My all time favourite easter treat used to be the mini caramel filled eggs. I LOVED the combination of the milk chocolate and flowing, slightly salty, caramel. However, as they are made almost entirely from milk, refined sugar and additives, unfortunately they are not something I choose to eat anymore.
I was also given an article in the paper recently that equated various types of easter eggs to slices of bread. One mini caramel egg is equal to 1.1 slices of bread. That would mean a packet, which (lets face it) is pretty easy to demolish in one sitting, equals 11 slices of bread!! That’s pretty horrifying and even more incentive to try and find something a little healthier to indulge in over the easter holiday.
So with the mini caramel egg flavours in mind, this is my recipe for raw chocolate salted caramel cups. The raw chocolate in the recipe has an intense chocolate flavour and the salted caramel layer is pretty amazing considering it’s made entirely without refined sugar! They are also completely dairy and gluten free, and being raw means all the inherent nutrients in the ingredients are still intact meaning these salted caramel cups are rich in antioxidants (from the the cacao) minerals and fibre (from the dates).
They are pretty easy to make too. For the chocolate it’s just a case of gently melting the ingredients and stirring them together. The salted caramel layer is simply made by blending dates, almond butter and pure maple syrup. Then it’s just a case of spooning the layers into the paper cups and waiting for them to set.
I hope you give these little raw chocolate salted caramel cups a try. They are super delicious, especially the salted caramel layer, and definitely won’t send your blood sugar levels crazy like regular easter treats. Enjoy!
Did you like this post? Any questions or comments about the recipe? Leave me a comment in the section below – I’d love to hear from you!
Raw Chocolate Salted Caramel Cups
(makes 12 mini cups)
1/2 cup (70g) raw cacao butter
1/4 cup (60g) cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil
pinch himalayan pink rock salt
1/2 cup (85g) pure maple syrup, rice syrup or coconut nectar
1/2 cup (65g) raw cacao powder
Bring a small pan of water to the boil and then take it off the heat. Place the cacao butter, coconut oil and salt in a heat proof bowl and place on top of the pan of steaming water, stirring occasionally until fully melted. Melting the ingredients using this method ensures the temperature of the ingredients doesn’t go above 47ºC thereby keeping the nutrients in them intact. Once melted remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients.
Salted Caramel Filling
8 fresh medjool dates, pitted
2 Tbsp almond butter
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup, rice syrup or coconut nectar
pinch of himalayan pink salt
sea salt flakes to decorate (optional)
Ensure you have removed the pits from the dates, then place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until you have a smooth caramel. This makes quite a sticky caramel but if you prefer it more runny feel free to add another tablespoon of maple syrup or filtered water.
To assemble:
Line a mini muffin tin with paper cases (or use silicone moulds if you have them). Drop a spoonful of the raw chocolate into the bottom of each case and then place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set. When firm to touch, remove from the freezer and drop a teaspoonful of salted caramel into each cup, smoothing down where needed. Lastly spoon or pour the remaining raw chocolate into each cup, ensuring the caramel is covered. Sprinkle a few sea salt flakes into the centre of each cup and return to the fridge to set.
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Question, Is there another substitutes I could use for the cacao butter? I’ve seen several recipes with this but can’t get my hands on it! Thanks!
Hi Santina, this is a tricky one. I have used cacao butter in this raw chocolate recipe because cacao butter is a component of chocolate and as such it provides flavour, texture and setting quality.
Finding a replacement isn’t that straight forward. Depending on what the recipe is you could try and substitute it with coconut oil as they have similar qualities (especially if the recipe is something like a raw cheesecake) but for this chocolate recipe I would try substituting it for equal parts almond butter and coconut oil. The reason being cacao butter has a harder texture than coconut oil so by adding almond butter it would provide a better set. I haven’t tried substituting it in this recipe so I’m not sure what it will taste like but in theory it should work. Alternatively you can order cacao butter from many places online such as amazon. Hope that helps! Let me know how the chocolate turns out 🙂
Hi There!
I am just wondering how this is best stored – fridge or freezer? Also, are you able to let me know the quantity that the filling makes? I want to make it a layer in the chocolate that I make at home so will need to adjust the amounts made to make sure I have enough!
These look amazing and I can’t wait to give it a go!
Thanks!
Hi Melissa! These raw chocolate salted caramel cups are best stored in the fridge if you want to eat them within a week or two, otherwise I would store them in the freezer and take them out as you want to eat them.
As for the quantity that the filling makes – my guess by looking at the recipe would be around 8 tablespoons worth. Obviously it will depend on the size of the dates you use though. Hope that helps! 🙂