These Vegan Caramel Apples are a healthy twist on our favorite fall treat using Date Caramel. Perfect for Halloween parties or just because!
Why you’ll love this recipe: If you love caramel apples, but you also love healthy treats you’ll love this raw vegan caramel apple recipe. It’s super simple to make and kids can even have fun making them too!
These Vegan Caramel Apples take less than 30 minutes to put together. The longest step is actually waiting for the dates to soak so they can soften up!
As for toppings we love using whatever the kids pick out. My personal favorite is nostalgic childhood memories, so I use crushed-up peanuts or mini chocolate chips. The kids always go for the sprinkles, ha!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Granny Smith Apples – These are the best apples for chocolate covered apples and caramel apples, you can use whichever you prefer though.
- Pitted medjool dates – We use dates to make our caramel, also check out our date syrup recipe.
- Oat Milk – We use plant based milk to thin out the caramel.
- Vanilla Extract – This is used to add more flavor.
- Peanut Butter – Nut butter adds another level of flavor, you can use whatever safe nut or seed butter you prefer.
- Salt – Used to balance the sweetness.
- Desired Toppings – Have fun making these vegan caramel apples and top with whatever you like!
HOW TO SOFTEN DATES
- Place the dates into a bowl with boiling hot water being cautious not to burn yourself.
- Allow the dates to soak for 10 minutes or up until 30 minutes.
- After soaking you can drain the water from the dates.
Recipe Tips and Alterations:
- Granny Smith Apples are nice and tart and balance out the sweetness of the vegan caramel date paste along with the toppings. We recommend using a tart apple over sweet apple for this recipe
- Opt for organic if the budget allows. Non organic apples have a waxy coating and can be hard for the date caramel to stick to the apple.
- If you don’t like chocolate you could use your favorite nut butter or some even use coconut oil.
- You could even use this as a caramel apple dip and not covering apples. It’s so good!
FAQs
Since we’re using natural ingredients we recommend saving for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
We use the toppings to prevent the vegan caramel apples from sticking to the parchment. You could put them all over the apple, but we like doing it this way.
Yes! To just use dates I would increase to 20 dates.
MORE APPLE RECIPES
Vegan Caramel Apples using Dates
Ingredients
- 6 apples granny smith
- 6 kabob skewers
- 15 medjool dates pitted
- 1/4 cup oat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 cup vegan chocolate melted
- pinch of salt
- desired toppings
Instructions
- Place the dates into a bowl with boiling hot water being cautious not to burn yourself. Allow the dates to soak for 10 minutes or up until 30 minutes.
- Wash the apples, remove the stems and then insert the skewers where the stems were. Pat them dry with a clean towel and place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
- Drain the dates from the water and then blend the dates, oat milk, and vanilla in a blender until smooth. Then add in the melted chocolate into the caramel and blend once more.
- Pour the date caramel into a small bowl.
- Use a spatula to help spread the caramel onto the apples.
- Once you've coated the apples add your favorite toppings and then place them onto the lined baking sheet.
- Refrigerate the apples for 20-30 minutes to allow date caramel to set.
- Enjoy now or serve within 3-4 days.
Notes
- Granny Smith is preferred, but you can use whatever apples you like.
- Dry the apples after washing so the vegan caramel can stick well.
- Use organic apples whenever possible, especially since non-organic may have a waxy coating.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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