An easy recipe for rich, creamy, delicious homemade vegan maple caramel sauce. It takes just a few minutes to make with three simple, gluten-free, dairy-free ingredients (no sugar, no corn syrup!). Use it to top ice cream, pancakes, apple pie, coffee drinks, cake, cinnamon rolls, and more! It can even be used as a sweet dipping sauce for fruits. Make it plain or make it salted, directions for both ways are included.
Add the maple syrup to a medium or large pot and if your thermometer has a clip, clip it onto the side of the pot.
Place the pot over medium heat, bring the maple syrup to a boil, and continue boiling until the temperature reaches 230°F on the candy thermometer. This will take roughly 10-15 minutes. Do not stir the maple syrup during this time.
Remove the pot from the heat. Add the vegan heavy cream, vanilla, and if using, the salt. Gently stir them in, stop stirring when everything has fully combined. Don't over-mix.
Let the sauce sit in the pot for a few minutes to cool slightly, then pour it into a heat-safe glass jar. Allow it to cool, then cover the jar and move it to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours so it can finish thickening.
Serve cold or warm in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Notes
Please take the time to read all of the information and FAQ info above, as well as the notes below before making this recipe to ensure success.
This recipe makes a little under 1 cup of maple caramel sauce. The recipe can be doubled or halved.
Silk, Country Crock, Becel, Califia Farms, and Violife are just a few brands that make vegan heavy cream (also labelled as vegan whipping cream). If you can't find any of these brands, you can use canned full-fat coconut milk or canned lite coconut milk instead but your sauce will have a coconut flavour.
Refrigerate any unused sauce in a covered glass jar. When you're ready to use it again, you will find that it has crystallized a little. To fix that, microwave for 20-30 seconds and it will return to its original consistency. When warmed, the sauce will thin out, it will thicken again as it cools.
The sauce will last for 1 week in the fridge.
Nutrition info is for 1 tablespoon of sauce prepared as the recipe is written, no salt. The nutrition info below is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.