Date Caramel

Name: Date Caramel
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 packed cup (175 grams) Medjool dates (, measured after pitting (about 10 to 11 dates)); 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter (, or tahini); ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; ¼ teaspoon sea salt; Approximately 8 tablespoons creamy plant milk (, I like to use canned coconut milk )

5 from 14 votes

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Thick, gooey and deliciously sweet Date Caramel. No cooking and ready in minutes! This easy raw caramel is healthy, refined sugar-free & you can customize the thickness to make it as thick or thin and sauce-like as you want!

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Date Caramel? Really? Who would have thought you could make caramel from dates? Well, you can with just four ingredients, and it is rich, thick and incredibly delicious.

In fact it is so good that you might well find yourself standing in front of your blender with a spoon for an extended period of time. This caramel is not messing around!

In this post:

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Ingredients
How To Make Date Caramel?
Storing Date Caramel
Serving Suggestions
Recipe FAQS
Recipe
Reviews & Questions

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you need to make your own delicious, naturally dairy-free and gluten-free vegan date caramel sauce:

You could technically make this raw date caramel with just one ingredient (that would be Medjool dates) and a drop of water, but I really like to add a little extra richness in the form of some nut (or seed) butter, coconut milk (or other creamy plant milk such as oat, cashew or almond milk), vanilla and sea salt. These additions not only make the caramel richer, they also make it taste incredible!

Peanut butter is delicious in this, but if you prefer a less obviously "nutty" flavour, use almond butter or cashew butter. Sunflower seed butter or tahini are great alternatives if you need to keep the recipe nut-free.

Success tip - Don't skip the pinch of salt. It enhances the caramel flavor and sweetness!

How To Make Date Caramel?

Making vegan Date Caramel is incredibly easy. Here's how:

Add dates plus the nut/seed butter, vanilla and salt to a food processor or high powered blender.
Blend whilst adding coconut milk gradually until you get the texture you want. The consistency is customizable. Adjust it to suit whatever you plan to do with it by adding more or less coconut milk.

Success tip - If your dates are dry and hard or you have a less powerful blender or food processor that you think might struggle a bit, you can soak the dates in warm water for ten minutes prior to blending everything. That will make it easier and give you much smooth results.

Storing Date Caramel

Date Caramel will keep in the refrigerator for up to 14 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Freezing in an ice cube tray makes it quick and easy to defrost a small portion.

Serving Suggestions

Use date caramel sauce just as you would regular caramel sauce. It's great for drizzling on just about anything. Some ideas include:

Healthy Caramel Cookie Cups
Caramel Chia Seed Puddings
Vegan Caramel Eggs
On pancakes or waffles
Drizzled over oatmeal or on toast
With ice-cream
Used as a dip for fresh fruit like apple slices, banana or strawberries, or even some salty pretzels.
In brownies or cakes
Swirled through Dessert Chocolate Hummus - Remember Rolos? That's what this combo tastes like!

Recipe FAQS

Does date caramel taste like caramel?

Medjool dates are really sweet and sticky with a deep caramel taste. When blended up in this recipe with the added richness of coconut milk, nut butter and salt, the resulting sauce is intensely sweet, nutty and caramel-like. If you didn't know it was made from dates I don't think you would guess. It's just really, really delicious and I highly recommend you try it!

Can I use another type of date?

Medjool dates are best because they are the softest, stickiest and most caramel-like. They also blend easily. Other varieties are harder to get completely smooth and won't make such a sweet , gooey caramel. If you have to use a different variety, I recommend soaking in hot water for 10 minutes to soften them before proceeding with the recipe.

Recipe

Date Caramel

Author: Melanie McDonald

5 from 14 votes

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PREP 10

Total 10

Serves servings (makes about 1 cup total)

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Ingredients

▢ 1 packed cup (175 grams) Medjool dates , measured after pitting (about 10 to 11 dates)
▢ 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter , or tahini
▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt
▢ Approximately 8 tablespoons creamy plant milk , I like to use canned coconut milk

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT

Blendtec Blender

INSTRUCTIONS

▢
Add the dates, nut/seed butter, vanilla and salt to a food processor or high powered blender. Blend until completely smooth, while gradually adding the plant milk to get the caramel to the thickness you want. The more milk you add the thinner the caramel will become.
▢
Scrape the caramel from the bowl and into a jar with a spatula.

NOTES

Storage - Date Caramel will keep in the refrigerator for up to 14 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Freezing in an ice cube tray makes it quick and easy to defrost a small portion.

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NUTRITION

Did you make this recipe?Rate it & leave feedback in the comments section below. I love seeing your remakes too. Tag @avirtualvegan on Instagram! 🌟

^{This recipe was originally published on February 16th, 2018. The post has since been rewritten and republished. The recipe remains the same. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!}