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!

Mandarin Orange Pecan Easter Cake

What can you make with some of these..............

And some NEW NuNaturals Orange Nu Stevia?

 Well, some of the best fruity cake I've had in a long time......................

Use about 6 fresh Mandarin Oranges, save the slices of 3 and juice the other 3 in a blender.

Since it was Easter I went one step further and drizzles some Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate on the top

                                                                                  

I used a NuNaturals Lemon Stevia Glaze underneath the Dark Chocolate:

1 Cup of Coconut Oil Melted                                                 Combined with    1 tsp. NuNatural's Liquid Lemon Stevia and          1 Tbs. of  NuNatural's Stevia Powder                                                                                          Blend everything and cool in the fridge just long enough for the coconut oil to slightly firm up.   Then pour on top of the cooled bread.     I also pushed 10 -12 pecan halves into the glaze before doing the chocolate drizzle.    The lemon Stevia was just right to kick up the citris taste in this cake.

Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone for the "NuNaturals Liquid Stevia Orange & Lemon  Giveaway entries! 

Contest ends April 15th!

GF Sour Cream Cornbread with Cinnamon Spread

Sugar Free Butterscotch Smoothie

Hey Don't for get to enter our Kindred Bliss Bath & Body Giveaway
 

Inspired from Averie's Banana Cream Pie Version on Love Veggies and Yoga
Check it out http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/

Pear Butter Walnut Cookies - GF, Vegan

I picked up this Kime's Pear Butter Spread   this week at a wonderful local heath food store here: Mom's Organic Market, and wanted to incorporate it into a healthy cookie.

 I made this one to be dehydrated for RAW readers, but also because my oven isn't working right now.  They're pretty good and also allowed me to try out the Palm Sugar I got last week from iHerbs.  (6 packs only $20!)  The cookies are soft and mildly sweet.  The walnuts add a nice crunch.  If you wanted to bake them I'm sure they could be adapted but I would keep the temperature lower than most and cook them slowly like the dehydrator dose, maybe 300 deg. for 45 minutes?  I don't know since I can't try with my oven right now.  The dehydrator works well though, that I know.

Soy Milk Mayo

Easy and quick, this recipe for homemade Mayonnaise is great for dairy free dips and sandwiches.  Keeps in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  I store mine in a used mustard bottle for "squeeze-ease"  Its also a great base for other dips and sauces that can become dairy free with this soy milk recipe:

Homemade Soy Milk and Flour

This Soy Milk was relatively easy to make and a huge savings over store bought.  The process is pictured here.  I purchased a 2 lbs. bag of dried soybeans, used 1 lbs. for my first batch since I didn't know how much milk it was going to make and I'd be the one drinking it for the next week.  The 1 lbs of beans produced just under a gallon of Soy Milk.  The 2 lbs bag only cost $1 so I got a gallon of milk for about .50 cents with the flavorings.  I usually spend about $2.50 per quart in the store for boxed Soy Milk so this was definitely a good buy. 

The added bonus is that the bean pulp left over can be made into Soy Flour which is also pricey in the stores.  If you have a dehydrator, spread the pulp on the trays and dry it out, then grind it fine in a food processor to make the flour.  What a savings!
I would add at least 1 cup of sugar/sweetener to the milk as it cooks, vanilla or orange, chocolate could also be added at this stage.  Keep milk for 7 -8 days in a sealed container in the fridge.

Dried Soy Beans

Soak Soy Beans for 12+ hours covered in water

Drain water off of soaked beans

Add 3 cups of water to each 1 cup of beans and blend until smooth, 30 seconds or so

Pour mixture through cheese cloth into large pot, squeeze out bean ball to remove most of the milk into the pot

Heat soy milk over medium heat for 20-30 minutes stirring frequently

Skim off any foam that forms from bean liquid and discard

Dehydrated Orange Slices

Add sugar, vanilla, orange, cinnamon or other flavorings to milk as it simmers

Other Soy information you may enjoy:

http://www.soymilkstore.com/soymilkstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=53