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So I went ahead and made these carmelitas vegan and gluten-free. How’d I do that? First, I used my two-ingredient vegan caramel sauce as a base for the caramel layer. Yes, it’s made with tahini. You can taste the tahini here, but not the way tahini tastes when it’s alone. Mixed with maple syrup it takes on a sweet, deep caramel flavor that I adore.
Even Meghan, who doesn’t like tahini, raved about these bars, so don’t worry too much about the tahini flavor. If you prefer, you can use a store-bought caramel sauce in place of the tahini+maple syrup. (vegan or regular)
In place of the butter and heavy cream, I used coconut oil and canned coconut milk. I didn’t detect any coconut flavor in the end result. I did use refined coconut oil, which is better for baking above 300 degrees and has less coconut flavor.
Usually carmelitas are made with all-purpose flour and oats. For my first trial I tried to use almond flour. The almond flour didn’t absorb enough of the liquid, so the texture wasn’t right. The bottom layer became hard, almost like toffee. Next I tried oat flour (I just blended up some oats) and that worked perfectly. To ensure these are gluten-free, make sure to get certified gluten-free oats.
After I took about a bazillion pictures of the bars, I realized there was no way we’d be eating them at that size. They are way too rich and sweet. I took the 9 bars and cut them into fourths. Much better. I left a few out for use to eat and then put the rest in the freezer so they can be a part of my Christmas dessert tray.
While these aren’t light in terms of calories, if you are going to splurge with a dessert, this is a great way to do it. They are made with no refined flour or refined sugar. And, of course, they are vegan, which means you have a dairy-free dessert as well as gluten-free. If you have friends or family who need an allergy-friendly dessert, this is a great pick!
Vegan and Gluten-Free Carmelitas
- Total Time: 53 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
Description
This is an allergy-friendly dessert that everyone will LOVE.
Ingredients
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup Sucunat, coconut sugar, or brown sugar
2 cups old-fashioned oats, divided
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
pinch of salt
1 cup chocolate chunks (I use the Enjoy Life brand)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8X8 or 9X9 inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking oil. (I did not try parchment paper, but I highly recommend you line your pan)
Melt your coconut oil in a medium glass bowl (the microwave may be used).
Add the Sucunat and whisk to combine well.
In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup of the oats until they are a fine powder.
Add the oat flour and the remaining 1 cup rolled oats to the bowl with the oil and sugar. Also add the vanilla, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and mix well.
Press half of the oat mixture into your prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
While the first layer is baking, mix together your caramel layer. Whisk together the tahini, maple syrup, the coconut milk, and salt.
After 10 minutes, pull the pan out of the oven. Add the chocolate chunks in an even layer.
Next, slowly pour the caramel sauce over the chocolate chunks, ensuring it evenly covers the pan. Finally, top this with the remaining oat mixture.
Return the pan to the oven and bake until the edges are lightly browned and the center is bubbling slightly, approximately 18 minutes.
These need to set before they can be sliced. At a minimum, let them set in the fridge for 2-4 hours. For best results, let them set overnight before cutting (in the fridge or at room temperature). If you try to cut these early, they will not hold into bars and you’ll have a mess. A tasty mess, but definitely a mess! 😉 Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 38 minutes
- Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 369
- Sugar: 30.8g
- Sodium: 82.6mg
- Fat: 21.4g
- Carbohydrates: 43.8g
- Protein: 3.2g
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These are so good and a hit with everyone! I make them as per the recipe, maybe leave them in five mins longer but my oven is useless, and it is a bit runny-ish still but they set once they’re out. I use an 8×8 pan and it feels like the base will be thin and the top not covered but it works out perfectly once cooked. So yummy, highly recommend!!
Despite being vegan, these were a huge hit with my family and guests- even with my husband, who doesn’t like chocolate!
Tweaks: I left out the baking soda, since there’s no acid to activate it, and nothing to leaven in a bar anyway. The baking powder is really superfluous as well. I added quite a bit of salt to the caramel layer for a salted caramel bar and used dark chocolate. I also doubled it (it ended up much thicker than the photo in the recipe) and baked it in a 9×13″ pan, so it took twice as long to bake.
*IT WILL COME OUT OF THE OVEN COMPLETELY LIQUID DON’T PANIC!* Within an hour, it had started to set, and it was perfect to cut into bars a few hours later.
Definitely a winner, I’m happy to add it to my repertoire for family and friends with allergies. I’ll use sunbutter next time instead of tahini since the friend I have in mind is allergic to sesame, I think she’ll love it!
I always have to bring these to every event now, since everyone loves them!
I sometimes reduce the brown sugar a little bit.
And I always cook them longer than the recipe states.
Absolutely delicious! I made these last fall while hubby was on an elimination diet and couldn’t have dairy, eggs, or gluten, but my non-diet family lovvveed them and I’ve been thinking about them since. Making again today!
Thank you for the great review!
theres not enough oat mix to cover the top everytime i make these so i add oats sprinkled over the top
how do i revise recipe so that i have emough oats mixture fir the top?
perhaps double the mixture?
do these bars need to be stored in fridge or room temp for how many days?
thanks kate
Same happened to me, oat mix should be double in order to properly do the top layer.
These are so yummy! Very rich and decadent. I followed the recipe exactly and was a little nervous that there was too much caramel sauce but the end result was so delicious! There wasn’t quite enough topping to cover the top like in the pictures (it looks much prettier in the blog pictures) but who cares! They taste amazing!