Raw Vegan Caramels with Chocolate Nut Butter

These Raw Vegan Caramels are adapted from a recipe at Averie Cooks

These are beautiful little bites of chewy, sweet goodness.

I took Averie's advise and added some homemade chocolate butter on top

just to make them even more perfect.

I made a chocolate sauce by blending sugar free peanut butter with cocoa powder and

NuNaturals Liquid Vanilla Stevia

The main sweetness comes from ground up dates.

Make sure if you're using whole dates to remove the pits.

Thanks to NuNaturals, they are sugar free except for the date sugar.

When you have the 'caramel' dough, flatten it out on a stick free surface to about 1/2 inch thick.
Refrigerate to firm the caramel.

 I combined the dates with sunflower seeds.  Blend the Sunflower Seeds first and then add in the other caramel ingredients. 

I had better success pulsing the blender much of the time until a paste formed.

The original recipe calls for pine nuts, but I'm saving money using sunflower seeds but
I'm sure that these would be even better using Pine Nuts.

Raw Vegan Caramels with Chocolate Nut Butter Frosting

Caramels

1 Cup Raw Unsalted Sunflower Seeds (or Pine Nuts)

15 Pitted Medjool Dates

2 Tbs. Olive Oil (if using Pine Nuts, omit the oil)

2 tsp. Liquid Vanilla Stevia

Pulse Sunflower Seeds until pulverized.  Add in the dates

and pulse until lumpy batter forms.  Add in other ingredients and

continue pulsing until smooth and lay out on a non stick surface.

Push batter down to form a large 1/4 inch thick rectangle.  Refrigerate for

30 minutes to firm up caramels before icing.  Cut into squares.  Store in a

sealed container.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

16 oz Jar of Natural Peanut Butter

1/4 Cup Palm Sugar or other sweetener

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbs. Cocoa Powder

1 tsp. Liquid Vanilla Stevia

1 Tbs. Non Dairy Milk

Pinch of Sea Salt

Blend in a food processor until smooth.  Store in a sealed container

in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 2 months (they won't last that long but they could)

See the original recipe for other options and flavors. I think next time

I will make a smaller batch and use the Pine Nuts.

I'm also thinking that some coarse Sea Salt sprinkled in would be a great addition too!

Guilt free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free delicious little bites of sweet enjoyment!

Fantastic heathy recipe.  Thanks again Averie....

Enjoy!

Make sure you've entered to win in the NuNaturals giveaway!

Raw Cane Sugar Sea Glass Candy

 This project was so quick and easy.  I might even suggest it for a fun candy to make with kids as long as there are no distractions and you're very organized and careful of the hot sugar.

I'm not a candy expert by any means.  But I did grow up learning and trying new candies to make at home.     

Our family tradition for Christmas Eve is always making fudge, caramels and peanut brittle.

This one is extremely easy as candy goes.  *Not even any stirring which is unusual.

Here is the original recipe posting from "The Kid Can Cook" that I used as inspiration.

http://thekidcancook.blogspot.com/2011/05/cooking-up-party-sea-glass-candy.html

I'll leave the detailed step by step for this to the original posting but the ingredients couldn't

be any easier.  I already remember all that's in it and the proportions.

2 Cups of Sugar

 (I used Raw Cane Sugar from iHerb.) 

Next time I may try it using Coconut Palm)

1 Cup of Water

3/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup

2-3 drops of Food Coloring

And some flavoring (just a few drops) like Peppermint, Lemon, Mint etc.

(Today I just used NuNatural's Liquid Orange & Lemon Flavored Stevia)

Today I made 2 batches, a small batch of Green first, then when I knew how easy it was,

a full batch of Blue.

And about a Cup or so of Powdered Sugar

 if you want to dust each piece so they're not as sticky

Don't have any powdered sugar on hand?

Make your own - Homemade Brown Sugar and Powdered Sugar Directions

Cool for about 30 minutes (I put mine in the fridge for about 5)

Maybe by now your saying,"okay, it looks like glass.  But what's with the 'sea glass'?"

Here's plenty more info on that:  utm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS

And if you don't want to mess with the sugar, here's a link to buy some:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93855337/hard-candy-sea-glass-3-oz-sample-bag-for?utm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS

Seems from what I see on line it's popular at Weddings as well.  It would make a great gift...

It does look like old broken glass, that's for sure!

My Hydrangeas made it through the storms last night okay by the way....

So, Sea Glass Candy. 

Really easy and fun to make.

Not a lot of work or cost.  And it would make a great gift.  I stored most of this

today in a baggy and put it in the freezer.  If I need to make up a nice homemade

gift for someone, I know where to get some cool candy for someone nice!

No, I wouldn't suggest eating this stuff if you drop it in sand!  I sacrificed a few pieces for the pics...

Raw Cane Sugar Sea Glass Candy.

Enjoy!

Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil Giveaway

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Coconut Key Lime Fudge

Coconut Key Lime Fudge is sugar, dairy and gluten free w/ vegan / raw options.

Mix all ingredients in a blender until a creamy batter is achieved much like cottage cheese or cheesecake batter.  You may need to adjust the amount of almond milk until you get yours just right.

Brazil Nut Cherry Cocoa or Coconut Bites, Raw, GF, SF

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Organic Brazil Nuts, soaked
3/4 Cups Dried Dates
1/4 Cup Almond Meal/ Flour
3 Tbs. Melted Coconut Oil (I like Tropical Traditions)

1/4 Cup Shredded Organic Unsweetened Coconut  (You can use 1/2 cup of coconut or 1/2 cup of almond flour instead if you don't have both, it's just a binder for the nuts)

2 tsp. Organic Cocoa Powder

3/4 Cups Frozen Sweet Cherries
1 tsp. Amaretto (Optional use Vanilla Stevia if you'd rather)
Toppings:
1/4 Cup or so of Cocoa Powder
and / or
1/4 Cup of Shredded Organic Unsweetened Coconut

Ground Brazil Nuts

Ground Dried Dates

Soak 2 Cups of Organic Brazil Nuts in 3-4 cups of filtered water for 3-4 hours.
Drain the nuts and chop them to a small ground like you'd see an ice cream topping nut, like the ones pictured above.

Pour chopped nuts into a medium size bowl and chop the dates to a fine grind.

Add the chopped Dates in with the Brazil nuts and add the Cocoa Powder.  Heat the frozen cherries in a small pan on medium high heat, stir  frequently and add in the Amaretto or Vanilla Stevia.  Mix 1 tsp. of Arrow Root with 2 tsp. of water to make a paste and then pour this into the cherries while stirring constantly until the cherry's juice start to thicken some.  Simmer and stir the cherries for about 1 minute more and then remove from the heat.  Chop the cherry mixture in a blender until it has the consistency of jam.  You can taste it at this point to see if it needs more sweetener before adding it in with the nut/date mixture.  Stir together to make a wet dough similar to cookie dough.  Cool the dough in the fridge to let it set up some.

Roll spoonfuls of the mixture in your palms to what ever size balls you want and sit them on wax paper or a non stick surface.  You should refrigerate the rolled balls if you take a while to make all the dough into balls.  Cool all the balls again for a few minutes and then carefully roll each ball in a small bowl with either Cocoa Powder or Shredded Coconut.  Store in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to http://glutenfreepantry.blogspot.com/  and http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/slightly-indulgent-tuesday-2612/ and http://glutenfreepantry.blogspot.com/2012/02/allergy-free-wednesdays-blog-hop-week-3.html

Raw Coconut Almond Daisy Candies

Ingredients:
1 Cup Raw Almond Butter
5-6 Tbs. Raw Cacao Butter warmed
3 Tbs. Melted Coconut Oil
1-3 droppers or 1 tsp. Vanilla Stevia
3/4 Cup Ground Raw Almonds
1 Cup Unsweetened Raw Shredded Coconut
Pinch of Sea Salt


Vegetable spray candy mold
Blend all ingredients to a wet batter and press into candy molds or form into balls.  Freeze until hardened.  Coat with Cocoa Powder, Coconut, Cinnamon Sugar or leave plain.  Keep refrigerated. 

This post is linked to http://glutenfreepantry.blogspot.com/

Raw Lucuma White Chocolate Candies

See the recipe here for these yummy little heart candies:

http://www.navitasnaturals.com/recipes/lucuma/lucuma-white-chocolate-candies.html

You can buy Lucuma at iHerb
Recieve $5 off you purchase with this code at checkout: ZOC252

Raw Sunflower Sesame Seed Crackers

These are slightly spicy but go well with a sweeter spread like peanut butter shown here or something cheesy or even meat.

Raw Lucuma Shortbread Cookies

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Recipe - Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups Navitas Naturals Raw Cashew Nuts (unsoaked) 
( I used a cup of cashews and 1 cup of Almond Meal)
1 cup dried coconut

1 tsp. vanilla
(I used 2 droppers of Vanilla Stevia)

4 Tbsp. Navitas Naturals Lucuma Powder 

4 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
2 Tbsp. maple syrup, optional (didn't use because the Lucuma and Stevia were sweet enough)
Top with a dusting of cinnamon/ palm sugar mix

Directions
First, place cashews in food processor fitted with the S blade, and process into fine powder. Empty food processor and then grind coconut into a fine powder. Place ground cashews back into the food processor and add vanilla and lucuma. Grind until it is all mixed and like a fine powder. Melt coconut oil in a dehydrator or by inserting the container into a bowl of hot water. Add melted coconut oil and lightly process until all mixed. If too dry you can add some maple syrup one tablespoon at a time until it is the right consistency to hold together and roll out. Roll out like you would a traditional shortbread, cut into shapes and decorate (with gogi berries, shredded coconut, powdered cacao). If you don't have a dehydrator just freeze the cookies. If you have a dehydrator, place on mesh screen and dehydrate for up to 12 hours. Will store in the freezer for up to 3 months. http://lucuma.gojiking.co.uk/

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/

These are some of the best cookies I've ever eaten..................................ENJOY!

     This post is linked to:  http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/slightly-indulgent-tuesday-12412/