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Date Caramel

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Thick, luscious, creamy & sweet Date Caramel. No cooking is involved & it can be ready in minutes. It’s refined sugar & gluten-free & you can customize the thickness to make it as thick & spreadable or as thin and sauce-like as you want! 

Date Caramel drizzling from a spoon into a jar

Healthy caramel? Really? Who would have thought you could make caramel from dates?

Well you can.

This Date Caramel is so rich, thick and luscious and it’s made from only four ingredients (plus salt). You could technically make it with just one ingredient (that would be dates), but I like to add a little extra richness to it in the form of some nut butter, coconut milk and vanilla. Salt is also kind of important. You wouldn’t think it, but it makes such a difference.

Date Caramel in a glass jar

HOW DO YOU MAKE DATE CARAMEL?

SEE MY VIDEO FOR A VISUAL GUIDE. FOR INGREDIENTS & FULL INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST

Making Date Caramel is incredibly easy.

Here’s how:

STEP 1

Add dates plus the nut/seed butter, vanilla and salt to a food processor or high powered blender.

STEP 2

Blend whilst adding coconut milk gradually until you get the texture you want. It’s totally customizable and you can adjust it to suit whatever you plan to do with it.

That’s it!

It’s so simple and it tastes way better than you would imagine Date Caramel would taste.

A NOTE ON EQUIPMENT

It should be pretty easy for a high powered blender like a Blendtec. ( <<< affiliate link) or a Vitamix. 

If you have  a less powerful one that might struggle a bit, you can soak the dates in warm water for ten minutes first to make things easier . If you don’t have a blender, a food processor does a really good job too. I have this one ( <<< affiliate link) and it gets it really smooth in a few minutes:

HOW CAN YOU USE DATE CARAMEL?

Try it in my Healthy Caramel Cookie Cups:

Healthier Chocolate Caramel Cookie Cups nestled in a man's hands

 

Or my Healthy Caramel Chia Seed Puddings:

three small jars of chia seed pudding topped with caramel, chopped dried banana and cacao nibs

Or in my Vegan Caramel Eggs:

A vegan caramel egg split in two with oozy insides showing

Or in any other way you would regular caramel like:

  • On pancakes or waffles
  • Drizzled over oatmeal
  • On toast
  • With ice-cream
  • Use as a dip for fruit like apple slices, banana or strawberries
  • Over cakes
  • Swirled into brownies
  • Swirled through my Dessert Chocolate Hummus – Remember Rolos? That’s what it tastes like! ????
  • Spread in a banana sandwich – Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!

Dat Caramel with spoon in a glass jar

THIS IS WHY I AM LOVING THIS DATE CARAMEL:

  • It’s really quick and easy to make
  • It’s healthy
  • There’s no refined sugar or gluten
  • It’s so versatile
  • The natural sweetness is perfect
  • It’s incredibly smooth, creamy and rich

If you aren’t a fan of dates then why not give this 5 Minute Vegan Caramel Sauce a try instead? It’s rich and decadent but not quite as healthy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you did, be a ☆ and let me know what you think by rating it and commenting below. Tag me on Instagram too. I am @avirtualvegan and my hashtag is #avirtualvegan  
Date Caramel drizzling from a spoon into a jar

Date Caramel

Thick, luscious, creamy & sweet Date Caramel. No cooking is involved & it can be ready in minutes. It's refined sugar & gluten-free & you can customize the thickness to make it as thick & spreadable or as thin and sauce-like as you want! 
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: gluten-free, oil-free option, Refined sugar-free, vegan
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Makes: 1 cup (approx)
Calories: 116kcal
Author: Melanie McDonald

Ingredients

  • 175g / 1 packed cup Medjool dates , measured after pitting (about 10 dates). *
  • 2 tablespoons nut butter, sunflower seed butter or tahini **
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt , plus more to taste if you want a salted caramel effect
  • around 8 tablespoons coconut milk , or as much/little as you need to get the thickness you want ***

Instructions

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

Notes

*The dates need to be soft and sticky and not really dry and tough. If they are are pretty dried out, soak them in warm water for 10 - 15 minutes before draining and using. if you do not have a high powered blender I would recommend doing this even if your dates are quite soft as it will make things easier for your blender. 
**Cashew, sunflower seed butter or almond butter will give mild, buttery results. Tahini (my favourite for this) will make a stronger flavoured caramel. Whilst you can use peanut butter I don't think it works as well as the others in this recipe. 
***I used light coconut milk. Full fat coconut milk will make a slightly richer caramel but will set up firmer if the caramel is stored in the fridge. 
Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for around 7 days. 
________________________________________________________
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you did, be a ☆ and let me know what you think by rating it and commenting below. Tag me on Instagram too. I am @avirtualvegan and my hashtag is #avirtualvegan 
________________________________________________________

Estimated nutrition per serving:

Serving: 34g (about 1/8 of the entire recipe | Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 1.2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 83mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1% | Calcium: 4% | Iron: 4%
Tried this recipe?Tag @avirtualvegan on Instagram and hashtag it #avirtualvegan

A Virtual Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post may contain affiliate links.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Khadijah says

    May 26, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    I have a question if I am allergic to almonds can I use different milk for example cows or is that a bad idea.

    Btw I am not allergic to almonds I just don’t like them. But
    Love this recipe

    Reply

  4. Jeannette Nussbaumer says

    May 5, 2018 at 4:16 pm


    Amazing and delicious! I tweaked it a little for my taste, by adding more vanilla and used vanilla paste instead. I also used coconut cream with some h20. Almond butter lends a nice texture and mild flavor as well. So happy I found this recipe! Thank you for sharing :-) look forward to adding to smoothies, oats, and homemade yogurt!

    Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      March 5, 2018 at 1:49 pm

      The coconut milk helps to make it really rich in flavour but you could use plant-based milk instead. Be sure to use one with a neutral flavour. Cashew milk would probably be good. Because it’s a bit thinner you might need less.

      Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      February 20, 2018 at 11:58 am

      Thank you Mary Ellen. I hope you all enjoy it. I’ve had a jar on the go in the fridge ever since it’s creation!

      Reply

  15. Louise says

    February 16, 2018 at 1:13 pm


    Lovely flavour. My food processor is not the most powerful, so the texture wasn’t totally smooth, but it didn’t matter. Will definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      February 16, 2018 at 2:12 pm

      Thank you Louise. I’m so glad you like it. Did you try soaking the dates in warm water for a little while before? If you didn’t try it next time as it will get them really soft and make it easier to get a smoother result.

      Reply

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