Life can be unpredictable. Yesterday while going for my morning coffee I was struck by how chaotic traffic seemed to be. As I parked my car, I noticed pedestrians looking to the sky and wandering around with that puzzled, slightly lost look that comes with something out of the ordinary. A construction crew hit a gas line while excavating and caused a chain-link explosion that leveled a building, blew out windows and cut power to hundreds. Luckily there were no fatalities, but it brought home how tenuous life can be and that every moment should be appreciated. As bad as my life has seemed the last year I have so much to be grateful for. I have a wonderful son, a lovely home, and friends that I can rely on when life gets me down. I have always been the cup is half empty type but am trying to look on the brighter side of things these days.
When faced with one’s mortality I find the best solution is to retreat to my kitchen and create something that I can share with someone special. I have been experimenting with different types of dairy free caramel and have found coconut milk create a lovely pourable sauce, but I was looking for something that I could spread. This super easy salted date caramel comes together in a few minutes, and you most likely have the ingredients hiding in your pantry. I find a lot of dairy-free caramels are sickly sweet and I was hoping to tame the sugar a bit. I added a bit of almond butter and a big squeeze of lemon juice and some flaky sea salt to balance the flavors better. This stuff is amazing. I have to keep myself from eating it by the spoonful. It is great on your morning toast, swirled into oatmeal and would make a delicious smoothie. I had my eye on dessert when developing this spread and I have two recipes to share with you later that utilize this amazing salted date caramel.
If you give this recipe a try, I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #scalingback on Instagram so I can see what you came up with!
- 2 cups
medjool dates, pitted - ⅓ cup creamy almond butter
- 3 tablespoons coconut butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt (I used Maldon)
- If your dates aren't soft and pliable cover with boiling water and let sit for 5-10 minutes. In the bowl of a food processor combine the dates, almond butter, coconut butter, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Process on high for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Will keep in the refrigerator for a week.
