These vegan caramel squares are a healthier version of the regular coffee shop version. They are an indulgent and tempting guilty pleasure. The great news is they are still delicious.

The base layer is a fabulous mix of almonds and desiccated coconut, sweetened with maple syrup. The caramel layer is then made with dates, peanut butter, some salt and oat milk giving a lovely salted caramel flavour and texture. A dark chocolate layer then finishes them off.

Often caramel squares are made with plenty of butter or oil, refined flour and sugar. This version is a healthier spin on the more traditional recipes, using less refined ingredients. So more nutrients, and more fibre. And they taste awesome, better than the store version, in my opinion.

Once you have a blender to blitz the dates and almonds, and a appropriately sized tray to make them in then you should have the rest of the tools available in the kitchen. I use a 20cm x 20cm silicon tray, so anything around that size should work fine. No baking is involved.

The only problem is that this needs some time to set so its best to make a little in advance. Don’t put the kettle on for the tea break just yet. I recommend putting it in the fridge for at least 3 hours to reach a nice firm consistency. You can eat sooner of course, but it will be a bit messier. This makes 16 squares if you cut them 4 x 4.

Print Recipe

No ratings yet

Vegan Caramel Squares

Wonderful caramel squares

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 16 squares

Calories: 181kcal

Author: SimonDeaneHealth

Ingredients

Base :

• 140 g almonds
• 75 g shredded coconut
• 5 tbsp of maple syrup

Caramel :

• 150 g pitted dates
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 80 ml oat milk
• 1/2 tsp salt

Top layer :

• 125 g dark chocolate
• 80 ml oat milk

Instructions

• For the base
• Put the almonds in a blender and blitz to crumbs
• Add the shredded coconut and maple syrup and blitz again for a few seconds until everything is mixed
• The base is now ready to be transferred to a tray. Pour the base mixture into the tray and compact with the back of a spatula so its flat and even (we used a 20 cm/ 20 cm silicon tray)

For the caramel :

• Place all the ingredients for the caramel into a blender and blitz to a smooth puree
• Transfer the mixture to the tray and spread it equally over the base.

For the chocolate layer :

• Break up the chocolate into small pieces in a bowl with the oat milk
• Put the bowl on top of a small pot of boiling water on a gentle simmer. (the bowl should cover all of the pot so that no steam gets into the bowl)
• Stir regularly until melted
• Spread evenly over the caramel layer
• Refrigerate for at least 3 hours then enjoy

Notes

We recommend using a tray approximately 20cm x 20cm

Nutrition

Calories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.004g | Cholesterol: 0.2mg | Sodium: 101mg | Potassium: 231mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 38IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 2mg