I’m not over exaggerating when I say that these are one of the most delicious candies I’ve ever tasted.
Sweet, comforting toffee caramels with an amazingly chewy but soft texture. Made out of purely coconut products!
This recipe came about when I was trying to create a “butter tablet” using coconut cream, instead of dairy cream, coconut oil, instead of butter and coconut sugar instead of ordinary sugar.
What I ended up with wasn’t a butter tablet but it was the most amazing toffee! I really don’t know what to call it. Is it toffee? Is it caramel? It’s got a natural treacle-y sweetness so I settled for “treacle toffee” but these could also work as salted caramels.
Whatever they are, they’re amazing.
These candies make the perfect gift, especially when you wrap them up individually. It’s so simple!
You just get some greaseproof paper and cut it into squares (roughly 4 x 4 inch) then place the candies in the centre, wrap either side and twist the two sides to create a classic sweet wrapper.
I got this idea from Zoe at Minor Goods. She made my toffee last year and posted this amazing photo on Twitter of them wrapped up. I loved the idea so I had to incorporate that into my new photos for this recipe!
Anyway, onto the recipe. These toffee caramels are:
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Soy-free
- Nut-free
- Gluten-free
- Grain-free
- Paleo-friendly
- Refined sugar-free
4-ingredient Vegan Toffees (Paleo-friendly)
Indulgent, sweet toffee caramels made entirely from coconut products!
Ingredients
- 400 g / 2¼ cups coconut sugar
- 750 ml / 3 cups coconut cream, you can also use coconut milk that has been refrigerated. Simply scoop the "fat" from the top of the tin
- 6 tbsp coconut oil
- (optional) A generous pinch of sea salt
- (optional) 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 baking tray with greaseproof paper and put to one side.
- Tip all ingredients into a large pot on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Stir the ingredients as it reaches boiling point, then turn down to a medium heat. Keep stirring!
- Maintain the medium boil and stir every so often, for about 20 minutes or until it's reduced and thickened. To test if it’s ready, using a spoon, drop a piece of the mixture onto a tray and it should turn solid within a minute. If it remains liquid, then it’s not ready.
- Carefully pour the contents into the baking tray and leave to cool and set.
- If the mixture has separated slightly, don't panic. This happened to me on one occasion but it still turned out perfectly!
- Let it set in the fridge for about an hour before cutting into small caramel pieces.
- (Optional) wrap in small squares of greaseproof paper for easy storage or to give as gifts!
- Keep at room temperature and store for up to 1 month (if you can last that long without eating them all...)
I made 1/3 of this recipe because I was almost out of coconut sugar, but it turned out perfect! This is such a great recipe!
I substituted a few things like the coconut milk for milk and heavy whipping cream, and the coconut oil for butter, because I’m not a huge coconut fan, but they were delicious!
I’m definitely going to get more coconut sugar and make the full batch
I can’t wait to give these to my mom for Easter… if I don’t eat them all
Thank you!
Great to know it works with substitutions and I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks for the comment, Hannah!
I used white sugar to replace the coconut sugar and it got a completely new delish flavor that I had not tasted before in any other candy. I recommend trying it!
Glad to hear that it works with white sugar too! Thanks Katie
Has anyone tried using maple syrup or powdered agave as the sweetner and using caramel extract for the flavoring. Im not a lover of coconut and have never liked the taste so are there any other substitutions that will work? I will maybe try and post if it works!!! Thanks
Hi Lea! If you’re not a fan of coconut, I wouldn’t recommend this recipe. Although the coconut flavour is not overwhelming, it’s still going to taste a bit coconutty (as it’s made from all coconut products). I’m not sure what the result of using a different sweetener would be but the coconut sugar is the least coconutty ingredient in this recipe, if you know what i mean! I would swap the coconut oil (for vegan butter maybe) and milk (maybe cashew milk/cream) instead.
These look great! I’m excited to try this recipe out. Would it be a 1:1 swap for both the milk (using cashew milk instead) and the oil (using vegan butter)? Thanks!
Hi Sarah, I’ve not experimented with those swaps but I think it could work, seeing as cashew milk has some fat. Just make sure it’s not too watery and that you melt the butter first before measuring. I imagine it might be more chalky and less chewy though. Let me know how it turns out!
Stevia worked for me!! They are delicious..
COULD I USE A NATURAL SUGAR FREE SWEETENER INSTEAD OF COCONUT SUGAR?.
Hi Kelly, I’ve not tried any other sweetener with this recipe so not sure how it would turn out. Coconut sugar has a strong caramel taste which is important in this recipe.
Absolutely delicious! I made these for my family and we can all agree that they are amazing, my mum even tried to convince my dad that they weren’t good just so that she could have more for herself. The only minus is that the amount of salt is far too small if you want it to be a salted caramel, so I’d suggest using 4 pinches of salt instead of one (I used 3 pinches and we all agreed that it needed more salt); sprinkling some salt on top doesn’t hurt either. It also takes about 1 hour rather than 20 min, but it is well worth the time. Can’t wait to make these again