Dark Chocolate Caramel Cups (GF, DF, V)

Making your own Halloween candy is fun, easy, and can be healthier depending on the ingredients you use.  I love to make my own every year and tailor it to my own dietary needs.  If you have people in your family who are vegan, gluten free, or dairy free, have I got the recipe for you!  Some Dark Chocolate Caramel Cups which are all of those things, plus fruit sweetened but taste as good as regular caramel.  I have served these to many people and they always get a big thumbs up.  I use Luv dark chocolate chunks for these, which can be found in the baking aisle at Fresh and Natural Foods, and the caramel is made with dates, which I consider to be nature’s caramel.  They are about as natural as you can get when it comes to sweeteners.  These are easy to make, and so good!  If you want these to be nut free as well, substitute tahini or Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) for the almond butter.

Author: Amy Lyons O’Neil

Amy has worked for Fresh and Natural Foods since 2006 contributing to the variety of healthful foods we offer. She graduated with a degree in studio art from Bethel University in 2007, but in her senior year of college, found that her passion was with the art of food. She later used her photography and culinary skills to create a vegan food and recipe blog, Fragrant Vanilla Cake. She has also written 3 cookbooks. She specializes in vegan and vegetarian recipes. Local, fresh and organic food has always been her focus in whatever she creates.

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Servings: 10 | Prep Time: 15 min. | Cook Time: 0 min | Ready in: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 16 oz Luv dark chocolate chunks
• 1 1/2 cups pitted medjool dates
• 1/3 cup filtered water
• 1/3 cup raw almond butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

Place the dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler, and melt it. Set out 10 large peanut butter cup molds, or foil muffin tins on a tray, and pour about 1/4 inch of the chocolate into the bottom. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes until firm. Meanwhile, combine all of the caramel ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor and process until smooth (if there are lumps, you may press the caramel through a fine meshed strainer over a bowl to remove them). Once the first part of the chocolate cups has hardened, spoon about 2 tsp of caramel over it in each cup (making sure it is not oozing the edges or sticking up too high (kind of smooth the top slightly)). Pour the remaining chocolate over that in the cups, then place them back in the freezer for about 20 minutes to harden. Enjoy! Store any extra in the refrigerator for up to a month.