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!
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Homemade "Rolo" Knock-Offs
Yield
18 bites
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Chill time
40
Total time
Ingredients
For the caramel
- 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
For the chocolate coating
- scant 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil
For the garnish
- chia seeds (optional)
Directions
- [Note: You want to use very soft Medjool dates. If yours are firm, soak in water to soften before using. Be sure to drain well.] Process pitted dates in food processor until a sticky paste forms. Now, add in the nut or seed butter along with a pinch of fine grain sea salt. Process until combined. The mixture will be SUPER sticky, but this is a good thing!
- Scoop out the sticky mixture into a bowl and freeze for about 10 minutes. Chilling it makes the caramel easier to shape into balls. After chilling, lightly wet your fingers and shape caramel into small balls to make about 18 balls total.
- Place balls back into the freezer for another 10 minutes on a parchment lined plate. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips along with 1 teaspoon coconut oil on the stove top over low heat. When 2/3 of the chips are melted, remove from heat and stir until everything is melted.
- Remove balls from freezer and dunk each ball into the melted chocolate, one at a time. Roll around to coat. Tap off excess chocolate and place back onto parchment-lined plate. Sprinkle with chia seeds (optional) and stick a toothpick into each. Repeat for the rest.
- Freeze again for at least 20 minutes until set. Bites taste best straight from the freezer and will soften (but will not melt) at room temperature.
Tip:
The chia seeds were added for a Halloween 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.
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?
im making this yummy recipe but at what point do i add the salt?
I made these for my mom for Mother’s Day. Since I have become vegan, my mom has been really supportive and now she’s pretty much vegan. She used to LOVE rollos, so these were the PERFECT mother’s day treat! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!!! :)
Hey there, just wanted to say that I absolutely love you stuff and will def be re-posting it and linking to your site!! Such great ideas and awesome recipes :) Thanks again!
Jenn
Hi! I loved your recipe! Thank you for sharing it. I wanted to make this but I just have one question. In the first step, you have mentioned to process dates with butter. I just wanted to know how you do it. Do you do it just with the spoon or you put them in a processor? And do I need to remove date’s skin..?
I need to make this tomorrow so can you please answer it a bit early!? Thanks in advance!
Yes you process them in the food processor. No need to remove the skin! Enjoy
Thanks Angela for a quick reply! And do I must use coconut oil OR I can substitute it with just regular canola oil?
Thanks in advance!
I just made them. Easy and fantastic!
oh… i made this caramel… and then randomly decided to make it into german chocolate cake icing (typically made with evaporated milk, egg yolks and a whopping whole cup of brown sugar) … added water a tablespoon at a time until it was frosting consistency, then added pecans and shredded coconut… dee-vine! xo
Hi Angela! I am in the middle of making these and I can’t figure out which step I am supposed to add the sea salt listed in the ingredients? Did I miss something?
These are delish! I think my dates were smaller, so I added more but I don’t think it made enough (hehehe). I had leftover chocolate so after they set in the freezer I did a second coating!
So good and super easy, thank you!
Now I’m looking for a vegan wunderbar recipe….any ideas?
I’ve been pretty hesitant to try medjool dates.
I’m going paleo & trying to add more natural sweeteners into my diet.
Do medjool dates really taste like caramel?
I LOVE caramel btw, so this would be awesome for a natural ‘caramel’! ^_^
Yes they do in this recipe! Try it :)
I just made these. My children are very picky about my plant-based desserts- they adore these. These aren’t going to last long! SO DELICIOUS!!!! Thank you!
Hi, I really want to make “Rolo Pretzel Delights” (made with rolos, pretzels and pecans, but I am hoping to use the vegan rolos. Have you tried this/do you think it would work? Thanks.
These are amazing!
Love these! Can they be made with deglet dates instead? My store seems to be out of medjool.
Ok – I’m totally not a vegan, not even a vego, not organic just a regular omnivore – and I was intrigued by this recipe. I have just made these balls (well I made a half recipe as I was doubtful :-) They are actually really, really good. They DO taste like caramel and are so surprisingly rich and luxurious. I used bog standard peanut butter, didn’t add salt (there was salt in the peanut butter), did add about 1/2 teasp vanilla extract and used Belgian dark chocolate for coating. Now I have to go to the store to buy more dates! Thank you for this insight into ‘slightly’ more healthy sweet treats.
Just made and ate my first of your rolos. Yummmmaaaaaay as Jim Carrey would say! So easy to make and fun. I love simple recipes, just a few ingredients and things I usually have on hand for when the idea strikes to make something. This will definitely be a favorite for me for forever! Thanks you!
I made these (from the amazing cookbook!) today, and they are fantastic. They really, really do taste like Rolos. Yum!
To be honest, this was not one of my favourite OSG recipes. Followed directions exactly, but it really tasted nothing like caramel, or the original version, to me.
I made these for me and my partners anniversary and they were amazing.
Only my chocolate didn’t stick as well maybe i needed to let it cool a bit more? And funny story I bought my dates from a new place and didn’t realize they weren’t pitted so I nearly broke my mum’s food processor…..ooop…
These are seriously delicious. My mum made them for us last night and they were so good I have already made a double batch for myself. Thank you for this recipe!
Tried these… They are not Rolos… Rolos have no peanut butter in them.
My husband love them and said they reminded him of Wunderbars without the rice crisps. Maybe that would be something to add to them :)