A creamy and rich Date Caramel with so many uses, I felt it needs its own recipe, to not be overlooked. No added sugar, just dates, water, salt and a food processor. Done in 5 minutes.
Why You want to Make This
Healthy Alternative to Classic Caramel
Due to the health benefits of dates, which have lots of fibre, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins, this Date Caramel is much better for you than caramel made with refined sugar.
Versatile
You can use it on my Banoffee Protein Mousse Pie or the Banoffee Protein Yoghurt, dip fruits into it or just spoon it right out of the jar. It keeps for more than a week in the fridge (I honestly don’t know how long, as it’s usually gone long before), so if you want to make said pie, you can prepare it ahead of time.
Easy
Making this Date Caramel does not require any cooking, handling molten sugar, judging the colour of caramel or similar, which all can be a little daunting when doing it for the first time. All you need is a food processor and 3 minutes to puree your dates with some water and salt. It tastes amazing too!
This Date Caramel recipes makes more than you need for the pie, as otherwise the food processor has a hard time pureeing the dates. But then, I’m sure it won’t go to waste.
The Ingredients
This is a short one. All you need is:
Dates – I’m using Medjool dates most of the time, but any date will do. If using Medjool dates, you’ll need about 10 that you remove the stone from. Simply break them open lengthwise and pick it out. If using other types of dates, weigh about 160g/ 5.6oz after removing the stones, which gives you the same amount.
Salt – I’m using Malton salt for this recipe instead of my usual kosher salt, as I love the flavour it gives. And you can sprinkle the pretty little crystals on top later, if you like. You can use any salt here. Just adjust the taste to your liking.
Water – You’ll need about 1/4 cup of drinking water to add to the food processor when processing the dates. If you want a creamier, milder caramel, you could also use plant milk or regular milk. Just be aware that regular milk will spoil faster, as it’s not cooked for this recipe.
Optional – I haven’t used any flavour additions for this, since I feel it tastes just perfect as it is. But if you like, you could add a few drops of vanilla essence or even almond or cinnamon, to vary the flavour.
The Process
Soak Dates
To soften them, soak your dates for 10 minutes by covering them with hot water. If you have very fresh Medjool dates, you can skip this step. But for any other type or slightly older dates, I would pre-soak to make them easier to process.
Process
Add the dates, water and a pinch of salt to your food processor or high speed blender. Blend until you have a really creamy caramel like mass. Taste, add water or salt, depending on your taste and how soft you want this to be.
And you are done.
Meal Prep
While this is still fairly high in sugar due to the dates, it’s a healthier snack due to the fruit sugars and fibre, so I used to have a jar of this in my fridge during my weight loss journey, for any sweet cravings. A few slices of apple with this on top, and my sweet tooth was satisfied. So this is a great thing to do on your meal prep day and just keep around for whenever only that sweet hit will do. And as it’s just dried fruit with water, it’ll keep for a good few days.
For another healthy snack try the Date Peanut Chocolate Bark. But be careful, it’s highly addictive!
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot. 🙂
Date Caramel
Ingredients
- 10 Medjool dates, stones removed soaked for 10min in hot water
- ¼ cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
Instructions
- Drain the dates
- Add dates, water and salt to the small bowl of your food processor. Process until you have a creamy caramel. Depending on your dates and how dry they were to begin with, you may have to add a little more water.
- Taste and add more salt if you like.
This worked exactly as written, thanks!