A quick and easy recipe for 4-ingredient date caramel sauce made from medjool dates. Perfect as a dip or topping for healthy treats. Vegan and gluten-free.
The Perfect Healthy Dip for Apples
Just popping in with a quick recipe for my homemade date caramel sauce today. This recipe has been in my post drafts since last year and for whatever reason I never got around to posting it. I feel awful because I made you live a whole year without sharing this gem.
I’m truly sorry because it’s legit the perfect complement to a freshly picked apple. Speaking of which, have you been apple picking this fall yet? I went with a friend to Carter Mountain (right outside of Charlottesville) last month on the way home from the Veritas yoga retreat. The weather was blazing hot, but it was still fun.
I brought home a huge bag of fresh apples and polished them off way too fast. I totally had plans to bake something delicious, maybe this vegan gluten-free apple crisp or perhaps these apple pie squares, but I ended up just chopping up an apple (sometimes two) a day and eating them as a snack.
I blame this date caramel sauce.
4 Ingredient Real Food Caramel
It’s too good to resist. And I love that it’s made with real food, simple ingredients (fresh medjool dates, almond milk, sea salt and vanilla). That’s it!
This date caramel is sweet and delicious. It definitely still has sugar, but I love that the dates are able to provide the rich sweet caramel flavor along with fiber and host of other vitamins and minerals. Medjool dates are a great source of potassium, copper, magnesium, vitamin B6, niacin, calcium, iron and vitamin K.
Added bonus, there’s no heavy cream or butter involved so this caramel is dairy-free and vegan. Boom!
If you make this date caramel sauce, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how it turns out. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other EBF readers!
A quick and easy recipe for 4-ingredient date caramel sauce made from medjool dates. Perfect as a dip or topping for healthy treats. Vegan and gluten-free.
Ingredients
16 medjool dates, pitted*
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 –1 cup unsweetened almond milk (store-bought or homemade)
Instructions
Add all ingredients (starting with 3/4 cup almond milk) into a high powered blender or food processor and blend until mixture is smooth and there are no date chunks detectable.
Add more almond milk, 1-2 Tablespoons at a time, if needed to help the blending process or to thin the caramel. Use immediately or store in the fridge for later.
Notes
Recipe works best fresh, soft medjool dates. If dates are dry or hard, you can soak them in water for about 30 minutes, drain and then use them in the recipe.
If you’re using the smaller deglet noor dates, you’ll need to use more! This is something you can play around with to get the caramel sauce thickness you’re looking for.
Category:Condiment
Method:Blender
Cuisine:American
Nutrition
Serving Size:2 Tablespoons
Calories:137
Sugar:32g
Sodium:148mg
Fat:0g
Saturated Fat:0g
Trans Fat:0g
Carbohydrates:36g
Fiber:3g
Protein:1g
Cholesterol:0
Keywords: vegan date caramel
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I was so so skeptical about this recipe since I love caramel. But I’m really glad I tried it. It’s actually pretty good. I put a little too much salt so it was more like a salted caramel sauce for me. For sure, you can taste the difference between real caramel sauce and date caramel sauce but the date sauce has a cleaner taste to it. This one will definitely be on the repeat recipe files!
Love, love this recipe. Wanted to know two answer to two questions: can you freeze a jar of this, and wondered if this could be canned for longer shelf life and possibly for gift giving? Thank you in advance for your help!
Just made this its amazing can’t wait to put some on my porridge tomorrow am 🙂 I made the whole batch looks a lot so will make those chocolate caramel ice cream bars. You are making my extreme medical health diet that im on at the moment (not for weight management or sugars but for gut healing) much more interesting. Keeps me able to train too 🙂 with all these gorgeous health snacks of yours
Oh yay!! So glad you’re loving this sauce. It should last 1-2 weeks in the fridge and it’s also delicious just with cold apple slices. I have this recipe for apple nachos and samoa baked oatmeal that use this date sauce. 🙂
Recipe came out pretty good, despite it being out of my standard-powered blender’s league. Until I can get a food processor, I think I’ll try this agai with a tablespoon or two extra almond milk to compensate.
Delicious! Made a half recipe this morning so I could put some on my oatmeal. SO good. Super easy to make too. I wasn’t sure if my blender would be strong enough to get the chunks out but after some extra blending and scraping down the sides, it came out so creamy. Highly recommend.
The caramel tastes great. With the leftover caramel in the nutribullet I added frozen banana, coconut water and cacao and had a delicious choc caramel smoothie!
Hi! This was fantastic and I now have a most delicious sweetener for my coffees that is all natural! Thank you! One question—grateful you have the 2tbsp nutritional information, but how many servings total does the recipe make?? I’m tracking all my input for health reasons and was wondering where your calculations came from! Thank you.
This date caramel sauce was mind blowing. I never expected it to taste so much like caramel so easily. I will be enjoying it all week as a dip for apples and a drizzle on my oatmeal! Highly recommend.
Yay!! So glad this caramel sauce was a hit, Kelsey! I appreciate you making it and coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It means the world to me. <3
This is outrageous! For so long I have read you can make caramel with dates and I never listened because I love caramel and I just didn’t think it would meet my standards. ; ) Was I wrong! We picked some apples from our local orchard and my husband wanted me to melt some of the caramel squares we had at home. Instead of doing that, I somehow convinced myself to try a date “caramel” recipe. I found this beauty and my life has been changed. This is sooo good and so simple. Thank you thank you!
Ahh yay, that makes me so happy to hear!! I’m so glad you finally tried the date caramel sauce and loved it!! Thanks for trying my recipe + for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it, Lacey. <3
My daughter dipped apples in it for Rosh Hashana tonight and loved it! I’m thinking of drizzling on oatmeal or French toast. What suggestions do you have for incorporating it to other dishes?
So glad this sauce was a hit! There are many ways of incorporating this sauce into recipes. I love it in my samoa baked oatmeal or in this salted caramel oatmeal. It would also be delish with French toast or pancakes. 🙂
Ahh yay! That makes me so happy to hear, Jessica. I’m so pumped you like this. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. 🙂
this is so delicious!! I used dried dates and left them in the fridge in water for a week (oops- but it was fine!) and also vanilla paste. cannot wait to try it on everything, especially the samoa oatmeal!
So easy and delicious! I was eating an apple and had a sudden desire for caramel sauce so this was a perfect fix that only took a few minutes. Thank you for the recipe!
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Margaret!! I’m so glad you’re enjoying this sauce. Thanks for trying it and for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I so appreciate it!
This turned out really bad! Far too much salt in this recipe which destroyed and sweetness. So mad that I bought a whole packet of expensive dates to be all thrown out
Oh no!! I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy this sauce, Matina. Did you just add the 1 teaspoon or more salt? You can always certainly adjust the spices in my recipes to fit your taste.
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I was so so skeptical about this recipe since I love caramel. But I’m really glad I tried it. It’s actually pretty good. I put a little too much salt so it was more like a salted caramel sauce for me. For sure, you can taste the difference between real caramel sauce and date caramel sauce but the date sauce has a cleaner taste to it. This one will definitely be on the repeat recipe files!
★★★★★
Yay! So pumped you tried and loved this recipe, Sarah. I really appreciate you coming back to leave a review. It means the world to me. 🙂
Love, love this recipe. Wanted to know two answer to two questions: can you freeze a jar of this, and wondered if this could be canned for longer shelf life and possibly for gift giving? Thank you in advance for your help!
So glad you loved this sauce, Beverly!! I’m not sure about canning as I’ve never tried it, but I would imagine it would freeze just fine!
I’m going to try these fresh dates caramel sauce as sweetener and toppings. I just bought my dates from https://coachellasbestdates.com/.
★★★★★
Just made this its amazing can’t wait to put some on my porridge tomorrow am 🙂 I made the whole batch looks a lot so will make those chocolate caramel ice cream bars. You are making my extreme medical health diet that im on at the moment (not for weight management or sugars but for gut healing) much more interesting. Keeps me able to train too 🙂 with all these gorgeous health snacks of yours
★★★★★
Oh yay!! So glad you’re loving this sauce. It should last 1-2 weeks in the fridge and it’s also delicious just with cold apple slices. I have this recipe for apple nachos and samoa baked oatmeal that use this date sauce. 🙂
Absolutely delicious!! I make this all the time now, thank you!
★★★★★
Ahh, this makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for the review, Jocelyn.
Oh. My. Deliciousness.
★★★★★
This only took minutes to make and so good. Can’t wait to use it on the Apple nachos and replace maple syrup on waffles/pancakes
★★★★★
Recipe came out pretty good, despite it being out of my standard-powered blender’s league. Until I can get a food processor, I think I’ll try this agai with a tablespoon or two extra almond milk to compensate.
★★★★★
Yeah, depending on what blender you have, it can take a bit longer to get everything blended together. Adding some more liquid would definitely help!
Delicious! Made a half recipe this morning so I could put some on my oatmeal. SO good. Super easy to make too. I wasn’t sure if my blender would be strong enough to get the chunks out but after some extra blending and scraping down the sides, it came out so creamy. Highly recommend.
★★★★★
Woo!! I’m so glad you’re loving this sauce, Becca. Thanks for giving it a try and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I appreciate it!
The caramel tastes great. With the leftover caramel in the nutribullet I added frozen banana, coconut water and cacao and had a delicious choc caramel smoothie!
Ohh I love that idea!! Way to use up every last drop of the caramel sauce in the blender. 🙂
So easy to make and so delicious. My girls thought they were getting sweets!
★★★★★
Yay!! So glad this caramel sauce was a hit, Beth. Thanks for trying my recipe and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating!
Hi! This was fantastic and I now have a most delicious sweetener for my coffees that is all natural! Thank you! One question—grateful you have the 2tbsp nutritional information, but how many servings total does the recipe make?? I’m tracking all my input for health reasons and was wondering where your calculations came from! Thank you.
★★★★★
Hey Terry, I use My Fitness Pal to calculate the nutrition info. The date caramel yields 8 servings so it should be about 16 T for the entire recipe.
This date caramel sauce was mind blowing. I never expected it to taste so much like caramel so easily. I will be enjoying it all week as a dip for apples and a drizzle on my oatmeal! Highly recommend.
★★★★★
Yay!! So glad this caramel sauce was a hit, Kelsey! I appreciate you making it and coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It means the world to me. <3
So easy, fast, and yummy. I made it to swirl into a dark chocolate cake glaze. Amazing!
★★★★★
Ohhh, I love that idea!! Sounds delicious. 🙂
This is outrageous! For so long I have read you can make caramel with dates and I never listened because I love caramel and I just didn’t think it would meet my standards. ; ) Was I wrong! We picked some apples from our local orchard and my husband wanted me to melt some of the caramel squares we had at home. Instead of doing that, I somehow convinced myself to try a date “caramel” recipe. I found this beauty and my life has been changed. This is sooo good and so simple. Thank you thank you!
★★★★★
Ahh yay, that makes me so happy to hear!! I’m so glad you finally tried the date caramel sauce and loved it!! Thanks for trying my recipe + for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it, Lacey. <3
GENIUS! This is pure genius. Cannot wait to share it during Rosh Hashanah this year. Plain old honey has met its nutritional match!
★★★★★
I love it! Takes like Carmel and is great with cut up apples
★★★★★
So glad you’re loving this caramel sauce, Tess! Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I appreciate it!
I have just made this, tastes great, thanks 🙂
How long will it last in the fridge
★★★★★
My daughter dipped apples in it for Rosh Hashana tonight and loved it! I’m thinking of drizzling on oatmeal or French toast. What suggestions do you have for incorporating it to other dishes?
★★★★
So glad this sauce was a hit! There are many ways of incorporating this sauce into recipes. I love it in my samoa baked oatmeal or in this salted caramel oatmeal. It would also be delish with French toast or pancakes. 🙂
So glad you’re loving it so far! 🙂 It should last about one week in the fridge.
Yummy, yummy ,yummy!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!
★★★★★
You’re so welcome, Jole! So glad you love this recipe. 🙂 Thanks for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I appreciate it!
Just made this recipe and it was delicious!!! Finally a healthy way to eat something I’ve been missing for years. Thank you!
★★★★★
Ahh yay! That makes me so happy to hear, Jessica. I’m so pumped you like this. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. 🙂
this is so delicious!! I used dried dates and left them in the fridge in water for a week (oops- but it was fine!) and also vanilla paste. cannot wait to try it on everything, especially the samoa oatmeal!
★★★★★
So glad this recipe turned out for you, Emily! It’s delicious on everything. 🙂
Really yummy! Gonna have on ice cream. Can I freeze it?
★★★★
Hey Maria – I haven’t tried freezing it, but I don’t see why not!
So easy and delicious! I was eating an apple and had a sudden desire for caramel sauce so this was a perfect fix that only took a few minutes. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Your salted caramel using dates was soooo great!
The best I’ve tasted!
★★★★★
Ahh that makes me so happy to hear, Margaret!! I’m so glad you’re enjoying this sauce. Thanks for trying it and for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I so appreciate it!
This turned out really bad! Far too much salt in this recipe which destroyed and sweetness. So mad that I bought a whole packet of expensive dates to be all thrown out
★
Oh no!! I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy this sauce, Matina. Did you just add the 1 teaspoon or more salt? You can always certainly adjust the spices in my recipes to fit your taste.