Vegan Caramel Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Cashew

by: Food52

April3,2018

4.6

7 Ratings

Prep time 10 minutes
Makes 1/2 cup

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

From Sweet Laurel: Recipes for Whole Food, Grain-Free Desserts cookbook: "Our favorite way of serving it is on top of sliced bananas, or with a piece of dark chocolate. We won’t judge if you eat this straight out of the jar with a spoon!"

Featured in: A No-Cook Caramel You'll Eat by the Spoonful —Food52

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

¹/₄ cupalmond or cashew butter or puree, store-bought or homemade
¹/₄ cupmaple syrup
2 tablespoonscoconut oil, melted
1 or 2 fresh dates, pitted
1 teaspoonvanilla extract
1 pinchHimalayan pink salt

Directions

Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
Transfer the caramel to a glass jar and place in the refrigerator to chill. The caramel will stiffen up in the refrigerator, so if your recipe calls for it to be spreadable, let the caramel sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, and give it a good stir before using. The caramel will keep for about 1 month, refrigerated.
Notes:If you want a thinner sauce to drizzle on top of a dessert, just add another 2 tablespoons maple syrup. For a denser, caramel candy texture, add 2 more dates. For spreading on cake layers, add 2 tablespoons almond or cashew butter. Because this recipe contains fresh dates—which will ferment over time—it’s important to keep the caramel refrigerated.

Tags:

American
Cashew
Date
Maple Syrup
Vegan
Dessert
Snack

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Hannah
cyndilurks
Laura415
See Also
4-Ingredient Oreo Balls (Easy Recipe) - Sally's Baking Addiction Vaniljkakor (Swedish Vanilla Cookies) Recipe - Food.com Margaret Fox's Amazon Chocolate Cake Recipe on Food52 Chocolate Caramels Recipe on Food52
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Stephanie Van Vuuren

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19 Reviews

Rinds B. February 18, 2024

What an incredible recipe, for someone with Hashimoto’s, I have to limit what I eat, and this is a great replacement for caramel. I’m surprised at how gooey it is. You can thin it down if need be, but I like the thickness of it so I can eat it with a spoon. Any sweet cravings are satisfied! No need for a fancy dessert, especially in the middle of a busy workweek. One doesn’t need many tools or ingredients either. Thank you for this recipe!

Hannah November 24, 2020

I used grape seed oil and almond butter, and this came out delicious. I also made a second version of this with pumpkin seed butter for someone who is allergic to nuts, and even though it came out an unappealing brown-green color, I liked the taste of this better!

cyndilurks October 12, 2019

I was so hopeful that this would be a great vegan substitute for caramel, but I was disappointed. I made it with cashew butter, and it has a bit of a nutty background to the flavor, which is not terrible, but makes it unsuitable for a drizzle on apple pie. In my ignorance I used medjool dates. Would fresh dates have made that much of a difference?

T April 30, 2019

This is delicious! I just had my 1st caramel apple in at least 20 years. (Cut up and dipped) I dont eat sugar unless it's coconut sugar, maple syrup or honey. So this worked out perfectly with almond butter. It would work with agave and if you can't find dates, I'm sure it would work anyway. I followed the recipe exactly as is.

Amy M. December 22, 2018

Can editor confirm that fresh dates are called for? They are seasonal and very hard to come by, even in Brooklyn with its wealth of middle eastern groceries. Commenters NC and Laura415 are offering sources for dried dates, not the same, but you haven't contradicted them, so I'm not sure.