Did you know you can make Dulce De Leche (caramel sauce) in the slow cooker? I had never heard of this until last month having dinner with my friend Jordan and I was blown away (you rock JC!). I love my slow cooker; I use it all the time. And I love Dulce De Leche, so why haven’t I heard of this?

But that’s wasn’t all. Did you know you can put mason jars in the slow cooker too? Where have I been that this was all news to me?!? I have eight million and one mason jars and use them for everything. Well, now I have another use and it is a good one!

And Jordan hadn’t just made dulce de leche, she had made VEGAN dulce de leche using sweetened condensed coconut milk. Yes, yes, a million times yes, this was going to happen in my kitchen too!

So, I’d heard about the boil the can of sweetened condensed milk in the pan of water for hours unend and how it would eventually caramelize into that wondrous golden syrup. And it had crossed my mind to try it with a can of sweetened condensed coconut milk, but then also, hours in the kitchen is not my style. You have to keep an eye of that pot, making sure the water doesn’t get too low and you know, you can’t leave the house when you’ve got something on the stove. Ughhh!

With a slow cooker, though, you can leave, take a nap, whatever you want, just set the timer and go on with your life. Perfect.

When folks simmer the can of the sweetened condensed milk in a pot on the stove, they put the entire unopened can in there and let it go. You can probably do this with the cans of sweetened condensed coconut milk as well, but something about simmering the can freaks me out a bit. I don’t know if stuff leaches from the can into the syrup and don’t really want to find out and also, there’s a chance the can might explode. You heard that right. Explode. Nope, not taking chances with that!. Transferring the condensed coconut milk to mason jars sounds a lot safer to me and so that’s what I did.

The world of sweetened condensed coconut milk is a new one. Just a year ago, it basically didn’t exist commercially; you had to make your own. Now, where I am in the northeast US, I can find two different brands, Let’s Do…Organic and Nature’s Charm. If you can’t find them where you are, I think you can find them both at online retailers.

For this experiment, I decided to try both and see if there was a difference and in truth, to see if it even worked at all.

Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk Nature’s Charm Brand Let’s Do Organic Brand Poured into Mason Jars

The Results!

As you can see from the pictures, it absolutely did work! Vegan Dulce de Leche, which then got drizzled all over some apple bars and nice cream. And straight into my mouth :-D.

The Nature’s Charm came out much creamier and thicker than the Let’s Do Organic. In truth, right when you open the cans, before even cooking them, you can see a difference in consistency. The Let’s Do Organic needs to be stirred as it separates for some reason. The Nature’s Charm is thick and smooth from the get go. There is obviously something different in their formulations for making coconut sweetened condensed milk. Let’s Do Organic Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk Ingredients: Organic Coconut, Water, Organic Cane Sugar. Nature’s Charm Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk Ingredients: Coconut Milk (Coconut Cream, Filtered Water), Cane Sugar, Salt

The differences in consistency continued even after they were cooked. The Nature’s Charm was thick and creamy and the Let’s Do Organic was thinner and still separated, even after 10 hours in the slow cooker. A good whisking helped emulsify the Let’s Do Organic, but it never entirely came together and nothing could make it as thick as the other one.

The Let’s Do Organic, in my opinion, has a nicer taste, stronger and more coconut-ty without being cloying. The Nature’s Charm tastes great, but there is definitely a difference.

For making Dulce de Leche, for that thick, dark, creamy consistency and flavor, I would definitely go with the Nature’s Charm. The Let’s Do Organic will work well too, just be prepared to give it a good whisking and to see some separation in the final caramel.

I added a drop or so of vanilla to one jar and a pinch of cinnamon to another. The vanilla was awesome. Other extracts would be great as well I’m sure. Or liquor. The cinnamon, I didn’t add enough, so it’s hard to say. Play around with it, experiment with flavors and see what amazing dulce de leche you can create!

Side by Side. Let’s Do Organic on L, Nature’s Charm on R. Before cooking. Ready to go in the slow cooker. After cooking.

What do you think? Have you tried this? Which one was your favorite?

Vegan Dulce de Leche (Slow Cooker Recipe) Save Print Prep time 5 mins Cook time 10 hours Total time 10 hours 5 mins Vegan Dulce de Leche Jenny Dunklee | The Lazy Vegan Baker: Jenny Dunklee Recipe type: Dessert Ingredients 1 (or two) cans sweetened condensed coconut milk **

vanilla or cinnamon or other flavoring choice, if desired Instructions Open your can of sweetened condensed coconut milk. Pour it into a glass mason jar (1 pint or ½ pint seem to be the best size for the slow cooker - there wasn't any difference in end result between the two different sizes), leaving about 1-2" at top. You can use more than one jar for this, just don't fill them too high, make sure there is at least a 1-2"gap. Put lids and bands on jars. Place in slow cooker and fill the slow cooker up with water, covering the jars completely. One inch of water above the tops of the jars should be enough to keep them covered the entire time. Set slow cooker to 10 hours (low) and go do some stuff - take the dog for a hike, take a nap, make some pie to go with the dulce de leche. Very carefully, preferably with tongs, remove the jars from the slow cooker. You can also turn it off and leave the jars in there until the water is cool enough to reach in and take them out. Open jars. Grab spoon. Dig in. Can be refrigerated in the jar for a least a week. Notes ** Depending on your slow cooker. I did two cans of sweetened condensed coconut milk and could have done more if I had some. See how many mason jars you can fit and go from there. Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe 3.5.3251

Side by Side. Let’s Do Organic on Left, Nature’s Charm on Right Let’s Do Organic Let’s Do Organic Nature’s Charm Nature’s Charm