Creamy Coconut Milk Caramel [Vegan + Paleo]

This thick + creamy vegan and paleo friendly caramel is made with two basic ingredients: coconut milk and coconut sugar, and yields a luscious, coconut-forward caramel sauce perfect for drizzling over your favorite desserts!

Today we’re making caramel!

But not just any caramel: possibly the easiest caramel on the block, made with canned coconut milk, one of my all-time favorite pantry staples.

What makes this caramel better than the rest? Well, it requires no stirring, no candy thermometer, and no ingredients that make it bubble up and threaten to leave you with life-long burns on your arms. I mean, what’s not to love?

It’s also sweetened with coconut sugar, which is more subtly sweet than cane sugar, and has a more nuanced, caramel-like flavor. Add it to coconut milk, reduce on the stove for 30 minutes, and you’ve got yourself a pot of creamy caramel sauce perfect for drizzling over:

ice cream

yogurt

cake

cheesecake

iced coffee

…and beyond!

To bump up the flavor of this two-ingredient caramel, we’re going to add two more ingredients: vanilla and sea salt, aka the secret weapons in any baker’s kitchen.

Served warm, this caramel is thin and drizzly, but when it’s been fully chilled, it thickens up into a butterscotch-like consistency that I’m absolutely obsessed with. Cold caramel might seem wrong, but trust me: it is so, so right.

And, since I know someone will ask: yes, this caramel tastes like coconut. You certainly won’t be fooling any coconut haters out there, though I always tend to argue that most people who don’t like coconut things actually dislike artificial coconut flavoring, which has a very strong, overpowering, almost tropical/sunscreen-y coconut aroma (and I haven’t seen used anywhere in the past…twenty years?). Recipes made with coconut milk or unsweetened shredded coconut don’t have a very strong coconut flavor, though obviously it is present. Even my self-proclaimed coconut hater of a husband eats and enjoys all of the coconut filled recipes I make…maybe yours will, too?

Either way, if you’re into coconut milk and love caramel, this sauce is riiiight up your alley. It’s made with literally 4 ingredients, takes almost no hands-on work, and can stay in the fridge for up to two weeks to be used wherever your heart desires.

If you make it, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your creamy coconut milk caramel and share it with me on Instagram! I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen.

Creamy Coconut Milk Caramel [Vegan + Paleo]

Time: 35 minutes

Yields: about 1 1/2 cups of caramel

Ingredients:

• 1 15-oz can full-fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Put coconut milk and sugar in a medium sized pot and turn heat to high. As soon as the mixture is boiling, reduce heat to medium (it should be bubbling vigorously, but not at all threatening to overflow- if so, turn the heat down a little). Let the mixture cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes. No need to stir.
2. After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Use immediately or let cool in the pan before transferring to a glass jar/container and refrigerating. When warm, this caramel is thin and runny, and once chilled it’s quite thick.

Notes:

*Because there are so few ingredients in this recipe, I find it essential to use them all, as written. Attempting to substitute other milks or sugars will not yield the same result!

Be sure to check out my Pantry Staples page for some of my favorite baking ingredients!

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