How do you make date caramel without cooking?

Pit soft dates and blend them with cashew butter, coconut oil, a little plant milk, a pinch of salt and vanilla in a food processor for 4 to 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides with a spatula in between. Medjool dates work best because they are especially soft and have a pronounced caramel flavor.

What if my dates are hard?

Soak hard or dry dates in hot water for about 10 minutes and drain them well. Very dry dates can need up to 1 hour. Without soaking, little pieces stay in the caramel and it never gets truly creamy.

How long does date caramel keep?

In a clean, airtight jar, date caramel keeps for about 1 week in the fridge. It firms up in the cold; before spreading, let it sit at room temperature for a moment or stir in a splash of plant milk. Leftovers taste wonderful with fruit, on bread or in granola.

Is dark chocolate always vegan?

Not always, so check the ingredient list: if it lists neither milk nor milk powder, the chocolate is vegan. A "may contain traces of milk" note only refers to possible cross-contact in production and doesn't change that. With a milk allergy, be careful anyway, because such traces can really occur.

Do these cookies taste like Twix?

A little, yes: cookie, caramel and chocolate are the same combination as in the famous bar. Instead of milk chocolate and cooked caramel, though, these use dark chocolate and a caramel made from dates, and the cookie tastes of cocoa and cinnamon. That makes them a fully vegan, dairy-free take on the idea.

30 SEPTEMBER 2026

Vegan Chocolate Date Caramel Cookies

Name: Vegan Chocolate Date Caramel Cookies
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 20 cookies
Ingredients: 200 g (7 oz.) spelt flour; 100 g (3.5 oz.) raw cane sugar, finely ground; 3 tsp cocoa powder; 1 pinch cinnamon; 1 pinch salt; 100 g (3.5 oz.) cold vegan butter; 2 Tbsp plant milk; 6 to 8 soft Medjool dates; 2 Tbsp cashew butter; 1 tsp coconut oil; 2 Tbsp plant milk; 1 pinch salt; a little vanilla; 100 g (3.5 oz.) dark chocolate

By Verena Frei

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Prep: 45 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 1 hr 35 min
Servings: 20 cookies

What can I cook tonight?Tap what you have at home and I will show you what fits.e.g. withdatescocoavegan butter

Hello lovelies,

these vegan chocolate date caramel cookies are the most elaborate of my three cookie kinds from this baking round, but they are totally worth it. A tender cocoa cookie, creamy date caramel and a small tablet of dark chocolate: the combination reminds me a little of a well-known chocolate caramel candy bar. If you want to see which other classics you can bake without eggs and butter, have a look at my guide to vegan Christmas cookie classics.

For the dough I started from a classic basic recipe for vegan cookies and added cocoa and a pinch of cinnamon. I cut the cookies with a rectangular cutter so the chocolate tablets fit right on top. The girls used the leftover dough to cut out more cookies with other cutters, and of course they loved that.

Close-up of stacked chocolate caramel cookies, one tablet embossed with MERRY X-MAS

Date caramel: creamy without cooking

The heart of these cookies is the date caramel. You blend very soft dates with cashew butter, coconut oil, a little plant milk, salt and vanilla until you get a smooth, glossy cream, which takes about 4 to 5 minutes in a food processor. Make sure the dates are really soft, Medjool are best; soak dry dates in hot water for 10 minutes first. If you like sweetening with dates instead of sugar, you will find more ideas in my guide on how to replace sugar in baking.

Rolled-out cocoa dough with rectangles cut out using a rectangular cookie cutter

Baked cocoa cookies on a marble board, two of them spread with date caramel

Date caramel being spread onto a cocoa cookie with a knife

The caramel is more than enough for all the cookies, and you will have quite a bit left over. It tastes wonderful with fruit, on bread or in granola, and it keeps for about 1 week in a jar in the fridge.

Hand holding a date caramel cookie topped with a Christmas embossed chocolate tablet

The chocolate tablets

For the chocolate tablets you pour melted dark chocolate into small rectangular chocolate molds and let them set in the fridge for at least 1 hour. As it cools, the chocolate shrinks slightly and then comes out of the mold easily. By the way, these cookies are one of three recipes from my little cookie series, and you can find the whole series in my post 3 vegan Christmas cookie recipes. With a patterned mold the tablets even get a little embossing, and the cookies look almost store-bought.

Jar of date caramel with a pine sprig behind it, cinnamon sticks and a cookie cutter

If you'd like to bake more kinds, my Christmas tree cookies with aquafaba snow come from the same baking round. The stacked stars are a real eye-catcher on the cookie plate.

And if you prefer something simple, shape the poppy seed crescents with vanilla by hand, no cutter needed. Have fun baking and enjoy a cozy Advent season! Tell me in the comments which of the three is your favorite.

Yours, Verena

TIPS

Verena's notes

Make the chocolate tablets first, so they are set by the time the cookies and caramel are ready. Soak hard or dry dates in hot water for 10 minutes and drain them well, otherwise the caramel won't turn creamy. Peanut butter works instead of cashew butter; for a nut-free version use tahini or sunflower seed butter. Without a chocolate mold, spread the melted chocolate thinly on parchment, let it set and cut it into rectangles with a warm knife. Store the finished cookies cool in a tin and enjoy them within about 1 week.

Vegan Chocolate Date Caramel Cookies

Vegan chocolate date caramel cookies: cocoa spelt cookies with no-cook date caramel and a dark chocolate tablet.

Course:Dessert, Cake, Sweet
Prep:45 min
Cook:10 min
Servings:20 cookies

Vegan

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EQUIPMENT

Mixing bowl
Rolling pin
Rectangular cookie cutter
Baking sheet with parchment
Food processor or high-power blender
Small rectangular chocolate molds
Spatula
Cooling rack

INGREDIENTS

Cookies:

200g (7 oz.)spelt flour
100g (3.5 oz.)raw cane sugar, finely ground
3tspcocoa powder
1pinchcinnamon
1pinchsalt
100g (3.5 oz.)cold vegan butter
2Tbspplant milk

Date caramel:

6 to 8soft Medjool dates
2Tbspcashew butter (or peanut butter)
1tspcoconut oil
2Tbspplant milk
1pinchsalt
a littlevanilla (ground or extract)

Chocolate tablets:

100g (3.5 oz.)dark chocolate (vegan)

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INSTRUCTIONS

Melt the chocolate over a water bath or in the microwave, pour it into small rectangular chocolate molds and let it set in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Knead the spelt flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, vegan butter and plant milk into a smooth dough and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 4 mm (1/6 inch), cut out cookies with a rectangular cutter and place them on the sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes and let them cool completely on a rack.
For the caramel, pit the dates and blend them with the cashew butter, coconut oil, plant milk, salt and vanilla in a food processor for 4 to 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides with a spatula in between.
Spread each cookie with some date caramel, set a chocolate tablet on top and press lightly.

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Calories: 140 kcal
Protein: 2 g

GOOD TO KNOW

Frequently asked questions

Pit soft dates and blend them with cashew butter, coconut oil, a little plant milk, a pinch of salt and vanilla in a food processor for 4 to 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides with a spatula in between. Medjool dates work best because they are especially soft and have a pronounced caramel flavor.
Soak hard or dry dates in hot water for about 10 minutes and drain them well. Very dry dates can need up to 1 hour. Without soaking, little pieces stay in the caramel and it never gets truly creamy.
In a clean, airtight jar, date caramel keeps for about 1 week in the fridge. It firms up in the cold; before spreading, let it sit at room temperature for a moment or stir in a splash of plant milk. Leftovers taste wonderful with fruit, on bread or in granola.
Not always, so check the ingredient list: if it lists neither milk nor milk powder, the chocolate is vegan. A "may contain traces of milk" note only refers to possible cross-contact in production and doesn't change that. With a milk allergy, be careful anyway, because such traces can really occur.
A little, yes: cookie, caramel and chocolate are the same combination as in the famous bar. Instead of milk chocolate and cooked caramel, though, these use dark chocolate and a caramel made from dates, and the cookie tastes of cocoa and cinnamon. That makes them a fully vegan, dairy-free take on the idea.

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TAGS:CHRISTMASXMAS COOKIESXMAS BAKINGCOOKIESVEGAN COOKIESVEGAN BAKINGVEGANDATESCHOCOLATE

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Vegan Christmas tree cookies with aquafaba snow and pistachios served on a wooden board