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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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I LOVE caramel and I need to make these ASAP.
These are one of my FAVORITE desserts!
Thanks so much for sharing, I love Carmelitas and was looking for a vegan option! I’ve had your recipe saved on my pinterest board for a while and finally got the chance to try it while on holiday break. Like others have mentioned, I did end up cooking it almost double the time suggested, they didn’t seem quite done enough with the 18 minutes. Very decadent and can’t wait to share with vegan and non-vegan friends!
Thank you for your feedback!
Delicious squares and easy to make. As others commented, I had to bake almost double the recommended baking time as they are quite soupy in the centre. After setting in the fridge though, they firm up nicely and cut cleanly. A fantastic vegan alternative to the Carmelitas I loved as a non vegan!
Really good but next time, I’ll halve the sugar and oil. I also had to bake it over 30 minutes because it was so liquidy, as another commenter mentioned. I think with less maple syrup and oil, it may firm up a bit faster. I added unsweetened coconut flakes and chopped walnuts to the crust layers, and subbed vanilla powder for vanilla extract, which I highly recommend. I think I’ll also try subbing the salt with miso next time too, I think it would go really well in the caramel. Thank you for a great jumping off point!!
These are amazing! I didn’t have enough tahini so I added a bit of peanut butter, absolutely to die for. I brought them to a party and people were amazed they were vegan and gluten free. Also my roommates want me to make them again very soon haha.
Thank you for this god send recipe!
Any substitute for coconut milk? Thanks
Whole milk or heavy cream if you can tolerate dairy.
Looking forward to trying these! I would caution against advertising this as allergy friendly as even opening a jar of tahini near my sister could send her into anaphylaxis! Sesame allergies are becoming very prevalent! Planning to try using sunflower butter instead, can’t wait to see how they turn out!
I hope you love them!
Thank you for this recipe.
These are great. I have made them last night using almond butter in place of tahini and date molasses instead of maple syrup.
I used coconut sugar and added some cinnamon to the oat/ flour mix.
I find these to be sweet but not too sweet, however, if you reduce the amount of sugar and maple syrup you’ll still end up with a delicious treat. My next batch I will try adding less of the sugary ingredients and sprinkling the batch with coconut flakes.
It is important to cool these fully. Mine cooled for about 2 hrs after baking and an additional hour in the fridge before cutting. Fridge makes it easy for an easy and clean cut.
Great recipe, I already ate half of them. Will double the batch next time. They keep perfect in the fridge.
I love the idea of using almond butter! I may have to experiment. Thanks for your feedback!
Getting ready to make this for our anniversary, all I have are quick oats, fingers crossed it still turns out!!
Ok, wow! So freaking good. I couldn’t wait for it to cool down so I had a couple of bites straight from the pan. It’s amazing! And the kids are obsessed with it too! I definitely will make it again!
Is there anything you can recommend to sub for tahini? I’m allergic. Thanks!
Hands down new favorite dessert. SO SO good. Mine were a little too gooey so freezing them actually made them the perfect treat to grab from the freezer and cut a little of the sweetness with them being cold. My office raved about them. I LOVE the tahini substitution and the chunks of chocolate. Oh man, these were so so good. Thanks for sharing. I only wish I had them in the freezer all the time..but they went too fast!
Thanks for your feedback! This makes me really happy. 🙂
AMAZING!!! These things were incredible. I am not the biggest fan of tahini and was worried I may not like them. On the contrary, the way the flavors blended together resulted in a delicious sweet and salty flavor! They also work great in the freezer. My only “complaint” would be that they were a bit greasy but this may be because of the way I made them…so a few questions…
1) Should it be 3/4 cup of melted coconut oil or 3/4 of solid coconut oil then melted?
2) Should you let the coconut milk separate and use the fatty part or shake the can up so that it is all mixed up?
Thanks in advance!!
I made these for a team meeting and I was the only gluten-free vegan. Everyone RAVED about them saying they were crack! I usually avoid all oil, so this was a special treat for me. Crispy, chewy, chocolatey, and buttery tasting – it hit the right textures and tastes. Great recipe to share with non-vegans and normal junk food junkies!
I have been searching for dessert recipes that are gluten, egg, soy, and dairy free…and have come up short, until this! The best dessert I have ever made. And people had no idea it was vegan and gluten free. The is so much!
I would give 10 stars for this recipe. These are the best squares I have ever had. Soooo chewy. I put it into the freezer after I baked it as I could not wait to eat one. I am going to make it again tomorrow. Thank you so much for such a great recipe.
I made it once this spring for a marriage course and it was a big hit. I have a question though. When you whisk together the Tahini, maple syrup, coconut milk and pinch of sugar, should’t you cook the sauce on the stove top? It was quite runny when I was baking it and it didn’t look ready at all after 18 minutes. I ended up baking almost 35 minutes or so instead of 18 minutes and left it in the oven for another 10 minutes afterwards.
No, you don’t need to cook the sauce. It does have a gooey texture. I am not sure why your cook time varied so much. I’m glad they were a hit!
Is there anything you suggest as a substitute for coconut oil?
You can try a neutral oil such as avocado oil or try a vegan butter spread.
Delicious!
These were INCREDIBLE! My whole family was going crazy for these and couldn’t believe it was tahini ! I was a little scared it would be over powering but it pairs so well and ends up having a peanut-y flavour ! Definitely making again thanks so much !!
So happy to hear you loved these!
These are unreal, thank you for this recipe!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the feedback. 🙂