This recipe for salted caramel sauce is made without dairy cream. It’s easy recipe which can also be made with plant based ingredients, so that you can make it suitable for vegan or dairy free diets.
This salted caramel sauce without cream is great as a topping for ice cream or can be used as a filling for chocolate truffles.
Similar to my old-fashioned chocolate syrup recipe, this one is much better homemade than bought in a shop (and very budget-friendly too!). I always make this quick 5 minutes caramel sauce when I run out of dairy cream or when I’m making a vegan chocolate truffle fillings.
Why make this recipe?
- Easy to make salted caramel sauce
- Budget-friendly (if you don’t need to use plant based ingredients)
- No need for thermometer to make this recipe
- Great to give as a present
- Can be made dairy-free
KEEP THIS RECIPE – PIN IT FOR LATER
My top tips on making this recipe successfully the first time round
- Leave the sugar to dissolve properly before boiling it
- Don’t stir the boiling sugar too much as this might re-crystalise the mixture
What makes this recipe work
- The rich flavour comes from the type of sugar you use (the darker the richer the flavour)
Any specialist equipment needed?
You don’t need any specialist equipment or a digital thermometer.
- medium sized saucepan
- wooden mixing spoon
- pastry brush (optional)
Salted caramel sauce is great with
- Chocolate Mug Cake (No Egg) >>
- Easy Chocolate Brownies >>
- Chocolate sorbet >>
- Hot chocolate drink with Nutella >>
- Chocolate flummery pudding >>
- Vegan chocolate pancakes >>
- Oatmeal Brownies >>
Time saving tip
Double up the recipe if you are thinking of making this as a present.
Pro tip
Use sea salt flakes to keep the flavours of ‘sweet’ and ‘salty’ separate. Salt is a great flavour enhancer, but I prefer to keep the sea salt un-dissolved in my caramel to keep the flavours separate.
Notes on ingredients
Sugar
In my regular salted caramel sauce I normally use white granulated sugar, because the flavour comes from the butter and cream. In this recipe, I’ve experimented with light brown, brown sugars and coconut sugar and it’s substitutes as it gives the sauce more of a caramelised flavour.
Something like a molasses sugar or pomegranate substitutes might be a little to strong flavour wise, but in principle they can also be used for making salted caramel sauce.
Butter
If you are making this recipe because you’ve run out of cream or don’t have any, you can use unsalted butter instead. If you are after a vegan option, use cocoa butter, coconut butter (or oil) or other plant based butters.
If you are using salted butter (and since there is quite a lot of butter in this recipe) ease on the additional salt. I’d suggest to add about 1/2 of the recipe amount, taste it and then add more if you think the sauce needs it.
Milk (or other substitutions for cream)
Any kind of milk can be used – normal or plant based. You can also use plant based cream or dairy free cream.
I find that oat single or double cream works great with this recipe, as it has a lovely creamy texture and no aftertaste.
Soya milk or cream works fine too, but I find that the soya aftertaste is not that great. I can still taste the soya in the finished salted caramel, but others might be totally fine with it.
If you decide to use coconut milk or cream and you pair it up with a coconut oil or butter for a complete vegan version of this salted caramel recipe, you will end up with a lovely coconut flavoured salted caramel sauce.
Rice milk or cream is also perfect for this recipe, as it has no after taste and ads no extra flavour.
Salt
I prefer to use sea salt flakes, but any fine salt is suitable for this recipe. You can even get flavoured salts and I often use smoked sea salt. The flavour is much deeper and the smokiness adds extra dimension to the sauce.
MORE CHOCOLATE PUDDING RECIPES
How to make salted caramel sauce without cream at home
Heat the granulated sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir.
Be careful not to make the liquid too brown or even burn it. It’s easily done.
Once the sugar is completely melted, add the butter. The mixture is going to bubble and increase in volume. Stir the butter gently into the caramel until it is completely melted.
The next job is to add the milk – pour it in very slowly and watch out as the caramel sauce bubbles even more.
Boil the caramel sauce for about 1 minute or shorter if the mixture looks like it starts to burn.
Once done, remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Pour directly to a prepared jam jar and allow to cool down before using.
How else you can make this recipe?
This is a great basic recipe, which you can use as a starting point for different variations of salted caramel.
Dairy Free
Use dairy free butter and milk or cream.
Vegan
Use coconut oil or cocoa butter and plant based milk or cream.
Budget friendly (but not vegan or dairy free)
Use regular butter and regular milk (any kind, but whole milk – full fat milk will give you the best flavour)
Batch size
This recipe will give you 1 large jam jar of salted caramel.
Scaling up this recipe
This recipe can be easily scaled up – I’ve made previously batches 2x the size, but just make sure you use a large saucepan. If you prefer you can also make just half of this recipe quantity, just use 1/2 of the ingredients. This is perfect if you need just enough salted caramel to drizzle over puddings or vanilla ice cream.
How to store salted caramel sauce
It’s best to store your salted caramel sauce in closed jam jar and in the fridge. Because we’ve not used any preservatives, cold storage is the best.
How to thicken salted caramel sauce made without cream
Sometimes I find that if I make my salted caramel sauce without dairy cream I end up with slightly runnier salted caramel than if I use traditional recipe. If you do happen to have the same problem, here are my tips on how to thicken the caramel
- Simmer the Sauce: Allow the caramel to simmer for a longer period, which will evaporate more liquid and naturally thicken the sauce as it reduces. This works pretty much every time, just make sure you gently stir it and not allow it to boil.
- Use Cornstarch: A common method to thicken caramel sauce is to use cornstarch. You can mix a small amount of cornstarch with water to create a runny paste and then whisk it into the caramel sauce, cooking it for a few minutes until it thickens. For every cup of caramel sauce, you might add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with one teaspoon of water. This sometimes means that the sauce has a slight floury after taste but only a little bit.
- Add More Sugar: By incorporating additional sugar into the sauce, you can increase its thickness. As the sugar melts and cooks, it will help to thicken the mixture.
- Cool the Sauce: Caramel sauce will naturally thicken as it cools, so sometimes all you need to do is remove it from the heat and let it sit for a while. The sauce always look runny when it’s hot, but it’s difficult to gauge how much it thickens when it’s cooled down. You can always re-heat the sauce if you need to even after the sauce has been let to cool down.
Why not stay in touch…
I hope you enjoy making this recipe and if you do, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram or Facebook and add the hashtag #cocoaandheart so that I can see your post.
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Magdalena
Salted Caramel Sauce without cream
Ingredients
- 200 grams granulated sugar light brown or white
- 100 ml plant based milk or regular milk, or plant based cream
- 50 grams plant based butter or dairy butter (plant based or regular), coconut oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon for less salty flavour
Instructions
- Heat the granulated sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
- The sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir.
- Once the sugar is completely melted, add the butter or the coconut oil. The mixture is going to bubble and increase in volume. Stir the butter or oil gently into the caramel until it is completely melted.
- The next job is to add the milk (or equivalent) – pour it in very slowly and watch out as the caramel sauce bubbles even more.
- Boil the caramel sauce for about 1 minute or shorter if the mixture looks like it starts to burn.
- Once done, remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Pour directly to a prepared jam jars (if making as a present) or allow to cool down before using.
This recipe was originally written on 15 March 2021 and last tested and updated on 14 February 2024
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