Paleo Salted Caramel Brownies
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Vegetarian or Vegan
- Pescatarian
If I could eat one dessert for the rest of my life it would probably be these Paleo Salted Caramel Brownies. OMG. These are to die for. I probably say that about half of the things I post on this blog, but seriously, I mean it with this one. These are out of this world good. I may or may not be eating one of these as I type. I just can’t keep my hands off them.
These little babies were inspired by my favorite Southern Living brownie recipe: Double Chocolate Brownies. Chocolate twice because it’s just better that way. Melted chocolate in the batter and chocolate chunks stirred in. Perfection. Top it all off with some delicious ooey gooey paleo salted caramel sauce made from honey and coconut sugar and you’ve got the ultimate indulgent treat. Salted caramel is always a good decision. And in the case of these brownies, it takes them from awesome to mind-blowing. You may not want to share these 😉
If you’ve never made caramel sauce before, it is really easy. I know it sounds intimidating, but it shouldn’t be. And for my recipe you don’t even need a candy thermometer! No need to make it more complicated than it is.
I’ve made this caramel sauce completely paleo by making it with a combination of honey, coconut sugar, and coconut milk instead of traditional refined cane sugar and heavy cream. I think you’ll find that this caramel sauce is more flavorful and fragrant than the traditional stuff anyway. My husband says this is the best caramel he’s ever had. And he regularly eats all sorts of non-paleo stuff. So that’s saying something.
One thing I find annoying about most caramel sauces is that in order to use them after refrigeration you have to reheat them in the microwave or a water bath before you can drizzle them on anything. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I’ve eliminated the need for reheating by making this caramel sauce the perfect drizzling texture right out of the fridge.
The best thing about this caramel sauce is that you can make it all within the time that the brownies are baking! How’s that for efficiency?
Okay, I lied, the best thing about this salted caramel is the smell. The taste is wonderful, but the smell is something else entirely. It’s pretty much the best smell I’ve ever smelled. Something about the mixture of the caramelized honey, coconut sugar, and vanilla is just unreal. If someone could please make this into a candle, I promise I will buy a million of them plus half the stock in your company. K thanks.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Let’s get baking!
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Paleo Salted Caramel Brownies
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Vegetarian or Vegan
- Pescatarian
Ingredients
Brownies
- 7 oz 200g dairy-free dark chocolate, divided
- 1 cup tightly packed 150g almond flour
- 1/4 cup 30g arrowroot powder
- 1/2 tsp double acting aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup 113g grass-fed salted butter or ghee, softened
- 1 cup 170g coconut sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Flaked sea salt for topping
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 1/2 cup 170g honey
- 1/4 cup 42g coconut sugar
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk room temperature
- 2 Tbsp 28g salted grass-fed butter or ghee
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Brownies
- Preheat oven to 350ºF/177ºC.
- Line an 8x8” baking dish with parchment paper. Line with two overlapping and overhanging sheets for easy removal.
- Melt half of the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Chop the other half of the chocolate into small chunks.
- Combine almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder, and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and break up any clumps. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together softened butter and coconut sugar on a medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping bottom and sides as needed.
- While beating at a low speed, add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Drizzle in melted chocolate. Add vanilla. Mix well on a low speed.
- Slowly add in dry ingredients while beating at a low speed, stopping to scrape bottom and sides as needed.
- Once everything is well combined, mix in the chopped chocolate by hand.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish, spread and flatten with a silicon spatula.
- Bake on the center rack for 30-35 minutes or until set in the middle.
- While the brownies are baking, start making the salted caramel sauce.
- Once the brownies are done baking, cool in the baking dish on a cooling rack.
- Once cool, remove using the parchment overhang and slice into pieces on a cutting board.
- Drizzle with salted caramel sauce and sprinkle with flaked sea salt.
Salted Caramel Sauce
- Whisk together honey and coconut sugar in a saucepan with high sides.
- Heat the pan over medium heat for 10 minutes, whisking a few times with a silicon whisk during the process. The honey and sugar mixture will boil and start to brown.
- After 10 minutes, remove from heat and carefully pour in coconut milk and whisk well. Be careful when pouring in coconut milk because the caramel will be very hot and will bubble up when coconut milk is added.
- Add butter, vanilla, and salt and whisk until butter melts.
- Return to heat and cook over medium heat for 10 more minutes.
- Remove from heat, pour into a jar, and allow to cool.
- Use right away on the brownies OR for a thicker, lighter color caramel sauce, cool in the refrigerator before drizzling on the brownies.
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 weeks in a sealed jar. Caramel will thicken under refrigeration.
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How did yours turn out? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!
xx Kit
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These look amazing!! My daughter was asking for brownies yesterday. Planning to make them this week
Hi, Gina! Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Greetings ! I have just found your Blog and you have some recipes that I can’t wait to try. I have dietary restrictions due to IBS and am always looking for and working on recipes to satisfy my cravings “legally”. In your recipe for Salted Caramel Sauce, is there another “milk” that I can use instead of the Coconut milk ? I’ve become maxed-out with all the coconut in what recipes I’ve been allowed.
Many thanks,
Susan
Hi, Susan! So sorry for the delay! We were on vacation 🙂 Do you mean that you are tired of coconut and the coconut flavor in things? Or do you mean you can’t handle it because of your IBS? Sorry it’s a little unclear! If you don’t want a coconut taste, you’re in luck! This salted caramel sauce doesn’t have a detectable coconut flavor as long as you choose a coconut milk that also doesn’t have a strong coconut flavor (something like Thai Kitchen is good! If you are sensitive to it because of IBS and are looking for an alternative, then I can’t promise it will work, but you could try reducing a homemade cashew milk. I haven’t tried it though, so I don’t know if it would work! If you can tolerate dairy, then I recommend making it with heavy cream, just like a traditional caramel sauce. I hope you enjoy the recipes!
Hi, Kit. Thanks a lot for your recipes, they’re very helpful. I’d like to answer one question, can I remove honey from this caramel recipe and add water? Honey by heating over 60 degree emits harmful substances. Can you give me any advice?
So glad you enjoy my recipes! I have not heard that before about heating honey! That is interesting! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to look in to that. What harmful substances does it emit? I wouldn’t omit the honey or add water, but you could try to replacing with maple syrup and see how it goes! I can’t guarantee that it will work or that it will taste like caramel, but it may be worth a shot if you want to try!
My daughter is completely dairy free, not just lactose intolerant. You have butter listed and ghee is still butter. I’m nervous about using butter flavored coconut oil or Earth balance butter substitute. I have made my own caramel sauce for years and I can’t imagine using a sub. Have you tried using a sub?
Hi, Bethany! I think you could definitely use coconut oil, palm shortening, or a vegan buttery spread. The taste might not be as rich as with butter, but I think the recipe would still work. I’ve seen plenty of vegan caramel recipes with coconut oil!
How did the dairy-free butter substitution go? I want to try this too and am not sure what to try!
I haven’t heard back about it yet.