This Low Carb Caramel Apple Sauce is a warm, buttery, sugar free caramel sauce that tastes like a caramel apple in a spoon. It takes about 10 minutes and a handful of ingredients, and it's made for pouring over pancakes, waffles, ice cream and cheesecake.
This post may contain affiliate links.
Just to be clear up front: this isn't applesauce, the chunky fruit kind you eat with a spoon. It's a caramel sauce with apple flavor, a pourable topping in the same family as my Low Carb Caramel Sauce. You cook a sugar free sweetener with water and butter until it turns golden, then add apple flavoring and a tiny bit of thickener so it clings to whatever you pour it over. There's no fruit in it at all, which is why it comes in at zero net carbs per serving.
It started out as a mash-up of a few recipes I'd been working on, including my Low Carb Pecan Caramel Bites and the apple flavoring left over from my Keto Apple Cinnamon Donut Bites. The result smells exactly like fall.
Where Does the Apple Flavor Come From?
All of the apple flavor comes from apple flavoring, not from real apples. Fresh apples are packed with natural sugar (a medium apple has around 20g of net carbs), so cooking them into the sauce would blow the carb count for a topping you might eat every weekend. A few drops of a concentrated flavoring gives you that unmistakable caramel apple taste for zero carbs. The butter and the browned sweetener supply the caramel side, and together they taste like the candy apples you remember from the fair.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Monk fruit sweetener with allulose. I now use Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener with Allulose for caramel. Allulose browns beautifully and, most importantly, it stays smooth once the sauce cools. A classic erythritol blend like classic Lakanto works in the same amount, but the sauce can turn a little grainy in the fridge, so serve that version warm.
- Unsalted butter. Butter is what makes this taste like caramel rather than flavored syrup. If you only have salted butter, use it and you've got a gentle salted caramel apple sauce.
- Baking soda. Just a pinch. It makes the sauce foam up for a moment and gives it a lighter, more caramel-like color and flavor.
- Apple flavoring. I use LorAnn super-strength apple flavoring, which comes in tiny bottles and is three to four times stronger than a regular extract. If you're using a standard apple extract from the baking aisle, start with about ½ teaspoon instead of a few drops.
- Thickener. A small sprinkle of xanthan gum turns the thin syrup into a glossy, pourable sauce. You only need about ¼ teaspoon. A gentler zero carb thickener such as LC Foods' Thick'n Saucy works too; you can use up to a full teaspoon of that.
Helpful Tips
Use a small, heavy-bottomed pan. With such a small amount of liquid, a wide or thin pan lets the sauce scorch before it has a chance to turn golden. A small saucepan keeps the depth up so it cooks evenly.
Watch the color, not the clock. Allulose browns faster than sugar does. Once the edges start turning amber, you're nearly there. If it's darkening too quickly, turn the heat down to medium-low rather than walking away.
Add the flavoring off the heat. Flavorings lose some punch in a bubbling pan. Stir the apple flavoring in after you take the pan off the burner, then taste and add another drop or two if you want it stronger.
Sprinkle, don't dump, the thickener. Xanthan gum clumps if it lands in one spot. Sprinkle it lightly over the surface while you whisk constantly. A silicone whisk is perfect here because it won't scratch a non-stick pan.
Give it a minute before adding more thickener. The sauce keeps thickening as it cools. Let it stand for a minute or two before deciding it needs more, or you can end up with something closer to a spread than a sauce.
Variations
- Apple pie spice. Whisk in ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, or a pinch of apple pie spice, along with the apple flavoring.
- Salted caramel apple. Add a pinch of salt to the pan, then finish each serving with a few flakes of sea salt.
- Creamy caramel apple. Stir in a tablespoon or two of heavy cream after the baking soda for a richer, paler, more toffee-like sauce.
- Vanilla caramel. Add ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract with the apple flavoring for a rounder flavor.
- Different fruit. Swap the apple flavoring for pear, banana or butter rum flavoring. The method stays exactly the same.
Serving Ideas
Breakfast is where this sauce really shines. Pour it warm over a stack of Low Carb Fluffy Pancakes or Low Carb Almond Pancakes, or over Keto Cream Cheese Waffles (Chaffles!) instead of maple syrup.
For dessert, drizzle it over a scoop of Sugar Free No Carb Ice Cream (yes, I eat ice cream all year round), a slice of No Bake Keto Cheesecake, or a warm bowl of Low Carb Apple Crumble (Made with Jicama) for a double dose of apple. It also makes a fun dip for Low Carb Cinnamon Chips, and a spoonful stirred into hot coffee makes a cozy caramel apple latte.
Storing & Freezing
Let any leftover sauce cool, then keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 1 week. It firms up when cold, so rewarm it before serving: microwave it in 10 to 15 second bursts, stirring in between, or set the jar in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Freeze it in a small airtight container or in an ice cube tray so you can thaw just a serving or two at a time. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then rewarm and whisk until smooth again. If you made it with an erythritol sweetener and it turns grainy after chilling, gently warming it while stirring usually brings it back.
FAQ
Is this the same as applesauce?
No. It's a caramel sauce, a pourable topping like butterscotch or chocolate sauce, that happens to taste of apple. Use it the way you'd use caramel or maple syrup.
How many carbs are in low carb caramel apple sauce?
Each 2 tablespoon serving works out to 0g net carbs and about 76 calories, which makes it keto friendly too. The sweetener is counted as zero net carbs, and the tiny amount of xanthan gum is all fiber.
Can I use real apples instead of flavoring?
You can, but it changes the recipe completely. Even a small amount of cooked apple adds several grams of net carbs per serving. If you'd like real apple pieces, a better option is to spoon this sauce over a jicama-based apple crumble, which tastes surprisingly like the real thing.
Why did my sauce turn grainy?
That's the sweetener recrystallizing, which happens with erythritol-based sweeteners as the sauce cools. Switching to an allulose-based sweetener fixes it. In the meantime, rewarm the sauce gently and whisk, and serve it warm.
My sauce is too thick. What do I do?
Whisk in a teaspoon of hot water at a time over low heat until it's pourable again. Next time, start with a little less thickener and give the sauce a minute to set before adding more.
More Low Carb Caramel Recipes
If you loved this sauce, here are a few more sweet treats you might enjoy:
- Low Carb Caramel Sauce
- Low Carb Caramel Apple Cocktail
- Low Carb Salted Caramel Ice Cream
- Low Carb Caramelized Pecans
📖 Recipe
Low Carb Caramel Apple Sauce
Ingredients
Equipment
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add the sweetener and water to a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sweetener has dissolved and the liquid looks clear, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the butter. Let it melt and simmer, stirring now and then, until the mixture bubbles and turns golden amber at the edges, 4-6 minutes. Watch it closely, as allulose browns faster than sugar; turn the heat down to medium-low if it darkens too quickly.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the baking soda. The sauce will foam up, then settle. Stir in the apple flavoring, then taste and add another drop or two if you'd like a stronger apple flavor.
- Sprinkle the xanthan gum slowly over the surface while whisking constantly, and keep whisking for about 30 seconds until smooth. The sauce thickens more as it cools, so let it stand for a minute before deciding whether to add more thickener.
- Serve warm, drizzled over pancakes, waffles, ice cream or cheesecake. Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed jar and rewarm gently before serving.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is my best approximation. Net carbs are calculated as the total grams carbs minus the total grams of fiber.
Anne Vanderwalde says
What is carb thicker?
Georgina says
low carb thickener is a product from LC Foods - it's doesn't contain any carbs and works really well! Here's the link!
Karen Ratzel says
Your amt per serving is missing
Georgina says
I was so excited by the recipe that I didn't measure the exact final volume - although from what I remember it made about three quarters of a cup, so serving size would be approximately three tablespoons, as the recipe serves four. Next time I make it I'll check and confirm this.