These Cacao Chocolate Caramel Cups only require six ingredients to make a seriously dreamy little treat – perfect for Easter and beyond!
When I make a big batch of something sweet, I’ll usually take a few into the office as a treat for my team mates (fortunately, they’re always willing guinea pigs). I’ve gotta say, these dairy-free chocolate caramel cups went down particularly well as a vegan Easter treat. They have everything you would want in a healthier chocolate: they taste too good to be good for you, but are made with just six nourishing ingredients. Plus, you don’t have to feel too bad about not being able to wait until after lunch to tuck in, right?
I love experimenting with homemade vegan chocolate and achieving different textures. These chocolate caramel cups are a soft, fudgy kind of chocolate. Combined with an even softer dairy-free date-based caramel filling biting into one is pure bliss. If you prefer chocolate with a little more ‘bite’ to it though, make sure you have a nose at my other much firmer raw chocolate recipe.
All of the ingredients should be easy to source but there are a few easy subs you can make, if necessary. First off, cocoa powder can be used in place of the cacao and still give you the same amount of chocolatey goodness. Swapping cacao for cocoa will lower the nutritional benefits but it’s much more budget-friendly. Secondly, although agave syrup sounds exotic, I’m sure most of you will either already be familiar with it or be able to find it in the supermarket. If not, you can use maple syrup or similar.
- For the Chocolate:
- 100g coconut oil
- 50g cacao powder
- 2 tbsp agave syrup (or similar)
- For the Filling:
- 100g dates, soaked in hot water for ten minutes
- 2 tbsp almond milk (or similar)
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
- To make the chocolate, melt the coconut oil (if needed - its consistency will depend on your room temperature) to a liquid consistency. In a bowl, mix the coconut oil, cacao powder and agave syrup together until smooth and glossy.
- Add around 1tsp of the chocolate mix to each of the mini cake cases and spread to coat the bottom and sides of the case. Pop them in the fridge and set the rest of the chocolate to one side.
- Drain the dates and chop them roughly. Add all of the filling ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Remove the chocolate-filled cake cases from the fridge. Divide the mix between the chocolate and press gently onto the chocolate (leaving a little space around the edge so the caramel can be fully surrounded by chocolate).
- Gently melt the remaining chocolate and pour over each individual chocolate level to the top of the cake cases.
- Return the chocolates to the fridge and allow to set. Place in a sealed container and store in the fridge.