These Keto caramels candies are a simple grandmotherly treat that you can make yourself at home. And each low carb caramel candy has less than 1g net carbs.
I can't write about Keto caramels without giving a shout out to Werther's Originals. (commercial below)
My grandmother never went anywhere without a couple caramels in her purse.
(Or "carmels, like we always pronounced it.)
I remember her handing out carmels during the most boring parts of church. (And there were a lot of boring parts in church.) Now that I've foresworn sugar, I was relieved to find a sugar-free recipe for caramel candy. This is the soft melt-in-your-mouth kind of caramel, not the hard kind. I'd put them on the fudgey end of the caramel candy spectrum.
All you need is butter, cream and a little sweetener and you too can make these Keto caramels.
First, you melt the butter over medium-low heat and cook it until it browns. Add your sweetener and pancake syrup and cook until it thickens and becomes gooey, about 3 minutes. Add cream and cook for a minute more. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and whisk until it cools a bit. Then pour it into candy molds and chill for a few hours until they harden.
And that's all it takes to make this classic treat, beloved by grandparents everywhere.
📋 Recipe
Low Carb Keto Caramels
These low carb soft caramel candies are a simple grandmotherly treat that you can make yourself at home. And each caramel has less than 1g net carbs.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 caramels 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 tablespoons sugar-free pancake syrup or equivalent sugar-free syrup
- ⅓ cup Swerve or equivalent granulated sweetener
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Attach a candy thermometer to a medium sized sauce pan. Add butter and melt over low heat. Stir in syrup and sweetener. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.
2. Simmer mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 220 degrees F, about 3 minutes. Stir in heavy whipping cream. The mixture will be bubbly.
3. Continue heating mixture, stirring constantly, until it reaches 250 degrees F, about 1 minute.. Remove mixture from heat.
4. Mix in vanilla extract and salt until smooth and combined.
5. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and whisk for several minutes as it cools down.
6. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the wells of a candy mold.
7. Freeze until set, at least 2 hours.
8. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Notes
This recipe was modified on 4-10-2019.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 caramel
- Calories: 42
- Fat: 44
- Carbohydrates: <1
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0
Keywords: Low Carb Caramels, Keto Caramels, Sugar-Free Caramels
Marie says
Oh my gosh, these are sooo good!!! Mine aren't as nice a color as yours, but they taste great! I only had unsalted butter, so I added salt a pinch at a time until I liked the taste. I made a 1/4 batch because I wanted to see if it will be suitable for what we call Millionaire's Shortbread (it's bars that are shortbread bottom layer, caramel layer, topped by a chocolate layer) These aren't sticky like "real" caramel, but I love the flavor and I think it will work fine for the bars. But I think I'll probably regularly make bite sized ones as well, I could eat these all day!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Yay! I'm so glad that you liked the caramels.
I've actually posted a version of Millionaire's Shortbread before. But I used caramel cheesecake for the caramel layer. Curious to see how it would taste with actual caramel. Check back in and let me know how it goes.
Here's my Millionaire's Shortbread: https://www.resolutioneats.com/blog/low-carb-keto-millionaires-shortbread/
Tiffany says
Sounds yummy! Can you use a liquid sweetener? I don't have any powdered, but I have a BUNCH of liquid.
EmilyKrill says
I think so, but I've never tried it so I don't know how much sweetener you'd use. Sorry!
Sues says
Yum!! I've actually never really liked Werther's, but I love homemade caramels and need to try this sugar-free version. I love the shapes, too!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Thanks! I love soft caramels too.
EmilyKrill says
Sounds like you better put them in the freezer and see if that firms them up.
Eap says
This is soooo good! Caramel is one of my favourite foods! I have modified this recipe a bit - doubled it for one thing, only use Kerrygold grass fed butter (tried it with other butters and the Kerrygold seems to brown better and impart a deeper flavour) and at the cool down stage as I’m stirring it just before pouring in the molds, I add 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of caramel extract. Not only do they look rich, they taste just like a real full sugar caramel. Thanks so much for the inspiration! This doubled recipe makes about 64 small caramels about 1 tbsp each. Combine this with a yummy gooey Keto Fudgy Brownie recipe . . . Over the top goodness!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Sweet! Those sound like great additions. I'll give them a try next time I make this recipe.
Hillary says
This is one of my favorite candy recipes on your site. It's a great recipe.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Thank you!
Emily says
Do these need to be stored in the fridge after they have set or can they be left at room temp?
Emily says
They should be fine at room temp, but they'll last longer if you store them in the fridge.
Thalita says
The link for the candy mold directs you to a bath bomb metals mold at amazon. You might want to change that lol. I’m gonna try these!!
Emily says
Whoa, weird. Thanks so much for letting me know!
miriam says
OMG! Love them. I made them today and I just happened to have SF caramel syrup and used a little of that with 3 of the swere and they are the best! Thank you so much, I love that it is butter based instead of coconut oil. Nice change! BYW, my son came over as I was putting them in the freezer and he added bacon bits to a few of them. YUM!
Emily says
Mmmmmm, bacon. That sounds delicious.
Tristen says
Hi! I made these, tonight. They have been in th freezer for several hours. But they have not hardened. They are still kind of mushy. Any ideas/thoughts? (They taste great!).
Emily says
These candies are meant to be soft caramels, not hard candies. I should add a line to the text explaining that they won't be exactly like Werther's Originals. Thanks so much for the comment. (And I'm glad you like them!)
EmilyKrill says
Well drat. I don't know why this is happening. It has always set for me.