During my late teens and early twenties, my top 5 favourite chocolate bars were the following (in no particular order):
Chunky Kit Kat, Wunderbar, Coffee Crisp, Rolo/Caramilk, and Twix.
What about you?
For the next Halloween recipe in my Treat-a-thon series, I made a healthier version of Rolo caramels. Instead of making a traditional caramel, I processed Medjool dates into a caramel with a touch of nut butter. I really had no idea how close I could get the flavour, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Well let me tell you, we couldn’t believe how much these taste like Rolo caramels (only better of course because they are homemade). They don’t call dates “nature’s candy” for no reason!
Homemade “Rolo” Knock-offs
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Yield: 18 bites
Ingredients:
- 200 grams pitted soft Medjool dates (about 11 large)
- 1/2 tbsp peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
- scant 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- chia seeds (optional)
The chia seeds were added for a spooky bug-like appearance and for some sneaky nutrition!
You’ll need soft Medjool dates for this recipe. My favourite brand is by Bard Valley. If you are starting with firm/hard dates, you’ll need to soak them in water until soft. Make sure to drain the water off before proceeding.
How to make:
1. Process dates with nut/seed butter until a sticky paste forms.
2. Chill date mixture in freezer for 10 minutes, then shape into about 18 small balls.
3. Freeze balls again for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt chocolate with coconut oil.
4. Dunk each chilled ball into chocolate. Tap off excess. Sprinkle with chia and stick with toothpick.
5. Place bites back into the freezer for at least 20 minutes to set. Bites taste best when they are firm and cold, straight from the freezer. They soften at room temp, but do not melt.
6. Enjoy!
Try them for yourself – I think you’ll be surprised by how much they taste like the real thing.
Next on my Halloween recipe list might have to be the Kit Kat bar…
In other Halloween news, I’m thinking about going as an 80’s girl this year. My inspiration came from these hot pink mesh gloves I found at Dollarama yesterday. Hot!
My mom was visiting on Monday and we were talking about my love for 80’s fashion as a child. Neon colours, side pony, teased curled bangs, spandex (neon of course), high top sneaks, leg warmers, stone-washed tapered jeans, slap bracelets, sweater clips, scrunchies….I rocked it all. There was no mistake that I was an 80’s child.
Anyone else have their costume idea decided yet?
{ 211 comments… read them below or add one }
Angela, you’re amazing! I miss rolos soooo much.. Can’t wait to try your recipe out!
So much healthier to make rolo’s caramel with dates! I must try this!
And as a fruit lover… I’m being the Chiquita Banana Lady for Halloween!
Looking forward to making these for my parents, but I’m really excited for the Kit Kats. I was never huge on chocolate…but Kit Kats…MMMMMM.
That date carmel has be thinking about snickers…wonder if there is a vegan version of the nouget.
Thinking of going as a vampire.
So simple and so delicious!
I made these tonight, and my boyfriend, who is VERY picky about his sweets, adored them. The one change I made was to add a bit of vanilla to the caramel. I’m already thinking up variations…blending in some shredded coconut maybe? Yummm.
Also, to aid in the rolling of the very sticky caramel balls, I covered my hands in cocoa powder–it really helped!
Yum!! What a great halloween treat so as not to be tempted by all the mini chocolate bars :)
Mmmmm rolos! My favorites when I was younger (and still my faves!) are reese’s, snickers and kit kats. You could probably make snickers from this recipe with the addition of chopped peanuts and then the nougat part… not sure how you’d do that!?
Omg can’t wait to try making these!!
I was a Skor and Butterfinger kind of girl myself, back in my pre-vegan days:p
P.S. Your blog is AWESOME for vegan recipes, you should have a vegan cooking show on TV
Yummy! great idea!
I made these last night and they were soooo good and super easy. I tried to get people to guess what the “caramel” was made from, and they couldn’t! There’s something so satisfying about sweets that you make yourself from simple ingredients you can pronounce. Thanks for this. I will be making it again for sure!
I made these, just because I had ingredients for once! They are delicious! Perfect amount to satisfy the sweet tooth!
Oh My God! How can anyone say being a vegan is boring? We can have vegan anything these days. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
ooooooh….how about Twix!!!???
Angela!! These are amazing, I can actually say they are BETTER than a true Rolo!! Thank you for making such a great, east recipe. Keep them coming!
I made these delicious little marvels tonight. Wow! Tickled with how they turned out. I shared with everyone on my fb page!!! https://www.facebook.com/LivingOnGodsGreenEarth
Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
Yum! I tried this recipe today (also because I only had a small amount of dates left in the fridge and wanted to use them up) and I have to admit, I ate 1/2 of the recipe, if not, 2/3 of it (and I’ll shamelessly admit it too)! I’m having to ban myself from the kitchen just to keep myself from eating the rest!
I used to go as a witch, using my cousin’s old costume, for about a year or two, then I just began going as myself!
My top 5 favorite candy bars are: Snicker’s ICE CREAM bars, Butterfinger, Heath Bar, Pay Days, and Almond Joy. I’m so stinkin’ excited about this recipe! It looks so easy yet so healthy while being guilt-free! *stoked*
I will have to try these, always looking for healthy treats. For Halloween, last week my friend and I did a Halloween 5k Run and dressed up as hula girls! It was a blast! We had to make our own costumers – grass skirts out of rafia – since the 6 Halloween stores we visited did not carry the costume.
Oh wow Angela! These certainly are impressive! Can’t wait to try these out!
This looks like a yummy treat for next week!
I will be making these for sure. I will be selecting a costume this week, hope the costume stores are still well stocked!
Did you use the Vitamix to mash up the dates?
Or a food processor?
Thanks
A food processor :)
LOVED them. Can I consider this a health food? ;)
I don’t have a processor so I chopped up the dates as best as I could and added more peanut butter. Turned out great:)
Thank you
So glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Just made these! I love that they are so-flippin-easy!!!!! And you are right, they taste very similar to rolos!! YAYYY!!
I’m craving something sweet right now and you’re the first one I turn to for the “yummy + healthy” combo. I’m making these this weekend!
These are SO yummy! They taste more like Milk Duds (my favourite!) to me. I may have to bring a baggie of them to the movies…
Yum! These are inspiring me to run to the kitchen right now! I am sure my kids will be happy that I did when they taste them. My husband just said, “What no caramel?” I can’t wait to serve him one. :)
I made these yesterday, and my gosh they truly taste like the real thing! My Dad will usually go nowhere near my healthy creations but he LOVED these and has nearly eaten them all! Thank you so much for creating these!
I’m going to have to make these! I can eat quite a few rolos, I love them!
I was soooo an eighties child…. I had the side pony and the neon pink skirt.
Ok, I’ll admit it- at first I thought “yea right, I bet this tastes nothing like caramel.” Well, it totally does and now I have to buy dates in bulk and experiment. Thanks, Angela!
I made these this afternoon and they came out wonderfully! Only difference was that I had to add a smidge of water to my blender to get the dates/PB to process smoothly and I mixed the chia seeds directly into the date-caramel. SO Yummy!! Thanks!
I made these and they are amazing. I think they taste better than Rolos because they don’t include the guilt associated with eating massive amounts of candy.
Made these today and we LOVE ‘em!!! Thanks for another great recipe!!
The best thing to come out of this recipe is date caramel. I’ll have to try that.
I made these on Saturday and they are amazing! Thanks again for another great recipe!
I made these twice this weekend because they went so fast! They are delicious. Blew my mind :)
Angela, these were amazing! It took a while for my date paste to come together (I was getting worried about crumbly centers), but it worked out in the end. My husband is a total dried-fruit-a-phobe, but he said these tasted like Milky Ways! I’m definitely making these again :)
Oh I just bought medjool dates tonight- Yay! But I may top these with sea salt instead of the chia. I love the trader Joes dark choc caramel black sea salt bars and I’m thinking this may be very similar:)
I made these, and they are delicious! I followed the pictorial steps, and I found they are missing instructions on when to add the salt. I ended up sprinkling it on top with the chia seeds because it was too late to add it too the date blend. Still superb!
I’m lovin’ your Rolos. Pair those little cuties with a latte and suddenly a frosty morning gets a nice warm “glo” on.
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