Easy and quick date caramel for your fall apples or summer ice cream. A 3 ingredient sauce that will take just 5 minutes of your time.
When life gives you dates, make this caramel sauce or try these chocolate covered dates, one of our favorite date recipes.
Most caramel sauce starts with caramelizing sugar. For my recipe, I started with pure maple syrup instead avoiding the common pitfalls of burning then sugar due to uneven heat.
I've used butter to get the flavor but you can also use coconut oil for a vegan version. Adding date paste for extra natural sweetness and earthy flavor sure takes this caramel over the top.
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Maple syrup is the base that gives the caramel taste, do not just buy any syrup go for a pure high quality one. If you use imitation maple syrup it will end up bitter and won't taste as good.
- Butter, is what gives this sauce its richness. For a vegan caramel sauce use coconut oil.
- Date paste, it is easy to make or just process about 4 dates without the skin. If the skin is soft and thin there is no need to take off the skin, most probably you will not notice it.
Step by Step Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step1: melt butter or coconut oil with the pure maple syrup over medium heat until it boils rapidly.
Step2: reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for 1 minute only.
Step3: immediately pour the syrup mixture into your food processor and add the date paste. Process everything until smooth.
Recipe Expert Tips
- If you cannot find pure maple syrup you can use honey you can also use agave but it will be a little bit sweeter.
- Some people like to raise the temperature of the maple syrup mixture gradually over low flame. Maple syrup is not as easy to burn as sugar so I take the opposite route here. I boil mine first then reduce heat and simmer for only one minute. It is easier and quicker this way about 6-10 minutes quicker.
- When you are done heating up the syrup and simmering it, pour immediately in your food processor, leaving it in the pan will cook it even more.
- This caramel sauce keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Note that it will thicken up in the fridge, microwave it a bit before using.
- If your sauce came out grainy then it might mean you overcooked it. Try fixing it by adding a little more water to dissolve the crystals and start again.
Date Caramel FAQs
If your dates has been sitting around for sometime, they might be hard and dry. To revive these dates soak them in hot water or juice for more flavor. If the skin is too thick you better remove it to make your paste as smooth as possible.
This caramel sauce uses butter so it is not. If you replace butter with coconut oil then you'll get the vegan version as there is no cream involved.
Caramel sauce contains butter so it might go bad over time. I recommend no more than two weeks in the fridge.
Recipe Variations
- You can flavor your caramel in any way you like using vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin spice..etc. I like leaving it as is so not to take for the maple flavor.
- Add a little bit of salt around 1/4 teaspoon or so to make salted caramel sauce.
- Make it with a new flavor each time, think of stirring in espresso powder, orange zest, bittersweet chocolate... etc.
- Also you might want to try browning the butter for a brown butter date sauce.
How to use date caramel sauce?
- As an apple dip.
- Drizzle over ice cream.
- Spreading on toast.
- As a sweetener for your coffee.
- Mixing in your yogurt.
- Or , my favorite, straight from the jar as an after dinner sinful dessert 💗.
More Sauce Recipes
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Date Caramel Sauce:
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter Note1.
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup. Note2
- 2-3 Tablespoons date paste. Note3
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt butter then add maple syrup. Mix well and heat on low for 1 minutes.
- Pour the syrup in a small blender bowl, I’ve used my chopper bowl.
- Let it cool down for 5-10 minutes, if you would like to.
- Add the date paste and mix well.
- Pour the syrup in a glass container and enjoy!
Notes
- You can use coconut oil for a vegan caramel.
- If you cannot get a hold of pure maple syrup or if it is too expensive in your area, honey would work nicely too. Brown rice syrup works well but the taste gets a little funky. Agave would probably work as well but will be a little sweeter.
- Here is the link for date paste or simply soak some dates in hot water for about 10 minutes then peel, take the seeds off and smash a bit.
- Some people like to raise the temperature of the maple syrup mixture gradually over low flame. Maple syrup is not as easy to burn as sugar so I take the opposite route here. I boil mine first then reduce heat and simmer for only one minute. It is easier and quicker this way about 6-10 minutes quicker.
- When you are done heating up the syrup and simmering it, pour immediately in your food processor, leaving it in the pan will cook it even more.
- I haven’t tried refrigerating the caramel, I just kept it for 4 days at room temperature but I would say a week at most as it contains butter. Keep it for two weeks in the refrigerator, it will harden a bit, but nothing that a quick round in the microwave could not fix. However, I highly recommend making it and then serving immediately, it’s the right consistency at that point.
- If your sauce came out grainy then it might mean you overcooked it. Try fixing it by adding a little more water to dissolve the crystals and start again.
- This recipe makes about half a cup that is about 6 servings.
This came out delicious, served it to my guests to drizzle over their fruits and they all liked it.
Thank you Kareem, I am happy you liked it.
Gosh! This looks so good and love how you used dates in it. Fabulous indeed!
Thanks dear, it is so delicious. I'm sure you appreciate dates more now after your Dubai stay :).I hope you'll give it a try.
What a fun idea! I've only experimented with dates in recipes a couple of times, but the look of this caramel sauce definitely has me thinking. I need to make some date paste...and then this caramel sauce...ASAP! I love the idea of just serving it drizzled over fresh Fall apples! 🙂
Amira, your caramel sauce sounds decadently delicious.
We love caramel, and eat it throughout the year. But much more in the fall for some reason! So I guess maybe it is caramel season. 🙂 Anyway, love this! Really. Good. Stuff. Thanks!
Caramel is heavenly food so delicious with anything. Being a caramel fan, I hope you'll try this recipe . Thanks John.