Your sweet tooth is going to be so happy because April 5th isNational Caramel Day. If you love the sweet, sticky taste of caramel, you definitely need to learn how to make your own. There are so many things you can do with this liquid gold — drizzle it on ice cream, toss it into popcorn, and even make your own caramel candy.
Making your own caramel sauce is easy and you only need you make your own, you get to choose the ingredients and how sweet you want it.
Once you’ve got the process down, you’ll have fun seeing how many treats you can make caramel-flavored – candies, brittles, crème brulée, caramel apples, puddings, nougats — the possibilities are endless. Get ready to celebrate with these 15 ooey-gooey caramel recipes.
1. Lime Sugar Churros With Caramel Sauce
You’re going to think it’s your birthday because these Lime Sugar Churros With Caramel Sauce are like a special gift. Creamy coconut caramel is poured into a rich crust and it’s all topped with lime sugar and flaked salt. This is a decadent dessert sure to impress anyone!
2. Raw Banana Caramel Cups
These bite-sized frozen Raw Banana Caramel Cups are great treats to take to parties, picnics, or even to grab on the go. A creamy banana ice cream envelops a sticky-sweet date caramel. A topping of blueberries or any berry you like adds the perfect finishing touch. Small and adorable, these caramel cups are your new go-to dessert.
3. Salted Caramel Apple Galette
Caramel apples are fun but they get all grown-up in this Salted Caramel Apple Galette. These pastries are warm, gooey, delicious, and loaded with apples. What more can you really ask for? Plus, these are so much better than traditional caramel apples because they’re less messy. You can add as much caramel as you desire, it’s homemade, and you can share it with loved ones. It doesn’t get any better than that.
4. Samoa Layer Cake
If you like Samoa cookies, you’ll love this Samoa Layer Cake. It starts with a moist chocolate cake. It’s then coated with a layer of walnut frosting and a layer of rich and fudgy date chocolate caramel. When you take one bite of this cake, you’ll experience the amazing combination of nutty coconut, chocolate, and caramel. Once you make it, you’ll find yourself craving this cake all the time.
5. Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Bars
These mouthwatering Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Bars begin with a shortbread cookie base that’s baked in the oven until golden. The first layer is then topped with a layer of rich caramel, which is finished off with a rich topping of dark chocolate. These simple cookie bars are the perfect thing to bring along to parties or you can keep them all to yourself. We understand.
6. Salted Chocolate Caramel Mousse
Every spoonful of this Salted Chocolate Caramel Mousse is a delight with a hidden ingredient. Sweet potatoes, dates, pink salt, and natural sweetener blend seamlessly into a deliciously sweet caramel mousse that’s then swirled with a rich chocolate mousse. Served in fancy glasses or thrifted mugs, this luscious mousse is the perfect dessert for date night — or any night.
7. Panna Cotta With Caramel Sauce
This Panna Cotta With Caramel Sauce is an Italian classic. It’s simple yet decadent, and the perfect solution to satisfy any sweet tooth. The texture is quite smooth and creamy and perfectly complements the plump raspberries served on top. This will impress anyone you set it down in front of.
8. Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hold on to your hats because chocolate chip cookies are about to be taken to a whole new level with these Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yes, you read that right! A healthier, homemade caramel sauce is stuffed into a delicious chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate chip cookie base becomes perfectly crispy around the edges and melted in the center while still giving that extra surprise from the date caramel when you bite into it.
9. Snickers Tart
If you love Snickers bars, then you must make this Snickers Tart. It’s everything you loved about the candy bar but it has all whole ingredients. The gooey caramel layer is made out of Medjool dates and peanuts, the nougat can be made from cashews or peanuts, and the chocolate that envelops the bars is sweetened with maple syrup. These bars taste way better than anything you can buy in the store and they’re sure to satisfy any candy cravings.
10. Salted Gingerbread Caramels
Remember those little caramel candies you could buy for a nickel? Now you can make your own at home. These Salted Gingerbread Caramels are the perfect little treat. The sea salt balances out the sweetness of the dates while ginger and cinnamon provide a bit of spice. These candies are so easy to make, but so tough to resist!
11. No-Bake Mini Banoffee Pies
If a dessert made of almonds, dates, banana, vanilla, and coconut sounds good to you, then you have to make these No-Bake Mini Banoffee Pies. These bite-sized treats have four layers of deliciousness: a crust of dates and almonds, a layer of almondy-date caramel, sweet banana slices, and a generous dollop of coconut whipped cream. This gluten-free take on a classic English dessert is sure to win over your taste buds.
12. Hand-Churned Bourbon Salted Caramel Apple Ice Cream
If you’ve been putting off making your own ice cream because you think you need an ice cream maker, we have great news for you. You don’t need an ice cream maker to whip up this amazing Hand-Churned Bourbon Salted Caramel Apple Ice Cream. Salted caramel and apple bourbon sauce are swirled generously into a base of hand-churned vanilla coconut ice cream. The only thing left to decide is one scoop or two? Yeah, we think two sounds about right.
13. Gooey Salted Caramel Pecan Turtle Bars
These Gooey Salted Caramel Pecan Turtle Bars are a dream come true. They combine rich, salty caramel, chocolate, and toasted pecans … doesn’t that sound divine? These decadent desserts also look pretty fancy, so if you have a party to go to, these are the thing to make! The toughest part is resisting the urge to keep them all to yourself.
14. Maple Cheesecake With Caramel Sauce
If you think cheesecake is the perfect dessert, we say it can get even better. This Maple Cheesecake With Caramel Sauce is going to change your ideas about cheesecake. The creamy cashew-coconut filling and gluten-free crust require no oven time at all, making this recipe no-bake. The dark maple syrup gives it such rich flavor. Topped with caramel sauce, this dessert is simply decadent!
15. Peanut Butter Thumb Cakes With Salted Caramel
These Peanut Butter Thumb Cakes With Salted Caramel are not only tasty but they are adorable! With peanut butter, brown sugar, and a homemade caramel sauce poured down on top, these are decadent and rich. They are the perfect tiny snack which makes them great for parties. We give these treats two thumbs up!
Caramel is probably the reason why sweet tooths came into existence. …Okay, maybe not, but once you try any of these ooey-gooey caramel recipes, you’ll believe that caramel is liquid gold.
Lead image source: Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
