Whenever I hear someone make the claim that an allergy-friendly version of something is “better than the original” I tend to roll my eyes. “I just have them wrap my burger with lettuce – you don’t even miss the bun!!” Nobody believes you, sit down.
But after years of having to navigate various food allergies for me, my wife, or my kids, I’ve realized that some things you compromise on, but others actually can be better than the original you’ve always enjoyed. Enter, this caramel sauce.
I kid you not, the caramel in this dish is as good as any you’ve ever tasted, so much easier to make than traditional caramel, and exactly zero people eating it will feel like it’s been adjusted for a diet of any kind. With the combination of rosemary, apples, & spices, this is an amazing fall dessert you can serve to just about anyone, without fear of allergies or leftovers.
Rosemary Caramel Baked Apples (gluten free, dairy free, grain free, vegan)
Ingredients:
- 1 19oz can coconut cream (Mae Ploy brand if you can)
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg fresh ground if you can
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground clove
- 1 tbsp lemon juice fresh squeezed
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary small sprigs, about 2in long each
- 8 apples cored
- flake salt
- 2/3 cup walnuts
- 1/3 cup almonds
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut cream, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice. Tie the rosemary sprigs up so the needles won't fall off during cooking and add them to the mix. Pour it all into a medium pan on medium heat and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes until it reduces by about 1/4.
- Put the apples in a casserole dish and pour the hot caramel over top (space the rosemary sprigs out around the dish so they aren't on top of the apples). Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Open the oven, spoon some of the caramel sauce over top all of the apples, and close the oven door. Bake for 15 more minutes.
- During the last 15 minutes of baking, roughly chop the walnuts and almonds and toast in a dry pan with a sprig of rosemary. Toss around until the nuts become fragrant and begin to brown. Remove from pan.
- Remove the apples from the oven. Place each one on a plate, spoon some of the caramel over each and top with walnuts and a sprinkle of flake sea salt.
I made this to test for a tasting dinner I am attending tomorrow. It is delicious, BUT, my caramel sauce separate during cooking. What did I do wrong? Please help!
Is there a link for he white plate you served it on at the end?
Right here!
We have a nut allergy in our house, would you substitute the nuts topping for maybe granola or something else? The caramel looks SO delish, I’m dairy free so I’m pretty excited for that!
Granola would be great! Does the nut allergy include all tree nuts? Because the caramel probably wouldn’t be a good idea either – but if you aren’t dairy free you could do a traditional caramel sauce for sure!
There is lemon juice in the ingredient list but not in the directions. Does it go in the caramel sauce?
I watched the video to find out where it goes. Thanks!
These look amazing and like something my family would like. Love the video smoothness and production quality.