Healthy Sunbutter Caramel Cake Bites on a stick! Tastes like a moist cake but it's a lollipop covered in chocolate sprinkled with coconut and loaded with date caramel. Made with sweet Medjool dates, and non-processed ingredients. Paleo, gluten-free, nut-free, vegan, and healthy.
Every time my cousin comes over, she requests one of my Healthy Sunbutter Caramel Cake Bites. She's not like me, all health-conscious and gluten-free but she loves these cake bites regardless of the fact that they are healthy, refined sugar-free, paleo, gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan. These pops are free of so many things you are probably wondering what's left. I'll tell you...PURE DELICIOUSNESS {on a stick!} : )
The inspiration for these Healthy Sunbutter Caramel Cake Pops came from my Gluten-Free Salted Sunbutter Caramels.
Those were made in layers and covered in chocolate!
This time they are on a stick. The date caramel is mixed into the cake batter providing a sweet cake dough. Completely nut-free.
This recipe utilizes sugar from natural sources. Did you know that Medjool Dates are the sweetest fruit on the planet? Dates can sweeten anything from a dessert to a drink to protein. Using as many dates as I did make the Sunbutter taste like sweet caramel, but you don't see the date caramel because it is mixed in. While these cake pops are not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich look, they are a sweet sunflower seed butter cake bite covered in chocolate. It is award-winning!
WHY NATURAL SWEETENERS LIKE DATES?
- Loaded with fiber
- More potassium than bananas
- Used as a sugar alternative
- Contains no salt
- Gives you energy as is good for athletes
- High carb
- Chewy and sweet
- Excellent in baking
- Contains loads of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals such as Copper, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese, Iron, vitamin B6 and more
- Creates stickiness in recipes so you can make no-bake treats without the cake falling apart
Sometimes I can't believe it took me this long to realize that sweet desserts can be made with real foods. Prior to Nutrition School, the only way I knew how to develop a dessert was with cane sugar. Yikes!
HOW TO MAKE NO-BAKE CAKE BITES
The best part of making a no-bake treat is that you don't have to use an oven.
All you have to do is use a food processor and blend the ingredients together to form a cookie dough.
From there you take bits of the dough and roll them into balls and put them in the fridge to set.
It's easy, fun, and effortless.
So now I'm going to answer your burning questions because I know you are drooling. Are these labor-intensive? No! Are these easy to make? Totally!! All you need is a food processor for the insides and a double boiler or a microwave to melt the chocolate for the outside. Personally I prefer a double boiler because it melts the chocolate so smoothly, but if that is not your jam, microwave to the rescue!
Ready to make beautiful music together?
Healthy Sunbutter Caramel Cake Bites
Equipment
- double boiler or microwave
- Lollipop sticks
- food processor
Ingredients
- ½ cup sunflower seed butter , creamy, organic, sugar and salt-free
- ¼ cup cassava flour
- 1 tablespoon cassava flour
- 12-16 Medjool Dates remove pits, and soak
- 4 dark chocolate bars gluten-free
- 2+ tablespoon coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
- ½ cup ground coconut shreds
Instructions
- Soak dates ahead of time in a bowl filled with warm water for 20 minutes.
- After dates are soaked, drain them and discard the water.
- Add dates to a food processor along with the sea salt, sunflower seed butter, and cassava flour and blend really well until all ingredients form a smooth mixture. You may need to use a spoon to scrape the sides of the food processor.
- Spoon the mixture into a bowl and freeze for 20 minutes so it hardens enough to form the mixture into balls. **If you can form the mixture into balls without the dough being too sticky then you can skip this step.
- Then add a stick to the center of each ball and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze balls until hardened. This could take 1 hour or longer. This way when you dip the balls into the chocolate the dough will not melt.
- 15 minutes prior to removing the lollipops from the freezer, prepare to melt the chocolate in a double boiler (on low to medium heat to melt) or microwave (at 30-second intervals). Add coconut oil teaspoon by teaspoon to thin out the thickness of the chocolate and make it more spreadable.
- Once you take the lollipops out of the freezer, dip them into the melted chocolate until the entire ball is covered. You can use a spoon to help you do this. Feel free to add toppings like shredded coconut or even gluten-free sprinkles.
- Then let them lay on the parchment-lined baking tray. Once all lollipops are covered in chocolate put them back in the freezer and freeze until set.
- Once set store them in a plastic bag or sealed container and keep frozen until ready to serve. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months. These taste amazing frozen and at room temperature.
Notes
- Use the total amount of dates (16) if you want a ridiculously sweet cake bite. But you don’t have to use that many.
- If you need help choosing a gluten-free chocolate bar, check out my healthy chocolate post.
- Make sure the sunflower seed butter you use is the creamy type. I love Sunbutter, because of its creamy texture. If you cannot get that brand, just aim for organic, sugar-free, low sodium, and creamy.
Love & No-Bake Cake Bites,
Like Goodie? Wanna fall in love? Follow me on
Leave a Reply