Vegan Date Caramel Sauce is a quick and easy recipe that uses only 5 ingredients. It’s made without refined sugar, dairy-free and gluten-free. This healthier option is a perfect alternative to traditional dulce de leche.

This vegan date caramel sauce is made with healthier ingredients than regular caramel sauce, so it’s great as a side dish for a healthy snack or can be used as a filling in healthy cakes or desserts. Furthermore, you can also use it as a sweetener for porridge or smoothies.

Table of Contents

INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN DATE CARAMEL SAUCE RECIPE

Dates – Medjool dates are best for making this homemade vegan treat. Dates are natural, fleshy, juicy, and taste like caramel. Your dates should be soft (although you can use dried dates, they won’t taste as good). Medjool dates are considered the best dates in the world! And believe me, once you’ve tried these, you’ll never want the smaller, pitted ones again.
Milk – You can use any non-dairy milk of your choice. I like to use homemade coconut milk or almond milk, but oat or cashew nut milk is great too!
Vanilla Extract – Vanilla helps intensify the flavor and sweetness.
Sea Salt – Just a touch to harmonize the flavors!
Star Anise – Optional. To flavor the water when infusing the dates.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN DATE CARAMEL SAUCE

Add water into a medium saucepan, add the star anise, and let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the fire and add the dates. Hydrate the dates in this flavored water until they are soft. (Hydrate them for about 30 minutes. This will make it easier to blend the dates to create a smooth paste).
Strain the dates. (Reserve this syrup to use in your smoothie, green juice, or porridge. This water is quite sweet, so you won’t need to sweeten your preparation).
Cut the dates with a knife in half and remove the pits.
Add the pitted dates, plant-based milk, sea salt, and vanilla extract to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. (You can also use a food processor if you don’t have a blender.) Be sure to scrape the sides of the blender jar every minute or so to blend the ingredients evenly. This whole process will take about 10 minutes, but this depends on the quality of your blender or food processor!
Finally, transfer the vegan date caramel sauce to a bowl and serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

WAYS TO USE THIS VEGAN DULCHE DE LECHE

Use as a healthy dipping sauce for fruits like apples or pears.
Use it in vegan desserts instead of traditional caramel sauce, like in the Banoffee Pie recipe.
Use as a topping for pancakes, waffles, crepes, and toast.
Use it as a healthier and refined sugar-free sweetener that you can add to porridge or smoothie. For example, make a smoothie with frozen fruits and non-dairy milk and add this vegan date caramel sauce to sweeten it.

STORAGE OF VEGAN DATE CARAMEL SAUCE

Does vegan date caramel sauce need to be refrigerated?

Due to its high water content, it must be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It will last up to 2 weeks if stored correctly.

Can this vegan date caramel be frozen?

You can freeze it for up to a few months in an airtight container or an ice cube tray for individual servings. Thaw in the fridge overnight and stir well before serving.

This vegan date caramel sauce is delicious and naturally sweet. It still has sugar (natural sugar), but I love the fact that the dates can provide the rich caramel-like flavor, but with the benefit of fiber and a lot of vitamins and minerals. Dates are also a great source of potassium, copper, magnesium, vitamin B6, niacin, calcium, iron, and vitamin K. The estimated glycemic load is 39, which is a relatively low value. So this indicates that dates provide energy over a long period.