Soft Homemade Caramels for the Holidays (Dairy-Free)

'Tis the season for sweets and snackable treats to share with others in those cool tins. My mom (whom you met in my dinner roll recipe video) always used to make soft, chewy caramels around Christmas that would be some of the first things to go at any holiday gathering. Her recipe probably had butter and evaporated milk in them—the traditional way! These days, we have some people in our family with food restrictions, so I wanted to make dairy-free chewy caramels we could all enjoy this time of year.

So if you're looking for a dairy-free soft caramel candy recipe that you can share with everyone you love, give this dessert a try!

Watch the Dairy-Free Soft Caramels Video

This recipe has some slightly more visual elements for those complicated questions, like "What should my caramel look like when it's ready?" and "How do I roll a caramel candy?" The video comes in handy for how to tackle these cooking conundrums.

How to Make These Soft Coconut Caramels

The key to making these is a candy thermometer, because you need the caramel at the right temperature so you can have the right consistency. I use a stainless steel saucepan and add some vegan butter, vanilla extract, coconut sugar (or brown sugar), coconut cream, sweetened condensed coconut milk and stir to mix.

Why coconut sugar? It has the molasses flavor that I love, but it has a much lower glycemic index.

I put the saucepan on the stovetop over medium high heat with the candy thermometer in there the whole time. Everything will melt and start bubbling rapidly—so keep an eye on the thermometer until it gets to 235-240 degrees. The mixture will be a dark honey color and have very active bubbles across the top. Remove it from the heat once it reaches our target temperature.

Prep the Optional Add-In and Set Caramel

Marble Bowl | Dish Towel (similar) | Cedar Stem

I like to add a little bit of salty crunch to my caramels to balance out the sweetness. Lightly salted almonds roughly chopped and added into a heatproof dish. You could also try pecans or hazelnuts if you want to switch it up.

Add those chopped almonds to a casserole dish. Carefully pour the caramel on top (it's very hot) over the almonds add a little texture and extra savory note. I lightly sprinkle flaky sea salt over top and let it cool for 30 minutes.

How to Wrap Homemade Caramels

I put these in the fridge overnight to set....and life got busy. So I finally got to them a week later to wrap them, and man, it was like the flavor intensified and the texture got even better. They do need to set for at least 24 hours. You can serve them as small squares straight out of the pan, but let's get a bit more festive for the holidays.

So to wrap the caramels, first I put on gloves to prevent any stickiness. Next, take a stack of wax paper cut into rectangular square pieces and a sharp knife. I cut the caramels into approximately 2-inch by 1-inch rectangles and then roll them up with my hands into cylinders. Each one goes into their wax paper piece, and I roll the middle like a log and then twist the two sides to enclose the caramel. This part is very meditative (read: long), so just put on some Christmas music and carry on until they're all done.

The Review

What a fun treat. These caramels are so smooth, chewy, and buttery (even with no butter!). The almond and salt flakes add so much complexity. Bonus: These never get stuck in your teeth like those harder caramels. Store them in the fridge for the best texture—a chilled caramel is so tasty. It's so great to bring back something nostalgic from my childhood.

I hope these are your new favorite Christmas treat. And if you want some more gluten-free, dairy-free holiday sweets, try my Peppermint Brownies recipe or my Vegan Holiday Brittle recipe.

Soft Homemade Caramels for the Holidays (Dairy-Free)

Recipe by Chris Marcum

3.1 from 26 votes

Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegan butter (Miyokos brand preferred)

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 cups coconut sugar

• 13 1/2 oz coconut cream

• 18 oz sweetened condensed coconut milk

• 1/2 cup lightly salted roasted almonds, rough chopped

Directions

• To a medium sauce pan, add the butter, vanilla, coconut sugar, coconut cream, and sweetened condensed coconut milk. Place a candy thermometer into the pan and put on medium/medium high heat and cook until the thermometer reads 235/240.
• While the caramel cooks, chop the almonds and spread evenly in a casserole dish. Once the caramel reaches temperature, pour into the dish overtop the almonds. Cover and place in the fridge overnight until completely cooled.
• Cut and portion the caramels, shape them quickly by hand and wrap in a small square of wax paper. Since coconut caramels behave differently at room temperature, store in the fridge until ready to serve, otherwise they will lose their shape and texture.

We don't eat at Olive Garden often, but whenever I find myself there during colder months, I always get the bottomless soup, salad & breadsticks. And even though they have several soups to choose from, I always stick with the Zuppa Toscana because it is, far and away, the superior option. So imagine my joy when a friend showed me how to make it. Turns out, it's super easy.

Since we're heavy into fall now and I love this soup, I chose to make it as my first non-Whole30 meal, and I made it for a lot of people. So I'm going to give you the amounts to make half of what I made (so disregard the sausage count in the picture and stuff like that - just follow the instructions. :) )

The ingredient list for this soup is surprisingly short. Here's what you need (again, disregard amounts shown - the stuff shown made a lot):

In order of appearance, the ingredients are:
• 1/2 cup chopped bacon, most of the fat trimmed off
• 4 uncooked links of Italian sausage (mild or spicy, your call), casing removed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 qt of chicken stock
• 1 qt of water
• 3 medium russet potatoes, washed and sliced into half-moons (about 1/4 thick or so)
• 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (the more you use, the spicier it will be...is a "duh" called for on this one?)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 kale leaves, thick rib parts removed, leaves washed thoroughly and cut into pieces about 1 inch long.
• salt TT

First, preheat a 5 qt stock pot on medium/medium-high heat. Once heated, add the bacon and cook until almost crispy. Then, add the sausage in beat it up so it's no longer in link form. Let that cook thoroughly and drain the fat. I do this by removing my stock pot from the heat, pushing the meat to one side of the stock pot, then propping the meat side of the pot up on an old rag or something, so the fat drains to the non-meat side. Did that make sense? Once the grease drains, you can spoon it out pretty easily. Leave a tablespoon or so of grease.

Quick note: the reason you cook the bacon first is because if you add both the bacon and sausage at the same time, the fat remaining on the bacon has a hard time rendering the way it should and you may end up with soggy pieces of bacon fat in your final soup. Not ideal. Moving on.

After you get most of the fat out, put the pot back onto medium heat. Once the meat starts to sizzle again, add the chopped onion and bay leaf and sauté for a minute or two. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or so (this is why you left a tablespoon of grease in the pot - to sweat the onions and garlic. Also, doesn't "sweating" vegetables sound so much worse when the vegetable is onions?).

Add the chicken stock and water, then bring to a boil. Add the sliced potatoes and red pepper flakes, cover, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes.

When you're about ready to eat, add the heavy cream, stir, then add the kale and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt as desired.

I always serve soup with a hearty, artisan bread. Unless it's chili, then I prefer cornbread (but that's a post for another day). Give this soup a try (printable recipe below) and be sure to come back and tell me how you liked it. Or even if you didn't, that's cool too. :)

Cheers, Internet friends. Have a wonderful day.

CopyCat Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden)

Recipe by Chris

1.0 from 1 vote

Servings

8

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Calories

0

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

This isn't really a mystery soup. There are lots of copycat recipes for it out there, and mine isn't very different from any of them. I'm not so much trying to blaze trails here as much as I am just encouraging more people to make this really awesome soup.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped bacon fat trimmed

• 4 uncooked links of Italian sausage milk or spicy, your call, casing removed

• 1 yellow onion chopped

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 medium garlic cloves minced

• 1 qt of chicken stock

• 1 qt of water

• 2 large russet potatoes washed and sliced into half-moons about 1/4 thick

• 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flake depending on desired spice level

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 4 kale leaves thick rib parts removed, leaves washed thoroughly and cut into 1 inch pieces

• salt TT

Directions

• Preheat a 5 qt stock pot on medium/medium-high heat. Add the bacon to the heated pan and cook until beginning to crisp.
• Add the sausage and break it up using a wooden spoon. Cook thoroughly.
• Remove pan from heat and drain and remove all put approximately 1 Tbsp of grease from the pan.
• Place the pot back on medium heat. Once the meat begins to sizzle again, add the chopped onion and bay leaf, and sauté until onion begins to become translucent.
• Add the minced garlic and sauté until aromatic. Add the chicken stock and water, then bring to a boil.
• Add the potatoes and red pepper flake, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• About 5 minutes before it's time to eat, add the cream and stir, then add the kale. Cover the pot and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Nutrition Facts

• Serving Size: 0g
• Calories: 0kcal
• Carbohydrates: 0g
• Protein: 0g
• Fat: 0g
• Saturated Fat: 0g
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g
• Monounsaturated Fat: 0g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 0mg
• Potassium: 0mg
• Fiber: 0g
• Sugar: 0g
• Vitamin A: 0IU
• Vitamin C: 0mg
• Calcium: 0mg
• Iron: 0mg