooth and silky like caramel sauce!
Notes
* Any nut/seed butter will work, the flavor just might vary slightly. If you use sunflower seed butter (which is what I use for nut-free caramel) it will likely turn green the longer it cools due to sunflower seed chlorophyll content. It's completely normal and doesn't alter the taste 😉
** This recipe was inspired by and adapted from Pinch Of Yum.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Additional Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Homemade Condiments
- Cuisine: American
