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Salted Dark Chocolate Date Caramel Cups

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Do you ever get that craving that you can’t stop thinking about and it won’t go away until you give your body chocolate?  Who’s with me on this?  It’s like this little voice that won’t quit until you give it what it wants!  And since we are all about not depriving your body of what it wants, we have the perfect solution for you!  These salted dark chocolate date caramel cups hit the spot every time, and they can be all yours too with just a few easy steps.

Have you ever tried date caramel? It’s actually just pureed dates mixed with a bit of coconut oil, vanilla and a pinch of salt, but it seriously tastes like real caramel.  It’s the best thing ever and you don’t even have to feel guilty about eating it because it’s just dates.  Winning!! These salted dark chocolate date caramel cups are exactly that.  Dark chocolate on the outside filled with date caramel on the inside and topped with a pinch of sea salt.  You absolutely need to make these for yourself.

We like to store them in the freezer so they are handy when that voice starts nagging you for chocolate.  In my case that voice nags me a lot so I like to make a double batch.  Chocolate anything never lasts long in my house but these go especially quickly.  You are going to loooove these little cups of heaven.  You’re welcome!!


Salted Dark Chocolate Date Caramel Cups
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 5 medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • se salt
  • 1 C dark chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Add dates, 2 tsp coconut oil and vanilla to a food processor. Process until broken down and smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and quickly pulse. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Line a mini muffin pan with 12 muffin liners. In a small saucepan over low heat melt chocolate and remaining 2 tsp of coconut oil.
  3. Fill the lined cups with chocolate until the cup is filled ¼ of the way with chocolate. Add ½ tsp of the date caramel, top with additional melted chocolate to cover date caramel. Continue until all cups are filled. Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over each cup and transfer the to the freezer to allow to set for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Salted Caramel S’mores & Nutella S’mores

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Probably no need to really explain these amazing salted caramel s’mores, the title says enough.  Do you like salted caramel? Nutella? S’mores?  Well then you need these salted caramel s’mores in your life because they are the bomb.com. If you have never made salted caramel from scratch then you will be addicted.  It’s so easy and I bet you can think of 100 things to smother it over, directly off of a spoon is our favorite way…I mean never mind, we’ve totally never done that before.  Adding the salted caramel to a s’more is on another level ridiculous and it would be a huge mistake if you went through life without trying it. Seriously, why deprive yourself of one of the best desserts ever?  But wait! There’s more. If you thought it couldn’t get any better with the salted caramel s’mores then try stuffing a s’more with Homemade Nutella.  For those of you that have read our blog, you know how we feel about Nutella….Courtney and I both agree that it would make sense if it had it’s own food group. Like fruit/vegetables, grains, dairy, protein and Nutella. Makes sense, right?  Who’s with us?

Either way you can’t go wrong with one or both of these combinations of s’mores.  I’m sure you already know what we recommend, make them both so you aren’t wondering what you are missing out on.  We are bringing these to you just in time for the 4th of July.  So heat up your fire pit or bbq, roast up some marshmallows and treat yourself with one of the easiest and best desserts ever!

Stych Photography

Salted Caramel S'mores & Nutella Smores
 
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Ingredients
For the Smores:
  • graham crackers
  • marshmallows
  • chocolate squares
  • Nutella
For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
  • 1 C sugar
  • ¼ C cold water
  • ½ C heavy cream
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • ¾ Tbsp maldon salt (can use kosher salt instead)
Instructions
For the Salted Caramel Smores:
  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water and stir to combine. Without stirring, cook until the sugar turns an amber hue, approx 12 minutes.
  2. While the sugar and water are cooking, warm cream in a small saucepan, do not boil. When the carmel is ready slowly whisk in the cream until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and salt to taste.
  3. Roast marshmallows over a fire or bbq until melty and golden brown. Assemble smores with a graham cracker, toasted marshmallow, chocolate, drizzled salted caramel sauce and a graham cracker on top.
For the Nutella Smores:
  1. Roast marshmallows until melty and golden brown. Spread Nutella on one side of each graham cracker. Assemble amores with a graham cracker with Nutella, toasted marshmallow and another graham cracker with Nutella on top.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars with Date Caramel Topping

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These bars are bananas, B A N A N A S!!  (Now that song is in your head, your welcome!)  But really, it’s time to put those over- ripe bananas to use!  And this time it’s not banana bread.  This time you are gonna kick it up a notch and switch it up a bit.  You are going to break out of that comfort zone and try something new.  These banana oatmeal chocolate chunk bars with date caramel topping are deliciously sweet, moist (yep, there’s that word) and made with wholesome ingredients that eliminate the guilt but don’t compromise the flavor!  Too good to be true?  Nope!

There’s a good chance that you have most, if not all  of the ingredients to make these bars sitting in your pantry and fridge right now!  If not, just be sure to add them to your shopping list because you know you will have ripe bananas in your near future. You won’t believe how easy these bars are to make!


Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars with Date Caramel Topping
 
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Serves: 12 bars
Ingredients
  • 2 over-ripe bananas, mashed with fork
  • ¼ C coconut oil
  • ½ C dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 C rolled oats
  • ½ C whole wheat flour
  • ¼ C semi sweet chocolate chunks
For the Date Caramel:
  • 8 medjool dates (approx 1 C) pitted
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8X8 pan with coconut oil spray.
  2. In a large bowl combine bananas, coconut oil, brown sugar, egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add salt, baking soda, flour and oats and mix until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and bake for 18-22 minutes, slice into bars once cooled.
  3. While the bars are baking, assemble the date caramel sauce. Soak pitted dates in hot water for 5 minutes, drain water. In a blender, cuisinart or using an immersion blender add all ingredients and blend until smooth. Spoon date caramel sauce into a ziploc bag with a tiny hole cut in the corner. Drizzle the date caramel sauce over the bars and serve.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn

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Growing up my mom used to make the most ridiculously amazing caramel corn that was dripping in all things bad like corn syrup and tons of brown sugar,  but oh did it taste so good! It was our mission to come up with our own version of this tasty treat that was still sweet and every bit as caramely but didn’t contain 10 billion calories! Mission accomplished!! It’s not exactly calorie free but you can feel a lot better about throwing handfuls of our GTK cinnamon caramel corn in your mouth than the old school version!   Think coconut cream, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, ground cinnamon….do we have your attention yet? Make this next time you have family movie night or as an after school treat or a fun snack to have out when you are entertaining or just make it just because it’s so darn good, we promise!

caramelcorn

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Cinnamon Caramel Corn
 
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Serves: 10 Cups
Ingredients
  • 10 C air popped popcorn
  • ½ C coconut cream - see notes
  • ½ C Pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt + more for sprinkling
  • **Notes - Use only the thick cream on the top of the can of coconut cream. Do not shake or mix the can before opening. Store remaining coconut cream (not clear liquid) in a airtight container in tbe refrigerator.
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
  2. In a saucepan add all ingredients (except for popcorn) together, whisking until incorporated. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Remove from heat and pour sauce over the popcorn, stir until coated evenly.
  4. On a parchment lined pan spread popcorn out evenly and place in oven. Stir after 15 minutes, cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired.

Salted Caramel Apple Dip

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How do I say this without sounding a little bit like a bad mom? Ok, I will just come right out and say it…I’m happy that the kids are back in school, actually thrilled. It was time, summer was long enough and if I had to hear “I’m bored” one more time I was thinking of temporarily moving out. Those moms that look at me with a tear in their eye and tell me how hard it was to send their kids off to school and how much they miss them during the day. You know those moms? I often wonder if they really and truly feel that way or if they are just saying that because they think that’s what they are supposed to say. I think they are secretly doing cartwheels inside, but more power to them if that’s really how they feel. I on the other hand am a part of the thrilled that the kids are back in school club.

Okay, let’s regroup…sorry, I guess I’m just really excited about the back to school thing.  Since the kids aren’t as excited as I am about being back in school, I am making them this little slice of heaven to have when they get home today. Courtney and I started making this last year and it was such a hit with our kids we added it to our GTK favorite list. Salted caramel apple dip, yes it’s as good as it sounds. The caramel is simple to make and is actually healthy. Yes, healthy caramel exists when it’s made with dates and coconut oil. Your kids will love it and it just may end up being one of your favorite snacks too.

caramel apple dip'

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Salted Caramel Apple Dip
 
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Serves: Makes 1 cup
Ingredients
  • 10 medjooli dates, pitted
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • pinch of malden salt (or other course salt like sea salt)
  • 1 apple (honey crisp if available) sliced into wedges
Instructions
  1. In a food processor combine dates and coconut oil until mixed to a paste, scraping down sides. Romove from food processor and place in serving bowl, sprinkle with maldon salt. Serve with sliced apples, yum!!