Caramel is essentially cooked sugar. As the sugar is heated, it takes on that golden color and rich smell that we all know and drool over.  Usually, some kind of butter or cream is stirred into the heated sugar to give it its trademark richness and creaminess.

Thank goodness it’s so easy to make a plant-based version of caramel! There are cookies, cakes, ice cream brownies, and even pretzels to be made that are asking for a drizzle or dousing of homemade vegan caramel.

You might need coconut oil, cashews, dates, or some other beautiful plant-based ingredient to make up your creamy caramel concoction. Check out some imaginative OGP recipes that showcase deep and delicious caramel.

1. Easy 4-Ingredient Caramel Sauce

Source: Easy 4-Ingredient Caramel Sauce/One Green Planet

Let’s start with a recipe for an Easy 4-Ingredient Caramel Sauce by Larice Feuerstein.  With a jar of this delicious caramel sauce made from nut butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, and plant-based milk at hand, you are ready to drizzle it over your favorite desserts.

2. Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies/One Green Planet

The caramel in this recipe for Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies by Abby Thompson isn’t a true caramel at all.  But, don’t tell!  This is an amazing recipe for raw, refined sugar-free caramel that uses dates and maple syrup.  Stuff that date caramel into a cookie that is crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. You’ll get that signature caramel flavor without the cooking and traditional ingredients.

3. Millionaire’s Shortbread

Source: Millionaire’s Shortbread/One Green Planet

This recipe for Millionaire’s Shortbread by Holly Jade is a vegan take on a classic treat.  The caramel here is made more traditionally but uses coconut sugar, butter and milk instead.  The crunchy biscuit make is also made from coconut flour and oil.  Cover the sticky caramel in a generous layer of chocolate and let them set in the fridge before enjoying this million-dollar dessert.

4. Caramel Brownie Bars

Source:  Caramel Brownie Bars/One Green Planet

As if brownies needed to get any richer or naughtier!  Here we have beautifully fudgy brownies that have been slathered in a thick caramel and topped off in dark chocolate. This caramel is made with vegan cream, butter, and maple syrup.  Trine Rask‘s Caramel Brownie Bars make for a most decadent dessert.

5. Caramel Popsicle

Source: Caramel Popsicle/One Green Planet

This is a super easy summer treat to make.  With Melanie Kröpfl‘s Caramel Popsicles, you don’t need any fancy ice cream-making machines.  You just need to make your batch of caramel, this time using rice milk, then add it to more rice milk before pouring it into molds and freezing it onto a stick.  The perfect treat for a hot sunny day.

6. Caramel Apple Skillet Cookie

Source: Caramel Apple Skillet Cookie/One Green Planet

Caramel, cinnamon, and apples have always been the perfect combination.  Pile those things together in a cookie recipe, and you are on to a winner.  Medha Swaminathan‘s Caramel Apple Skillet Cookie is rich, warm, and the size of a skillet.  Still, you might find yourself eating the whole thing yourself. Well, it’s technically just one cookie, right?

7. Caramel Apple Stuffed Pretzel Rolls

Source: Caramel Apple Stuffed Pretzel Rolls/One Green Planet

Here’s another recipe that plays with that classic apple and caramel combo. Annie McGee‘s Caramel Apple Stuffed Pretzel Rolls are perfectly sweet and salty and have that instantly recognizable pretzel flavor.  Then, drizzle a coconut and brown sugar-based caramel sauce over the freshly baked pretzels and revel in the result.

8. Caramel Rice Crispy Squares

Source:  Caramel Rice Crispy Squares/One Green Planet

This is a really simple vegan version of a well-loved, retro sweet treat.  Using vegan marshmallows and a coconut-based caramel sauce, Natasha Condie‘s recipe for Caramel Rice Crispy Squares will satisfy any sweet craving.

9. Caramel Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

Source: Caramel Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies/One Green Planet

These are the easiest cookies to make.  Kat Condon‘s Caramel Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies are completely no-bake, and even the caramel sauce is done in minutes in the microwave.  Share these delicious, no-bake, gluten-free cookies with friends and family.

10. Caramel Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Source: Caramel Vanilla Bean Ice Cream/One Green Planet

For Karen Sheer‘s Caramel Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, first you need to make up some heavenly vanilla ice cream using real vanilla, ginger, pumpkin spice, and Himalayan salt. Then, make a homemade coconut-based, salted caramel sauce.  Give yourself a generous helping of ice cream and serve it with berries and, of course, a drizzle of that sweet and salty caramel sauce.

There are so many ways you can add a little bit of decadence and naughtiness to your already indulgent sweet treats by experimenting with vegan caramel sauces.

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home!

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and prostate cancer, and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter! Lastly, being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!