It’s not often I make a treat so delicious that I jump through hoops of fire to share them. These caramel bites are one of those treats, but I’ll explain more in a minute.
I’d been wanting to try a plant based caramel sauce for quite some time now and after perusing the world wide web for ideas, I complied a few different recipes to come up with this one. Delicious with chocolate, but also a star on its own.
Now back to my aforementioned fire jumping story. When attempting to photograph these delicious bites, my cameras SD card decided it wanted to go to Hawaii..indefinitely. You can imagine my dismay when wanting to document this caramel, because clearly when on vacation things like this become very important.
This picture was one of the many failed results.
I’m all for abstract art, but these wonky photos just weren’t going to work. After many failed attempts I decided to try plan B. I took a different SD card, plugged it into my camera and voila. I probably tried five times to get the photos. Oye.
I guess you could say I wanted documentation bad enough.
Chocolate Caramel Peanut Bites
For the chocolate
- 1 Cup Virgin Coconut Oil
- 1/2 Cup Raw Cacao Powder
- 1/4 Cup Natural Maple Syrup
For the caramel
- 10-12 Large Soaked Medjool Dates
- 2 Tbsp Raw honey
- 2 Tbsp Almond Butter
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Directions
- Take the pit out of your dates, and let soak for 15-20 minutes/while prepping everything else.
- For the chocolate – place all ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor and blend until well combined. Set aside.
- For the caramel – place all ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor and blend until well combined.
- Coat small muffin tin with a layer of chocolate, thick enough for the bites to pop out easily. Layer in caramel, and top with more chocolate. Once covered I added a few raw peanuts for extra crunch.
- Place bites into freezer until hardened. I left mine in the freezer until I was ready to eat them. The coconut oil makes them a bit soft if left out at room temperature.
From my Instagram
You’d better believe I brought these to work for a coffee tasting. They went great with one of Starbucks Reserve Coffee’s: Columbia El Peñol. Also paired with dried fruit, we hit all the tasting notes of nuts, fruits, and chocolate. Total tongue party.
When it was all said and done, I enjoyed this recipe as more of a “bowl” than a bite. Same layering directions, but into a small bowl to eat with a spoon. Or hands.
Q: Would you have given up after the first camera fail, or persevered to get the photo? I almost gave up, but alas I did not.