4-Ingredient Chocolate Salted Caramels That Are Actually Healthy

December 13, 2015Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Healthy Desserts, Healthy Recipes, Healthy SnacksBy Jenny Sugar

You open up a box of chocolates and choose carefully. Maple cream? Nah. Cherry cordial. Ugh, no. Chocolate-covered caramel? Yes, please! You can indulge in one of these for 95 calories, or make your own using four basic ingredients, for only 60 calories.

No candy thermometer needed! These babies couldn’t be easier to whip up. Just place sunflower seeds, dates, and sea salt in a food processor. Press into a pan and freeze.

Cut into squares, smother with melted chocolate, sprinkle on some sea salt (I used pink Himalayan), and pop them back in the fridge. Now there’s a sweet treat you can feel good indulging in.

These are nut free, gluten free, dairy free, and absolutely delicious – they taste just like the real thing! Give them as a homemade gift, bring them to your next pot luck, or just keep a batch in the fridge when sweet, chocolaty, chewy caramel cravings strike.

From Jenny Sugar, POPSUGAR Fitness

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramels

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unsalted roasted sunflower seeds

2 cups medjool dates (16), pitted

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli minichips)

Sea salt for topping (optional)

Directions

Place the sunflower seeds, dates, and fine sea salt in a food processor. Blend until smooth for several minutes, until a thick dough forms.
Press the mixture firmly into an 8-by-8-inch pan. If the top is oily (from the sunflower seeds), gently blot it with a paper towel.
Place pan in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.
While the caramel is firming up, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler (in a small glass bowl over a small pot of boiling water).
Remove the pan from the freezer. Take a butter knife and go along the edges of the pan to loosen it up. Turn the pan over onto a cutting board lined with parchment paper. Cut into 49 pieces (7 rows of 7).
Using a small spoon (I used a metal baby spoon), drizzle a small dollop of melted chocolate over the top of each caramel square, using the back of the spoon to smooth it out and get chocolate along the edges. Sprinkle with sea salt, if you like. Place the cutting board in the fridge for 20 minutes to harden the chocolate.
Enjoy! Store uneaten caramels in an airtight container in the fridge.

Source: Calorie Count