Vegan Date Caramel Cups with Almonds
Vegan Date Caramel Cups with Almonds
Ever heard of date caramel? Well, it’s the vegan way of making caramel by using dates and coconut milk or nut milk instead of the traditional way which uses butter, cream and sugar. It’s also way easier to make than traditional caramel. All you have to do is chop the dates, either by hand or using a food processor, and then simmer them in a pot with a little coconut cream until is resembles well … caramel! Of course, it won’t be exactly like regular caramel, but pretty close! Bonus: you only need 7 ingredients to make them:
Chocolate - Any vegan melting chocolate or chocolate chips would work for this recipe. If you are not vegan, go ahead and use your favourite chocolate.
Dates - I used medjool dates for this recipe. Make sure you get pitted dates to save you time and effort!
Coconut cream - The coconut cream is the other half of the “caramel". It gets simmered down with the dates to create a smooth and silky caramel-y filling.
Vanilla - Stirring in a little vanilla extract at the end adds a really nice flavour to the caramel. Make sure you don’t skip this part!
Salt - As you know, whether it’s with cooking or baking, salt is a very crucial ingredient for so many reasons. For traditional caramels, it acts as a stabilizer and helps to bring the mixture together. For this recipe, it doesn’t play as big a role, although it is still important to add for flavour purposes. Salt always enhances flavour, so don’t forget this key ingredient to make your fate caramel taste amazing!
Almonds - I love adding some chopped almonds on top of these little cups for added texture and flavour. They are optional, but I think they add a nice crunch to the cups. You can use any nut, of course.
Flakey sea salt - Speaking of salt, I am a big fan of the chocolate and sea salt trend, so I love adding a little extra on top along with the almonds. Yum, yum, yum. Optional, but recommended.
If anyone in the family has a nut allergy, simply omit the almonds and settle for a little flakey sea salt; also delicious! These little morsels are so nice to have on hand when you need a little something after dinner. They’re fun to make and they keep forever in the fridge (if they last)! I promise the whole family will love them.
Vegan Date Caramel Cups with Almonds
Vegan Date Caramel Cups with Almonds
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups vegan chocolate chips or melting chocolate
- 1/2 tsp coconut oil
- 190g pitted Medjool dates
- 190ml coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp chopped almonds, for topping
- *Optional* flakey sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Line a mini muffin tin with 24 mini paper liners and set aside.
- Make the date caramel: chop the dates by hand or using a food processor and then transfer them to a small pot. Pour the coconut milk/cream over the dates, add 1/2 tsp sea salt and stir over medium heat until the dates have loosened and a smooth texture is achieved. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Once the caramel is completely smooth, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second increments, stirring each time until smooth.
- Pour about 2 tsp of melted chocolate into the bottoms of each of the prepared paper liners. Spoon the chocolate up the sides of the liners to create a shell. Put the pan in the fridge to set up for about 15-20 minutes. Save the rest of the chocolate for later.
- Remove the pan from the fridge and spoon about 1 tsp of date caramel into each chocolate shell, flattening it to reach the edges.
- Reheat the rest of the chocolate if needed and then pour it over top of each caramel cup until the "caramel" is completely covered and the top is level.
- Sprinkle the tops of the caramel cups with chopped almonds and flakey sea salt and then transfer to the fridge again to set up, about 15-20 minutes.
- Enjoy!