I love caramels! In fact I love most sweet things but caramels are just so buttery and wonderful. A couple of months ago when I decided to eat a more vegan diet I slowly came to realize all the things I would be missing out on, one being caramel.

I never even considered that out in the world there might exist a vegan caramel until I read this post. So I did some researching around and found a few different recipes but most vegan caramel recipes I found called for vegan butter and I wanted to avoid that so I ended up concocting one of my own. How were they you ask? Um heavenly! Shall I share my recipe? Alright I suppose so.

Vegan Caramel recipe:

-3/4 cup of coconut milk (use full fat canned and scoop 1/4 cup of the thick cream on top and them mix and measure out the remaining 1/2 cup)
-1 cup cane sugar (I used organic)
-2/3 cup brown rice syrup
-course sea salt
Note: This would make a pretty big batch so you may want to half the recipe especially if you want to make a few flavors

Before you begin place a piece of parchment paper on a large baking sheet for the hot caramel to get poured onto. Combine all the ingredients in a heavier saucepan and place on stove over medium heat. Stir ingredients to combine and get the coconut solids melted completely. Attach your candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Stir frequently and keep an eye on the thermometer. When your thermometer reads 242 degrees F quickly pour candy onto prepared parchment paper and sprinkle with salt. Let cool completely before cutting (preferably in a non humid area). Cutting may be tricky and if you have trouble fold over the parchment paper onto the caramel and cut long strips and then into squares or rectangles-whichever you choose. I wrapped mine in wax paper to keep them fresh and so I could gift them.

Variations:
-lavender caramels/Add only the coconut milk to the pan plus 2 teaspoons of lavender flowers, bring to a boil, remove from burner and let steep for 20-30 mins, strain the flowers out, add coconut milk back to pan, add sugars and proceed. I also added some lavender flowers to the salt for sprinkling on top.
-anise caramels/Add to the pan 1 teaspoon of ground anise seed. You can also add ground anise to the salt as in the lavender caramels.
-pecan and chocolate caramels/Right when the caramel reaches 242 degrees F add in about 1/3 cup of chopped pecans, stir quickly, and pour on parchment paper. Let cool completely, melt some vegan chocolate and drizzle on top, let cool completely again.

Enjoy! Also let me know if you try these or if you have any other flavor suggestions. I might try peanut better next. Mmm…This could be dangerous.