Like a sticky-sweet caramel apple.
In liquid form.
Caramel Apples
This recipe reminds me of those gorgeous caramel apples on display at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Until I got my braces, I looked forward to caramel apples every autumn. (After the braces went on, I was probably more upset about not being allowed caramel than gum.)
Ever since I made the (No Sugar!) Cookie Dough Dip, I’d been curious to experiment more with blending dates as a substitute for sugar. I’ve heard people say they think dates have a caramel-like taste, and therefore I figured an apple recipe would be the perfect place to start.
This caramel-apple milkshake manages to capture all the deliciousness of a crisp, juicy apple, dripping with thick caramel sauce.
Caramel Apple Milkshake
(sugar and gluten-free)
- scant 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup pitted dates (such as Sunmaid)
- scant 1/16 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup milk of choice
- 3Â tbsp nondairy creamer (I used Silk. You can substitute milk of choice, for a caramel-apple smoothie as opposed to the richer taste of a shake. Or you can sub full-fat canned coconut milk.)
In a little dish, pour a little water over the dates and let them sit for at least two hours. Then blend all other ingredients with the dates and 1Â tbsp of the water. (Drain the rest of the water before blending.) Alternatively, you can blend the dates a little before adding the other ingredients. The shake will get thicker as it sits.
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Generously topped with Healthy Whipped Cream.
The cream melts into the shake, making it even more rich and delicious. I also drizzled on some brown rice syrup, more for presentation than anything else!
Question of the Day:
Did you ever have braces?
Initially, I was really excited to get my braces on. I even worried I might not need them, because my teeth were always pretty straight. But once the novelty of having braces wore off, I wished I hadn’t needed them. Every orthodontist appointment, I hoped to hear that the darn things were coming off soon!
Yummy link of the day: Healthy Milkshake Recipes.
What a nice fall treat, especially when Indian summer is here. I made some date muffins last year that used soaked and pureed dates and were surprisingly delicious. I had kind of forgotten about using dates that way, thanks for the reminder!
By the way, where do you get your big straws?
These were from Bed Bath Beyond!
This looks great. Have you ever made cakepops? They are so cute and yummy. I got a recipe book for making them, but the recipes aren’t vegan and have a lot of processed sugar. Any tips? (:
Have you seen Mama Pea’s vegan cake pops? I made them with gluten-free flour and they rock!
LOL I’ve done cookie ball pops: https://lett-trim.today/2011/05/09/cookie-ball-pops/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
But not cake pops. If you google vegan cake pops, a lot of links come up. I’m not sure if they have processed sugar or not, though. Maybe I should make some! 🙂
Looks delicious!
I had to have braces for three years and it was absolutely awful. Getting them tightened was horrible, but so was spending all of that time at the orthodontist’s office! I wonder what I could have done with all of those extra hours…
looks delicious!
I had braces….twice…ouch.
Omg this sounds fabulous! I have been wanting a carmel apple now for the past week!
ah no, it seems like my comment has just vanished!
This is such a creative recipe! Seems like one that will win carnivores over 😉
I was wearing braces for a couple of years… I also liked choosing colours and stuff, but besides that, I just wanted them off. And when they eventually came off, my teeth seemed soooo huge and when biting into an apple I felt like my teeth were falling out. So weird. But I like my straight teeth 🙂
This looks more than delicious. I can’t wait till the weekend, when I have planned a trip to the organic grocery store to buy dates (among many other things).
I have never had braces. When I was younger I really wanted braces, because of the split between my two front teeth. When I came to the orthodontist, however, he laughed at me because he found it a silly thing to get braces for. At first I was quite angry, but I am glad I have never had braces now. I love my split, it’s one of the things that defines me.
Ooh yummy! I actually had Invisalign and got them a few years ago, in my early 20s. They were pretty easy and barely anyone could tell I was wearing them though I still felt they were a bit obvious. I would recommend those for sure for the new teenagers as I think they came out with an Invisalign Teen or something!
I love your blog and especially the drinks/shakes.
I’m going to make this as a reward for finishing everything I have to do tonight.
I never wore braces, but so many people have, and at one point in life, I was kind of disappointed that I was going to miss out on this. But then on a skiing trip, my friend skied into a tree and her braces stuck to the back of her lip and her dad had to rip them free. It was horrifying and since then, I’ve been glad I didn’t have braces 🙂