Creamy No-Cook Vegan Caramel

Originally published April 2018

​​I was very hesitant to include vegan in the title of this post because people have preconceived notions about vegan recipes. Truthfully, I was curious when setting out to make it myself—it was step one in a two part recipe. The result was pleasantly surprising, and I'd no idea I stumbled upon the best creamy vegan caramel ever until it was sitting there before my very eyes in the food processor bowl.

The original intent was to make these Gluten-Free Date Bars, a recent assignment for The Spruce. This creamy, no-cook date caramel was simply supposed to be the filling for the bars. One dip of my spoon in the food processor bowl, though, and I realized the filling doubled as a luscious, creamy vegan caramel, perfect to use on its own.

This creamy vegan caramel can be used to frost cakes, fill whoopie pies, spread on cookies, and if heated ever so slightly, it's pourable to use on ice cream. And of course, you can use it as a stepping stone to go ahead and make the aforementioned date bars. The bars are a perfect snack to pack in school lunches, and even double as a healthier on-the-go breakfast for busy mornings (which seems to be every school morning in our house).

Feel free to make the filling in advance, and then assemble the bars at your leisure. The whole recipe, including this caramel, is quite easy, so you can also get the kids involved, and put them to work making them. 

Hope the week is off to a good start. School starts up again for the girls today after a 12 day spring break, and I'm already counting the days until summer vacation begins.

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