Oh-My Caramel Sauce

Oh, how I love butter.  If I could, I would marry you, butter.  I put butter on everything.  Butter makes it better.  Never were more true words spoken.

There is something innately satisfying about eating fat, isn't there?  I mean, not just eating fat alone--no matter how many olives I eat, I am not full--grossed-out eventually, yes, but not actually full.  But fat added to foods just enhances every flavour; it gives any food a certain rich, toothy, satisfying feeling.  It adds a layer of flavour that allows you to push away from the table totally happy and sated.  Like gravy made with all the drippings.  Don't de-fat that sauce, silly!  Get it into you!  Chicken with the skin on is always tastier than skinless, no matter how you prepare it.  And you don't have to do anything fancy when you add fat to foods; the fat makes things taste better in the most SIMPLE of ways.  Nothing complicated, nothing weird.

Its hard to believe that you can make a silky sweet caramel sauce without a crap-tonne of sugar--or at least a whole bunch of really weird ingredients--but it turns out that it's one of the most simple, basic recipes out there--just fat with fat, really.  On a Whole-30 or 21-DSD, you could even just omit any sweetener at all--if you're dipping apples, there will be enough sweetness in the apples alone.  The real trick here is in letting the butter brown--but stopping before it burns.  If you like a salt-caramel flavour, go with salted butter.  It you're a purist, go with unsalted butter.  Either way, this snack food is so rich and fatty, it will keep you feeling satisfied for HOURS.  Seriously.  And happy.  Because it's freakin' delicious.


This recipe is super-rich so make sure you divide it into at least 3 servings!  (And if you have trouble digesting fats, go easy on it at first, ok?)  Remember, even though its really low in carbs, that doesn't mean you can eat a cup of it.  All things in moderation.

I could have browned the butter a little more, even.  It is a little light in colour.  I was afraid of burning it.  And it STILL tasted awesome!

This recipe idea came from Keto Cook here (with a couple of modifications).  You might be able to try this with full-fat coconut milk.  I haven't tried it with coconut milk yet.  Maybe next time....

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c butter (salted or unsalted)
• 1/4 c full-fat (whipping) cream
• 1/4 tsp maple sugar
• 2 scoops stevia (equal to flavour of 2 tsp sugar)
• splash vanilla

Method:

In a non-stick pan, melt butter over med-low heat and stir occasionally until it begins to turn light brown.  Th butter will boil a bit, the milk solids will separate and then the bubbling will settle down and it's ready at this point. Remove from heat, stir in cream and sweeteners, return to heat and stir as it bubbles until it becomes sticky and it all mixes together properly and it thickens slightly (this second part goes really fast--it only takes about a minute).  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Let it cool.

Serve for dipping apple slices.

I bet this stuff tastes just awesome as a butterscotch ripple through some coconut milk ice cream...maybe even with pecans.  Hmmm....

It sets pretty firm, too, in the fridge.  Might be able to turn it into fudge with a little experimentation, too.  I wonder if I could keep the ingredients sugar-and-sweetener-free doing it??