Vegan Caramel Pie

This vegan caramel pie is a fabulous mix of salty and sweet with a salty pretzel crust, a smooth caramel center and a vegan whipped cream topping!

This vegan caramel pie was inspired by a South African dessert called a peppermint caramel tart.

A peppermint caramel tart consists of a layer of coconut cookies mixed with butter as the crust, then a layer of caramel in the center, a layer of freshly whipped cream on top and it’s garnished with shavings of mint chocolate.

I wanted to recreate a vegan inspired version, not trying to replicate it exactly, but just inspired by it.

Even though I can get vegan coconut biscuits, I was pretty keen to try a pretzel crust, because I was kind of positive the salty pretzels would go super well with the über sweet vegan caramel (made from dates and coconut cream).

And oh man – I was so right about that!

Vegan whipped cream makes up the top layer with dark chocolate shavings on top. 

You will love the different textures for each layer of this pie and how each bite is a perfect blend between salty, sweet and creamy. 

And if you love delicious vegan pies then check out our vegan pecan pie and vegan apple pie. 

How To A Make Vegan Caramel Pie

Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a summary of the process to go along with the photos. 

The Crust: 

• Add salted pretzels, raw cashews and white sugar to your food processor and process into fine crumbs. 

• Add melted vegan butter and process again until well mixed. 

• Transfer to a 9-inch round pie dish and press down firmly. 
• Place into the oven to bake for 20 minutes at 350°F until nicely browned. 

The Filling:

• Add pitted medjool dates to a bowl and microwave for 30-seconds (optional) to soften them. Add to your food processor and start processing. It will initially form a giant ball of toffee. Keep processing, stopping regularly to scrape down the sides and break up the ball of toffee a little. 

• When there is more sticking to the sides than in the ball, scrape down the sides again and start processing but now add in coconut cream while the machine is running, Keep adding in coconut cream, stopping and scraping down sides as needed, and processing until you have a smooth and creamy caramel. 

• Spread the date caramel on top of the pretzel crust. If your crust is still warm from baking, no problem, there’s no need to wait until it’s cooled first, you can just add your caramel and smooth it down.
• Place it into the fridge to set. You want the top of the caramel to have set a little before you add your topping. 

The Topping and Decoration:

• For the whipped cream topping you’ll need cans of chilled coconut cream in your fridge. They need to have been chilled in the fridge at least overnight.
• Scoop out only the hardened cream at the top, leaving the watery part behind. Add the cream to the bowl of your stand mixer and whip it until it’s whipped.

• Add powdered sugar to sweeten. 

• Spread this over the top of your date caramel center and smooth it down with a spoon.

• Decorate the top with vegan chocolate shavings. 

• Let the pie set in the fridge for around 4 hours so the layers get nice and firm. If you can leave it overnight, this is even more ideal. 

• Your pie is ready to serve!

Recipe & Ingredient Notes

Soft Pitted Medjool Dates: This is crucial to making your date caramel as easy as possible. If your dates are hard, then it will be super hard to get them to turn out as a lovely caramel. You need really soft juicy dates. So feel them and make sure they’re soft. Microwaving for 30-seconds also helps because the heat softens them more, but having them soft to start off with is really important. 

Coconut Cream: We need coconut cream that has been chilled in the fridge for at least 12 hours and preferably longer. It’s ideal if you plan to make vegan desserts often to just store a few cans of coconut cream permanently in the coldest part of your fridge so you’re always ready to go. 

The date caramel uses a cup of the hardened cream scooped from the top of a chilled can of coconut cream. 

Whipped Cream Topping: The whipped cream topping uses one OR two cans of chilled coconut cream. It depends on how much cream you get from your can. If your can is one of those where it’s almost all cream and very little water, then one can is enough. On the other hand if your can is half cream and the other half is all water, then you will need to use two cans. 

An alternative is if you use something like Nature’s Charm brand of Coconut Whipping Cream, then that is pretty foolproof, and you will only need to use one (chilled) can if you’re using that. OR feel free to just use any vegan whipped cream topping that you like! It doesn’t have to be coconut whipped cream. 

Chocolate Shavings: Any good tasting bar of vegan chocolate is going to be great for the topping!

Storing Tips

Keep your pie stored in the fridge (covered) and enjoy within around 5 days. It stores extremely well.

More Vegan Pie Recipes

1. Vegan Chocolate Pie
2. Vegan Banana Cream Pie
3. Vegan Coconut Cream Pie
4. Vegan Grasshopper Pie
5. Vegan Banoffee Pie
6. Vegan Pumpkin Pie
7. Vegan Lemon Pie
8. Vegan Sweet Potato Pie

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

Vegan Caramel Pie

This vegan caramel pie is a fabulous mix of salty and sweet with a salty pretzel crust, a smooth caramel center and a vegan whipped cream topping!

4.75 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 10

Calories: 503kcal

Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• ▢ 3 cups Salted Pretzels (114g)
• ▢ ½ cup Raw Cashews (70g)
• ▢ ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (50g)
• ▢ ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g) Melted

For the Caramel Center:

• ▢ 2 cups Medjool Dates (350g) Soft, Pitted, Packed cups
• ▢ 1 cup Canned Coconut Cream (240ml) hardened cream only from one 14-ounce can, chilled overnight in the fridge

For the Topping:

• ▢ 2 ½ cups Canned Coconut Cream (600ml) hardened cream only from two 14-ounce cans, chilled overnight in the fridge
• ▢ ¼ cup Powdered Sugar (30g)

For the Decoration:

• ▢ Vegan Chocolate Shavings

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• To make this dessert, you'll need three 14-ounce cans of coconut cream chilled in your fridge. They need to be chilled for at least 12 hours and preferably longer so that the cream and water separate. You will only use the hardened cream and discard the water.
• When you’re ready to begin – preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Add the pretzels, cashews and sugar to your food processor and process into fine crumbs.
• Add the melted vegan butter and process again until well mixed.
• Transfer to a 9-inch round pie dish and press down firmly.
• Place into the oven to bake for 20 minutes until nicely browned.
• Add the pitted medjool dates to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30-seconds (optional) to soften them.
• Add the dates to your food processor and start processing. It will initially form a giant ball of toffee. Keep processing, stopping regularly to scrape down the sides and break up the ball of toffee a little.
• When there is more sticking to the sides than in the ball, scrape down the sides again and start processing but now add in the coconut cream while the machine is running,
• Keep adding in coconut cream, stopping and scraping down the sides as needed, and processing until you have a smooth and creamy caramel.
• Spread the date caramel on top of the pretzel crust. If your crust is still warm from baking, no problem, there’s no need to wait until it’s cooled first, you can just add your caramel, smooth it down and then place it into the fridge to set. You want the top of the caramel to have set a little before you add your topping.
• Open the remaining 2 cans of coconut cream, scooping out only the top separated cream portion of the can into a mixing bowl.
• Using an electric mixer start at slow speed, gradually building up speed, until the cream is thick and whipped cream consistency has been reached.
• Add the powdered sugar and whip again to mix in.
• Scoop this out over the date caramel layer and smooth it out.
• Grate dark chocolate over the top for decoration.
• Return to the refrigerator to fully set (approx 4 hours). If you can leave it overnight to set that’s even more ideal.
• Slice and enjoy!

Notes

1. Soft medjool dates are crucial. If your dates are hard, then it will be difficult to get them to turn out as a lovely caramel. You need really soft juicy dates. So feel them and make sure they’re soft. Microwaving for 30-seconds also helps because the heat softens them more, but having them soft to start off with is really important.
2. Coconut Cream: The cans of coconut cream need to have been chilled in the fridge for at least 12 hours and preferably longer. It’s ideal if you plan to make vegan desserts often to just store a few cans of coconut cream permanently in the coldest part of your fridge so you’re always ready to go. The date caramel uses a cup of the hardened cream scooped from the top of a chilled can of coconut cream and the whipped cream topping uses 2 and ½ cups. 
3. Chocolate Shavings: Any good tasting bar of vegan chocolate is going to be great for chocolate shavings.
4. Keep leftovers stored in the fridge (covered) and enjoy within around 5 days.
5. Prep time does not include time spent setting in the fridge.
6. Pretzel crust adapted from Minimalist Baker.
7. This recipe was first published in December 2015.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serve | Calories: 503kcal | Carbohydrates: 44.6g | Protein: 5.7g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 1.6g | Sodium: 223mg | Fiber: 3.3g | Sugar: 27.8g

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