Peanut Butter Coconut Caramel Dip

 Anyone else ever get caramel cravings?

Caramel sauce is pretty easy to make, and I decided to try making some with coconut milk a while ago. Coconut milk has low enough fat content that it didn't work the way I hoped, and I had to use some cream to get the sauce back to a good consistency, but then it was thinner than I wanted it.  I added some peanut butter to thicken it, and was like, "Eureka!"  So, to intentionally make peanut butter coconut caramel dip...



...you need:
Sugar 
Brown Sugar
Butter
Cream
Coconut Milk
Peanut Butter

Start by pouring the sugar in a wide pan.  You want a wide pan, even for a small amount, because you want as much sugar as possible in contact with the heat.  For a 7-inch pan, use 1/2 cup or so of sugar.  Add about 1/2 Tbsp butter, (just a little bit) to keep things from sticking, and about 1 Tbsp brown sugar (a caramel shortcut).  Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the sugar starts to melt.

SLOWLY add the cream (about 2 Tbsp), stirring frantically so that clumps of sugar don't form.  Follow this by adding about 2 Tbsp of coconut milk.  Let the caramel simmer for a bit, cooking off extra liquid, giving any clumps a chance to dissolve, and allowing a little more time for caramelized flavors to blend.  Turn off the heat, stir in about 3 Tbsp (a giant spoonful) of peanut butter, and allow the caramel sauce to cool a little (it will thicken as it cools, too).

If you don't have cream, you can use half-and-half.  Milk is getting a little thin-- you need the fat content of cream.

I like eating this with apples.  You could probably whip it with a bit of cream cheese and make a fantastic fruit dip.  It would also be great with something like Nilla Wafers, or poured over cake while warm (so it soaks in a little... mmm, I'm going to have to try that next time I make white cake.)