Vegan Caramel Slices

Our Vegan Caramel Slices are an indulgent and delicious no-bake dessert, that are naturally gluten free, and a great sweet treat for the whole family to enjoy.

We use Plant Based Whole Foods such as soft dates, cacao powder, walnuts and pecans, to make a chocolaty nut based biscuit layer. Dates and cashews to make our sweet and smooth caramel. And we then finish them off with a dark chocolate layer on top.

Jump to:

• What You'll Need
• How to Make Them
• Serving Suggestions and Variations
• How to make these Caramel Slices Raw Vegan
• Storage
• Recipe Tip
• FAQ's
• Other healthy and raw dessert ideas
• Recipe
• Comments

What You'll Need

Base Ingredients

• Cacao Powder - We often use raw cacao powder in place of the more common cocoa powder. This is because it's high in antioxidants, has a great flavour, and is still inexpensive. I buy mine by the kilo from an online Health Food Store. You can also get them in almost all health food shops, or places like Amazon. 
• Medjool Dates - Dates are full of fibre, iron, vitamin A & antioxidants, and we incorporate them in to our diet regularly. Fresh medjool dates work because of their caramel like flavour. If they’re a little dry, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes first to soften them. If you can't access medjool dates, look for another soft date in your local store to use instead.
• Pecans - Great for desserts due to how rich and creamy they are. They are brimming with nutrients that may benefit brain function, including mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Monounsaturated fatty acids, in particular, have been linked to decreased mental decline and reduced inflammation.
• Sea Salt - It's easy to become a little worried about using salt in recipes especially when it comes to feeding children. But it's important to note that salt is important for our health too, we need it as much as we need other nutrients. The key is to not add too-much. A little added to this recipe makes a huge difference to the final flavour, by really bringing out the intensity of the chocolate.
• Walnuts - A nut often praised for its high plant based Omega 3 content. They are relatively cheap and available at most supermarkets. If you aren't a fan of walnuts you can switch these for more pecans, hazelnuts or for pumpkin seeds.

Caramel Ingredients

• Almond Butter - A nut high in calcium, with a delicious flavour. We've tried omitting it and we prefer the caramel with it added, but it is optional. You can also substitute this for creamy peanut butter if you'd prefer.
• Cashews - Rich in fibre, heart-healthy fats, and plant protein. They're also a good source of copper, magnesium, and manganese — nutrients important for energy production, brain health, immunity, and bone health. cashews are also abundant with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk. They are also a source of numerous other essential vitamins and minerals, including protein, iron, zinc and magnesium. They also help to lower LDL cholesterol levels.
• Pure Maple Syrup - You can switch this for agave nectar syrup if preferred. We like to use pure maple syrup for its flavour, and the fact that it contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. In particular it contains zinc, and manganese - a mineral essential for healthy brain and nervous system function.
• Medjool Dates - See note above for medjool dates under 'Base Ingredients'.
• Vanilla Bean Paste - Vanilla paste is easily be subbed for vanilla extract in most recipes. The difference in flavour is very mild and the two can be used interchangeably in most recipes.

Chocolate Layer Ingredients

• Chocolate Chips - We chose a Dark Chocolate that's Vegan friendly, but you can choose whichever Chocolate Chips you prefer to use.
• Coconut Oil - This is added to stop the Chocolate from fully hardening when chilled.

Equipment

• Baking/Parchment Paper
• Baking Tin we used an 8x8inch tin
• Food Processor
• Glass bowl for the Bain-Marie
• High Speed Blender but only if your food processor isn't powerful enough to make the Caramel completely smooth. Some Food Processors will leave it slightly textured, although it will still be delicious so don't worry if you only have a Food Processor to make this with
• Small Saucepan for the Bain-Marie
• Spatula

How to Make Them

Firstly, soak the Cashews

The first step in this recipe is to add your Cashews to a bowl, and fill with room temperature water until the Cashews are completely covered, then leave to soak for 8 hours or overnight. Alternatively, you can use boiling water, and soak for half an hour.

Making the Base:

Steps 1 & 2 - Add all of the base ingredients to the food processor and blitz until you have a crumb that's easily mouldable when pressed.

Steps 3 & 4 - Pour the crumb into a lined tin and press down to form an even layer for your slices. Transfer to the fridge to chill whilst you make the Caramel filling.

Making the Caramel:

Steps 5 & 6 - Add all the caramel ingredients to the food processor and blitz until well combined. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides to ensure everything is being mixed together.
*Recipe Note - If your food processor isn't quite powerful enough to blend the caramel until it's smooth, you can use a high speed blender instead. If you don't have one just bear in mind that there will be a little more texture to your caramel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing - it'll still be incredibly tasty!

Steps 7 & 8 - Spoon out the Caramel from the food processor, and then using a spatula, smooth it out over the base layer until level. Return to the fridge whilst you melt the Chocolate for the top layer.

Making the Chocolate Topping:

Steps 9 & 10 - Using a Bain-Marie, add your Chocolate Chips and Coconut Oil to the bowl, and stir together until smooth, and both have completely melted. Leave to cool slightly for 5 minutes before adding to the Caramel.

Steps 11 & 12 - Remove the Baking Tray from the fridge and pour over the cooled melted Chocolate. Using a spoon, spatula, or something similar, smooth out the melted Chocolate over the Caramel until it is fully covered.
Return to the fridge for at least 20 minutes for the Chocolate to set.
Once ready, you can slice in to portions. We cut ours in to squares, and this recipe makes 16.

Serving Suggestions and Variations

• We make up a batch (or two) and then store them away in the freezer and dip in whenever we fancy one. They make for a great dessert but they often find there way out whenever we fancy a snack. The kids absolutely love these too.
• You could try topping these with things like Chopped Nuts, Hemp Seeds, Honeycomb or Popping Candy for a bit of fun.

How to make these Caramel Slices Raw Vegan

If you would like to make these as raw vegan caramel slices, then the recipe doesn't actually vary that far from the one we have detailed here. There are only two differences.

Firstly: You'll need to swap out the 2 tablespoons of Vanilla paste for the seeds from 2 Vanilla pods.

NB: How to use vanilla pods: Just cut them lengthways, then use your knife to gently scrape out the seeds. Add the vanilla seeds, along with the other caramel ingredients to the blender. Then make the caramel as per the instructions (see steps 5 & 6 above).

Secondly: For the chocolate topping, instead of chocolate and coconut oil (as is shown in the recipe) you can use the following ingredients:

3 tablespoons of Cacao powder.
1 tablespoon of Maple Syrup.
1 tablespoon of Coconut oil.

Leave the coconut oil aside in a warm place, until it turns to liquid. Then mix the three ingredients together in a glass bowl, before pouring over the top of your caramel layer in the baking tin ( as seen above in step 11).

Then chill or freeze and you will have your finished raw vegan caramel slices.

If you fancy trying some more of our raw vegan treats, then you cold also try our Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies or our Raw Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake.

Storage

These can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Or alternatively you can keep these in the freezer if you prefer a firmer caramel. Simply just remove one or two from the freezer prior to eating for about 5 minutes and they will be ready to eat.

Either way you store them, if storing in multiple layers in your tub, be sure to add a layer of baking paper between each layer so that they don't stick together.

Recipe Tip

If your food processor isn't quite powerful enough to blend the caramel until it's smooth, you can use a high speed blender instead. If you don't have one just bear in mind that there will be a little more texture to your caramel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing - it'll still be incredibly tasty!

FAQ's

Other healthy and raw dessert ideas

Here are a few of our other Delicious Recipes you might like to try.

Recipe