3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Caramel. No, you are not dreaming, this is real life. I know, I know….another post involving peanut butter. I swear, I normally don’t eat that much peanut butter at all during the year. For some weird reason lately though, many of my recipe ideas involve peanut butter. Sue me.
This recipe is actually a spinoff of my previous post of my 6 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups. This caramel was inspired by the filling of those peanut butter cups, but the amounts have been adjusted and then heated over the stove. It turned out to be the most easiest, dreamiest peanut butter caramel ever.
I’ve made almond butter caramel, coconut butter caramel and even one of my most popular recipes, sweet potato caramel. Now, it was only expected, and a must, to add peanut butter caramel to the blog, am I right?
The reason for this recipe is more than just because we all want to devour it, there’s more to it. It’s the special topping on my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes.
Whoa. Yeah. A reader had emailed me asking me to come up with an over-the-top pancake recipe to serve and “WOW” her guests and I figured those pancakes weren’t enough (yeah right) to wow, they also needed some gooey caramel. This recipe was so worthy of it’s own post, I just had to post them separately on my blog.
Besides, it’s only 3 ingredients you probably already have in your pantry….
Peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla. That’s it. All you need to make some 3 ingredient vegan peanut butter caramel to knock your socks off.
I had originally planned on doing a savory post next, but after I asked on this Facebook post who wanted to see the pancakes and caramel recipes, you all begged for them to be up in time for Easter weekend!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this caramel. Drop me a line below letting me know what you thought after you made it. You can also tag me on Instagram at #thevegan8 and show me your fancy pics!
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Caramel
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (160g) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (64g) creamy natural peanut butter (mine only has salt added, almond butter works too)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt if your peanut butter has none
- water to thin if desired
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, add all of the ingredients and turn the heat to medium. Whisk well as it warms up and the ingredients become smooth. Once it comes to a boil, whisk continuously for about a minute or so until it starts to thicken up. That's it! It happens quickly. If using almond butter, it takes a tad longer to thicken up. Keep in mind, the longer you cook it, the thicker it will get. It will thicken up a ton as it cools as well. Remove from the heat and let it slightly cool before serving. If using on pancakes or you want to thin it out, add a little water to desired thickness.
- Note: this caramel will thicken even more as it sits, so just gently reheat it or add some water to thin it out some, if desired. I added water to mine the next day.
- To make Caramel Popcorn: Just stir the hot caramel all over popped popcorn and stir around and let cool a couple of minutes.
I just made this as a topping for popcorn and I’m so impressed, it turned out buttery and smooth and just complimented the popcorn so well. I’m probably just going to use this as my go to topping for everything now, it’s so good. Thank you so much!!
Such a wonderful idea to put onto popcorn Mira-ella! I totally need to try that. I’m so happy you loved it, thank you so much for the feedback!
Can you use agave nectar instead of maple syrup?
Definitely! It will change the flavor slightly, but still be good! Let me know what you think of it!
This absolutely delicious!! will be making this again!!
Wonderful Lauren, I’m so happy to hear you loved it!
Do you think molasses would work? Got a jar that needs used up!?
Hi Tommi! I wouldn’t use molasses instead of syrup because that flavor is not very sweet at all and I really don’t think it would taste that good with peanut butter. I think it’d be overpowering, personally.
The caramel looks so amazing! I have an unhealthy obsession with peanut butter so I’m obviously obsessed with this 🙂
Hi Brandi,
Do you think this would be a good sauce to use to make caramel apples with? I was looking for a recipe to make chocolate covered apples since vegan caramel recipes are so involved but also realllly wanted a way to get pb on the apples too- this seems like the perfect recipe.
I’m thinking dip them in this, let cool, then dip in chocolate – what do you think?
Hi Patty! Yes, I think so. This caramel gets super thick just like traditional caramel and thickens even more as it cools, so I think if you dipped the apples in the caramel quickly while it’s hot and then set them to cool and then coat with chocolate, that would be really yummy! Let me know if you try it!
I’ve been looking for a caramel PB topping for a chocolate cake I’m making tomorrow, and I believe I have found the perfect recipe! So excited to try this, especially if it thickens up a bit. I also plan on making those delicious looking pancakes soon, too! Thanks so much! I just stumbled upon your site tonight, and I plan on using it often!
If you have nut allergies, you can use sunflower butter and maple syrup together to make a vegan caramel. It is SO good.
Yes, I always tell people to sub with sunbutter in my recipes if allergic!
Ok. Seriously. This recipe should come with a warning. Sirens. Big, flashing lights. Because it is DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS!! I was skeptical before staring and have had it bookmarked for a while. What was I thinking waiting so long to make it?? It is soooooo good, sooooo easy and, as stated, soooooo delicious! Thanks so much for a great recipe!!
Haha! So happy you loved it so much Rose! I agree, it’s very dangerous, lol! Thank you so much for the review!
Awful?? It’s just maple syrup and peanut butter so I imagine you don’t care for either one of those to say it tastes “awful”. We love it, and so have all the other readers, sorry to hear you didn’t!
Made this to go on waffles tonight. Everyone loves it!
Yay!! So glad to hear everybody loved it!
I’m looking for a caramel cake frosting. Would this work? It sure looks yummy!
Hi, I’m not sure what you mean by a frosting, but this is a sticky caramel consistency that you could certainly use to drizzle on top of cakes, brownies or whatever you like!
Can I can this for a longer shelf life
Hi Dawn, I have no canning experience so I’m afraid I can’t give advice on that. However, since this is just peanut butter and maple syrup, it will last a long time in the fridge!
Absolutely delicious! Drizzled it over a banana, chocolate chunk cake…..😋
Tried to post a pic but didn’t work 🙁
Yes, the system doesn’t allow photos! But lots of readers post on Instagram or Facebook and tag me so I can see them that way!
That is so wonderful to hear Gina, I’m so happy you loved this!
So will this set up to a pretty solid consistency if left over night in a small tart crust? Asking for quarantine reasons.
Hi Diane! Yes, if heated long enough, it gets quite thick and firm as it continues to cool and sit.
This recipe is amazing! I’m a huge fan of peanut butter so bring able to create a rich caramel-like sauce like this is perfect. It’s so quick and easy to make, too.
SO very happy to hear that Matt!!
I never heard of pb caramel sauce until I was watching The Great British Baking Show and a contestant made it from scratch. This looks like the best recipe online and I am pretty sure I will love this in a grannysmith apple pie I am making next week. Was thinking of adding coconut cream to the mixture to get a super gooey consistency. Would that be a good flavor you think?
Hi Courtney, the mixture is already really thick and gooey from the peanut butter, as seen in the photos. Cooking it with the syrup makes it very thick and gooey, so I’d make it as is and if you want to add some cream to it still, then you can. Feel free to experiment!
I tried freezing the caramel in little silicon molds so I could use them to stuff cookies but the caramel stuck to the molds no matter how long I had them in the freezer. Any thoughts on how to remedy this? Otherwise this caramel is sooo delicious!!
I’ve never froze it, but I would try spraying the mold with nonstick spray or using parchment paper liners as nothing seems to stick to those!