Vegan CBD Caramels

My favorite way to enjoy CBD oil besides just taking a dose of it in the morning is to add it to chocolates.  Yes, I have added it to other things like smoothies, brownies, and ice cream pops, but chocolate is just so darn good and I always have just a little dark chocolate a day anyhow.  I usually just make solid chocolates, but filled ones are more fun.  My favorite type of filled chocolate to find in a box of chocolates was always caramel.  It was one of the sweetest after all, and I had a sweet tooth even more so when I was younger.  I still have a soft spot for caramel now though, although I tend to make my caramel a bit healthier now than the stuff I grew up eating.  That brings me back to the CBD chocolates!  I had never made CBD caramels before, but I decided it was about time I did last week.  Lily CBD had just sent me some of their 500mg CBD oil, so it was perfect! It had a more mellow flavor than some CBD oils, so I figured it would work well in my recipe. 

I try not to eat refined sugar, so for my caramel base I used my favorite natural sweetener, dates!  They are nature's caramel after all, and they blend up beautifully into a gooey sticky sweet caramel!  I combined them with a bit of coconut butter to thicken the mixture up and some pecan butter for richness because it has an almost caramel like flavor.  And of course a dash of vanilla. It wouldn't be classic caramel without it!  I added in a bit of the CBD and it was super delicious CBD caramel!

Yes I could have just eaten it with a spoon, it was that good, but I wanted to combine it with the chocolate as well to make it even better!  So I made little chocolate covered caramels in molds, so they looked nice and pretty.  You could of course chill the caramel a bit and roll it into balls, and dip it int the dark chocolate, but I just like the neat little squares. They were actually quite easy to make, and I actually enjoyed the process. Especially licking the bowls clean.  Just sayin. 

When they were all set up and ready to try I couldn't wait to taste one!  They were heavenly!  Rich gooey vanilla scented caramel, decadent dark chocolate and of course your daily dose of CBD!  You would never guess that they were vegan and didn't have real caramel in them.  I take CBD oil daily to help fight inflammation and stress, if you like to take it as well, or are looking for a new way to enjoy it, and love caramel like I do, why not give this recipe a try!

Vegan CBD Caramels

Makes 20 caramels

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 1 cup soft medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup raw pecan butter or almond butter
• 1/4 cup filtered water
• 1/4 cup coconut butter, warmed to liquid
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp Lily 500mg CBD oil 

 

Chocolate Coating:

• 1 1/2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate, chopped

 

Directions:

1. Combine all filling ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth (if you do not have a high speed blender, you may have to pass the caramel through a fine meshed strainer to remove any date bits). Set aside while you melt the chocolate.
2. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler, then pour a thin layer into the bottom of a 20 hole standard sized square chocolate mold, and place in the freezer until the chocolate has hardened.
3. When it has, pipe or spoon the caramel into the molds over the hardened chocolate layer by the 1/2 tsp (about depending on your molds), trying to keep it from touching the edges and make sure the top is below the top of the mold.
4. Pour more dark chocolate over that to fill the molds. Place in the freezer until hard, about 30 minutes to one hour depending on how warm it was.
5. Pop the candy out of the molds and enjoy!
6. Store extra caramels in the fridge.