Vegan Chocolate Caramel Cups
These vegan chocolate caramel cups call for just 2 simple ingredients: chocolate and dates!
Looking for a super simple dessert you can make with just 2 ingredients? You’ll love these chocolate caramel cups! This recipe is easy to make and always a hit.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- All you need is a few minutes and 2 simple ingredients.
- Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free.
- Perfect for a healthier, homemade dessert.
- Delicious flavour kids and adults will love.
Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.
- Dates: Any variety of dates work but medjool or sayer are my favourite for this recipe.
- Chocolate: Any dairy-free chocolate chips or dark chocolate works. Alternatively, you can make your own chocolate using this peanut butter cup recipe.
- Optional Ingredients: To enhance the chocolate and caramel flavours, you can add a pinch of sea salt and vanilla.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Soak the dates in a bowl of hot water for 15 minutes then drain well. It’s ok if they’re wet just be sure to drain off any excess water.
Step 2. Add the dates to a food processor and blend into a paste. Add the sea salt and vanilla as well, if you’re using.
You may need to stop a few times and scrape down the sides as you go.
Step 3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. If you’re using the microwave, check and stir it every 15 seconds to be careful not to burn it.
Step 4. Make the cups!
Prepare 12 muffin liners or silicone baking cups on a tray or plate that will fit in the freezer.
Start by adding a bit of chocolate to the bottom of each cup. Freeze these until hardened. This should take about 10 minutes.
Divide the date paste between the cups, using the back of a spoon or your fingers to spread it out.
Finally, top the cups off with the remaining melted chocolate. Place the tray back in the freezer until the cups are frozen solid.
Tips and Suggestions
- It’s helpful to use wet fingers to help spread the date pate around the cups.
- Finished cups can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 2 months.
- If you don’t have dairy-free chocolate chips or dark chocolate on hand, use the chocolate recipe from these peanut butter cups.
- These can be made sugar-free by using sugar-free chocolate such as Lily’s.
Related Recipes
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups: Classic peanut butter and chocolate cups made with homemade chocolate.
- Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cups: Yummy cups with peanut butter banana filling.
- Tahini Caramel Cups: Similar to these but with tahini cups instead of chocolate!
- No-Bake Chocolate Caramel Bars: Delicious chocolate squares with 3 delicious layers.
- No-Bake Chocolate Caramel Tarts: Simple chocolate tarts with a date caramel filling.
Did you try this recipe?
โญโญโญโญโญ
I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review and be sure to tag me @runningonrealfood if you post it on social media.
2-Ingredient Chocolate Caramel Cups
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These decadent chocolate cups call for just 2 simple ingredients: chocolate chips and dates! Try them for a quick and delicious dessert or sweet treat anytime of day,
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup packed pitted medjool dates
- 1 1/4 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, optional
- 1/4 tsp sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Soak the dates in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well. It’s ok if they’re wet, just be sure to drain off any excess water. Press them down as you drain them to get remove excess water.
- Add the drained dates to a food processor and blend into a smooth creamy paste. Add the vanilla and sea salt, if using.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a double-broiler, or in the microwave in stirring every 15 seconds until smooth and creamy.
- Divide small spoonfuls of chocolate between 12 large or 24 mini cupcake liners, spreading it around to cover the bottoms.
- Place in the freezer for 10 minutes or until hardened.
- Once hardened, divide the date paste by spoonfuls between the 12 (or 24) cups. It helps to use wet fingers to smooth the paste out in each cup.
- Top each cup with the rest of the melted chocolate, spreading it around with a spoon to cover up the date paste.
- Pop the cups back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or so until the chocolate has completely hardened.
Notes
I used Enjoy Life brand dairy-free chocolate chips to make these. Alternatively, you can chop up a good quality dark chocolate bar and melt that down. I found the chocolate chips to be a little on the sweet side so these might work better with some good quality dark chocolate.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 2 months.
If you don’t have dairy-free chocolate chips or dark chocolate on hand, you can use the chocolate recipe from these peanut butter cups from maple syrup, coconut oil and cocoa powder.
Keywords: chocolate caramel cups, healthy chocolate cups recipe
UPDATE NOTE: This recipe was originally published on August 9, 2015.
These were good. I added to 6 of them a spoon of coconut almond butter. Even my husband liked them (I didn’t mention the dates).
★★★★★
haha…The coconut almond butter sounds amazing in there!
Made these this morning! Very delicious. Only issue I had was that neither my blender or my food processor could blend the dates very well. It certainly didn’t end up smooth and creamy. Didn’t bother me much as the texture just has some lumps and reminds me of nuts. I used hersheys dark chocolate chips as I am fine with dairy and added some coarse salt on top. Will make again!
★★★★★
Sounds so good!! Thanks for coming back to let me know! ๐
i like these but … WHERE IS THE CARAMEL??!
It’s the dates!
Just made these – so good! And easy to make, I did add a bit of salt and vanilla but could probably do without. Very rich so won’t eat too many at once either. One with a cup of tea was perfect. Thanks for the recipe ๐
★★★★★
Wow, they look delish.
Simple and delicious! Just the way I like it ๐
Peanut butter cups were my favorite childhood candy! Putting caramel in this looks AWESOME! <3
They look delicious and they are so easy to make. I would love to try them ๐