Caramel is something I have missed since going dairy free and low sugar. While this cashew caramel dip isn’t exactly caramel, it’s similar in taste and has just enough sweetness to make it a great fruit dip.
Back in August, I learned from my friend Valerie of City | Life | Eats that cashews can make a wonderful cream. To get it really creamy it requires two things. One is soaking and the other is a high powered blender. I bought a Blendtec with a twister jar earlier this year and love it! You can make it with other machines such as a normal blender or food processor, but it will not be as smooth and creamy.
Those two requirements mean that you have allow a bit of time to get this made from start to finish (soaking), but the actual amount of time spent on making it is minutes (blender).
Cashew Caramel Dip
Ingredients
- I cup raw (not roasted) unsalted cashews (whole or pieces)
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar (brown sugar might work too)
- 1/4 cup water
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a small bowl, cover with cold water and soak for 1 – 2 hours.
- While the cashews are soaking, heat the water in a small sauce pan, add the coconut palm sugar, stir to dissolve and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Drain and rinse the cashews. Place the cashews, cooled sugar water, and salt in your blender. I used a Blendtec twister jar. Process until the cashews are smooth and creamy. Add more water, about a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too thick to keep moving in the blender. Amount of water needed will vary depending on soaking time.
- Remove to a bowl or container and preferably chill before serving.
This caramel dip looks great, Linda! That cashew cream leads to all kinds of great ideas, doesn’t it? 🙂 I know I would love this caramel dip because as much as I love traditional caramel, I never like that sugar crash afterwards. 😉
Thanks!
Shirley
You’re right, Shirley. Traditional caramel is so sweet. I like that coconut palm sugar is low glycemic and helps avoid that sugar crash (plus this recipe is less sweet than traditional).
Besides softening them, do you know why the cashews are soaked in this recipe? And, for that matter, why they should be raw, meaning not roasted nor salted?
Soaking nuts helps break down the phytic acid, and in this recipe, softening them is important. I chose raw nuts to try and keep the focus more on the caramel flavor from the coconut palm sugar. If you use roasted nuts it will have more of a nutty flavor. Also, I’m not sure if soaking works the same with roasted nuts.
This look delicious!!! I have a dairy free caramel dip that I make, but it’s not Paleo, which I am now trying to follow – can’t wait to try your recipe!!!
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
-Cassidy
Linda, I can’t wait to try this recipe! It looks so good! I see another nuts.com order in my near future to buy some certified GF cashews.