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
- 3 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 1 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.
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.
I love this shake! I didn’t have any creamer so I used 2 frozen light coconut milk cubes – delicious! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Coconut milk ice cubes? Genius!
I was so excited to get braces because everyone else had them! I loved getting the rubber bands wot match the seasons and the holidays. The novelty was short lived though.
I got braces a bit later in life – I’m 30 now and still have another 6 months or so with them. I probably could have done with getting them years ago but my head was just not in the right place. I’m shortly due to get surgery as part of the treatment and I am a mixture of scared/excited about it.
For me the “thought” of having braces was much worse than the reality but I know I would have kicked and screamed if I’d been told when I was younger that I had to get them (as it was, the dentist just said “up to you if you want them” which was much better for me as I felt I was getting to make up my own mind. I’ve had a few down days with them but out of 15 months so far it hasn’t been so bad! (I got behind my teeth as well so people who don’t know me have no clue I have them, sooooo worth the extra money)
I’m
I remember wanting braces for such a long time! The same with glasses! I had both and now wonder what on earth I was thinking!!!
Your recipes are great and your photos of them even greater, but your blog banner (the first thing the reader sees and the aesthetic tone-setter for the blog) looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint 10 years ago. I know this sounds like an insult and will probably be taken as such, so I apologize, but I only intend it as constructive criticism from an outside source. I just feel like with the skills you clearly have in making things look pretty, you could revamp it and so easily give the whole blog a makeover.
I do appreciate constructive criticism (even if it does hurt my feelings… I like the header!). However, I have so much I want to do and only so many hours in the day. I’d rather spend my time making sure my actual content (recipes and photos) are good than worrying about the header. In an ideal world, I could just pay someone to make my blog look all professional, but hopefully people will understand I’m not a pro and am trying to maintain this blog by myself, and hopefully no one will stop reading my blog simply because they don’t like the header!
Hi Katie! I have a question about the cookies ya posted- the no bake ones. I don’t have a food processor (yet!) but the closest i can think of is my Vitamix- would i be able to use that? Thanks a million 🙂
I think so… I know a lot of people make fudge babies in the vita. When I tried, it was very sticky, but maybe I did something wrong because a LOT of other people make them that way all the time. So I bet these could be done that way too!
UPDATE: ok, vita is NOT the way to go. It didn’t pricess the raisind or the nuts really well. So i got huge chunks of raisins that didn’t taste too good. Maybe i nedd to geta food processor, anyhow i’ll try this milk shake fo’ sho’ 🙂
sorry for the bad typing- what i meant to say was that the vita did not process the raisins. and i meant to say i n-e-e-d to get a processor- my total bad
Wow I’m really intrigued by this recipe. Caramel apple milkshake? Sounds amazing! I’m putting dates on my shopping list for sure.
I had a permanent retainer for three years, and braces for four years–a year and a half longer than they said I would have it in! I was not happy. But my teeth are straight now, I’ll give them that. 🙂
It may be cold, but it’s perfect for fall. I had wanted to comment on today’s post. It says that the comments are closed. The same thing happened on the chocolate post the other day. Anyway, I just wanted to say that my family makes room for ice cream year round. Your frozen treats look delicious as always. Love the pics.
Chocolate and pumpkin? I just saw a recipe for pumpkin hot chocolate in my Rachael Ray e-newsletter. Is that what you’re making, or something even better? 🙂
Ooh no, but now I want to make that!
Actually, I made the most amazing pumpkin chocolate cookies today, but tomorrow’s post will be for muffins.
The absolute ultimate natural caramel apple is this:
Smush up dates. A food processor is fine. You want a sticky paste. Add water only if you really, really need to.
Wrap date smush around apple. Put stick in apple. Eat.
You will not believe how delicious this is, and how much it tastes like a caramel apple, even though it’s only dates. Looking at the recipe, you may think you want to add salt or vanilla or creamer or something, but try it with only the dates first–it’s amazing. (Though I haven’t tried this with Sun-Maid; I generally buy organic medjool or barhi, so YMMV.)
In the meantime, I’ll try your smoothie; it’s a great idea–but I have a hard time not adding frozen bananas to shakes, so we’ll see what happens. Thanks!
Yum, that sounds really good!! Thanks for the yummy idea! 🙂
i did have braces. but only for like 9 mos.