That shiny, golden-brown cascade of sugar we call caramel turns even the most virtuous fruit into candy. Unfortunately, caramel has a way of sticking to more than apples – like your thighs, your hips and your apple-shaped abs. Long overdue, we put caramel on a diet. Within no time, this sweet sauce lost a lot of dairy weight and a significant percentage of sugar. The best part is it made great nutritional gains, packing on bone-loving calcium and muscle-supporting iron and magnesium with help from unsuspecting dates. The results are truly stunning.
Vegan Salted Caramel Candy Dip
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients
16 pitted Medjool dates
3 Tbsp. maple almond butter
½ cup rice milk
2 Tbsp. maple syrup or yacon syrup (for a bolder flavor and lower glycemic index)
Sea salt to taste
Directions: In a food processor, add all ingredients and blend until creamy and smooth. It will take several minutes to get the dates finely chopped and blended. You may need to stop the processor and stir the mixture a few times to fully incorporate.
Tip: I added a sprinkle of sea salt every time I stopped to stir the mixture.