Vegan Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints (no bake!)

Name: Vegan Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints
Prep time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 cup raw almonds; 1/4 cup cocoa powder; 1 1/2 cups pitted dates; 2 tbsp maple syrup; 1 1/2 cups pitted dates; 2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil; 3/4 cup warm water; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; pinch of salt

By Erin · June 24, 2015 · Updated June 23, 2020 · 34 Comments

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Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan Vegetarian Paleo

Vegan Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints that require NO baking? Yup! The outer cookie is made with almonds, maple syrup and cocoa powder, while the "caramel" filling is made from dates. These cookies are easy to prep and just 6 ingredients!

What do you do when you have a chocolate craving? You make cookies of course. But what about days when you don't feel like turning on the oven? Insert: no bake chocolate caramel thumbprints. My buttercream thumbprint cookies are my typical go-to recipe, but these no bakes are fool-proof and taste incredible! Plus, they're made with good-for-you ingredients, so what's not to love?

My raw Nutella cupcakes were the inspiration for this recipe, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these look way more like thumbprint cookies and less like cupcakes, hence the name change. Whatever you call them, they're delicious!

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL THUMBPRINT INGREDIENTS

Almonds - preferably raw almonds vs. almonds with sea salt
Cocoa powder
Dates - buy pitted dates to make your life easier
Maple syrup
Vanilla extract
Coconut oil

HOW TO MAKE THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Before you can make these cookies, you have to soak the dates for the caramel filling. In order to get the dates to turn into caramel, they have to be soft, so it helps to soak them in warm water for 10-20 minutes beforehand.

While that's happening, you can make the outer cookie. Rather than adding everything into my food processor at once, I did this in two batches so that everything blended up a little bit better. When I tried to add it all in, my food processor got stuck, and I don't want that happening to you 🙂

So, add HALF of the cookie ingredients to your food processor and pulse until everything is combined, then repeat that same process with the other half of the "batter".

Next, spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray or coat it with coconut oil, then use your hands or a spoon to form the cookie mixture to the muffin tin. Note: the mixture will be a tad sticky, and that's ok! If you want to minimize mess, dip a spoon in coconut oil and use that instead of your hands. Once that's done, stick the pan in the freezer while you make the caramel.

For the date caramel, simply add all of the ingredients to a blender and pulse for at least one minute so that the dates have time to turn into caramel. The end result should be a silky smooth delicious mixture that tastes eerily similar to caramel.

Scoop the caramel out of the blender and into the center of each thumbprint cookie. ...and that's it! These chocolate caramel thumbprints really are THAT easy.

HOW SHOULD I STORE THESE CHOCOLATE CARAMEL THUMBPRINTS?

Be sure to store these thumbprints in an airtight container in the refrigerator. That way, they hold shape and stay fresh for up to 5 days.

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