Caramel Sauce

Only once before have I made a caramel sauce from scratch. It was a yummy recipe, nice and sweet and sticky the way caramel should be. The downside was that it was made with cane sugar and other "bad" ingredients.  For my Halloween Tricks and Treats demo at Whole Foods, I wanted to do a caramel sauce that was free of refined sugar, but just as delicious as one that was loaded with the bad stuff. After much experimenting with different ingredients, and some last minute inspiration from yesterday's Vegan MoFo Iron Chef Challenge, I knew just what I needed to use to make this recipe perfect: COCONUT!

Caramel dipped apples with jar of caramel sauce.

Although my recipe contains coconut in two forms, it doesn't really taste like coconut, just a slightly different flavored caramel. At class, I served it in little cups for attendees to dip apple slices in. The caramel was a hit! I received rave reviews all around. One woman said she couldn't wait to make it for her kids because it's a healthier version of the caramel she's been giving them as a treat.

Oh, so ooey gooey. Just look at that caramel streaming down.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

½ C coconut sugar

¼ C brown rice syrup

½ C coconut milk

Directions 

1. Combine sugar and syrup in small pot over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. 

2. Once sugar is dissolved, add coconut milk and continue to stir until it comes to a boil. Boil for 2 to 5 minutes for a thinner consistency caramel sauce, remove from heat and allow to cool. 

**The longer you boil, the thicker the caramel will be come, so leave it on longer if you want a thicker consistency. Use a candy thermometer if you have one to reach your desired temperature.