Easy macadamia caramel
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This macadamia caramel wins for the quickest and tastiest recipe of the year, hands down. It was all so easy—the blending, the taste testing, the mouthwatering photos. I just couldn’t help myself from licking the spoon clean when it was all over.
I’m sorry to the rest of my favourite recipes, whom I loved so dearly before Caramel came along: cookie dough bites, raw brownies, raw ice cream sandwich cookies and sweet potato date muffins.
This recipe was actually created last summer, when I was working on my entry for Yum Universe‘s birthday-themed contest. The caramel was one small part of a raw and very decadent six-layer brownie blizzard ice cream cake and, although she was an integral part of the flavours, she was not the shining star—she was hidden among thick layers of brownie bites, chocolate ganache and cashew ice cream.
I promised her that one day I would write a post highlighting her natural goodness.
That day has finally come.
You see, it all began with an idea to make my own caramel for the above-mentioned cake. I really love it when I can figure out how to make things the homemade way. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm quickly dwindled after perusing recipes online. I was not into the idea of boiling sugar and butter together in a pot and burning my finger if I accidentally touched it. So I improvised with a few of my favourite ingredients, and that’s when Caramel was born.
Not sure what to do with Caramel? How about drizzling her over a raw brownie, a slice of chocolate cake or even making a banana soft serve parfait, like I did? The options are endless.
Keep in mind that she can disappear from your spoon as quickly and easily as she blends together. If you have more willpower than I do, you can store her in a mason jar in the fridge and just warm in a dehydrator before serving.
On another note, I recently did an interview with my lovely friend Sarah over at lamb411.com all about my love for baking and blogging. Check it out here and be sure to browse her blog for beautiful inspiration on food, design, travel and lifestyle.
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SaveEasy macadamia caramel
Yield: about 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp agave nectar
- pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 tsp raw cacao powder (optional, for colour)
Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Use immediately or store in a mason jar in the refrigerator. Warm in a dehydrator prior to serving.
Looks wonderful! Even better because macnuts are my current favorite nut. :)
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Nicole replied: — February 9th, 2012 @ 1:34 pm
Thanks, Amber! I love macnuts, too.
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I can’t wait to give this a try! The recipe I had tried a few weeks ago for vegan caramel was basically brown sugar, earth balance, and cornstarch. It was awful! I hate to waste food, but I ended up tossing it after it sat in my fridge for several days and I couldn’t think of a way to salvage it.
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Nicole replied: — February 9th, 2012 @ 1:36 pm
I hope this recipe works out better for you, Amanda! I hate wasting food too, but sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them too. This recipe is so simple and tasty, and I hope you like it!
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This sounds so wonderful! I have been in a caramel craze lately.
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Nicole replied: — February 9th, 2012 @ 5:02 pm
Thanks, Shannon! Enjoy.
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Waw! What an amazing & tasty recipe! It rocks! :)
MMMMMMMM,…! :)
You also have a cool food blog!
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Nicole replied: — February 10th, 2012 @ 10:24 am
Thank you so much, Sophie!
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I’m a sucker for standard caramel, and your raw version looks equally addictive! What a treat… I may just need to splurge on macadamia nuts now.
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Nicole replied: — February 10th, 2012 @ 2:38 pm
I’m glad to see another caramel fan out there. This one’s definitely worth the splurge! :)
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I recently made a vegan salted caramel out of coconut sugar and coconut milk (and some other stuff) that I used in an ice cream recipe. It was fantastic, and I’m loving the sound of yours too! It is really amazing once you start to learn all the things you can do with what you CAN eat as opposed to what you cannot :)
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Nicole replied: — February 14th, 2012 @ 11:47 am
I love your attitude, Cara! It is amazing what you can do with alternative ingredients and a little imagination.
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Bonnie replied: — March 2nd, 2013 @ 9:36 pm
Hi Cara, Would you be willing to please share your vegan salted caramel recipe?
Thanks.
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So thankful for this recipe! I’m severely allergic to corn plus vegan, I thought I’d never have anything with caramel in it again. Thanks for your ingenuity :)
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Nicole replied: — February 17th, 2012 @ 3:48 pm
You’re welcome, Vicki! I’m glad I could help and I hope you enjoy it :)
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Just made this. Amazing!
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Nicole replied: — April 13th, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
So glad you like it, Jessie!
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Looks delicious. Any idea what would happen if I boiled this for a couple mins for canning purposes?
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Nicole replied: — May 22nd, 2012 @ 1:08 pm
I think it might be okay, but I’m not 100% certain since I haven’t tried. The mixture will likely thin out when boiled and then thicken once it cools. Let me know how it works out!
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Made the caramel- DELISH!! wondering if you can deydrate it. seen a picture on here of piped caramel stars. is it the same caramel? how can i dehydrate it- as its quite runny? xx
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Nicole replied: — May 24th, 2012 @ 5:07 pm
I’m not sure if it will dehydrate very well. If you want to pipe it, I’d suggest piping it in shapes on a Silpat or Teflex sheet and let putting it in the fridge or freezer — it will firm up when chilled. You could also blend it with a little coconut oil if you find it doesn’t firm up enough.
I think the stars you’re referring to were on my raw brownie cake. The stars were actually raw cut-out cookies.
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Looks beautiful and I can imagine the tasty fun you had making the pictures. :-)
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