These healthy vegan, gluten-free pecan caramel bars are made with oats, dates, maple syrup, pecans, and a handful of other ingredients. They’re the perfect holiday slice!
Wait, what??? You’re posting on a Saturday, Allison? Why, yes, and there’s a very important reason involving possibly the most deliciously healthy caramel pecan bars I’ve ever had!
Since making them on Monday, we have not been able to stop enjoying them for dessert. We’ve already finished the batch, which is probably a good thing, since we’re having a cookie baking fest today! December is the month when we all indulge a fair bit, and there is nothing wrong with that… but if I can have a dessert that’s made without refined flour or sugar, but still tastes indulgent, I will take it over a more “traditional” one any day!
These vegan date pecan caramel bars won out over vegan mint brownies when I undertook a very informal poll on Instagram the other day. I got to work on creating a recipe, and I’m very happy with how it turned out on the first try. These bars consist of an oat, date, and coconut oil crust that’s lightly spiced with nutmeg. This gets pre-baked before a layer of date-pecan caramel is spread over top. Finally, pecans coated with maple syrup and cinnamon, as well as a few tablespoons of (optional) chocolate chips, are pressed into this caramel layer, and baked. Once cooled and sliced, these bars are reminiscent of both pecan pie and those chocolate pecan shortbread bars that many a local coffee shop sells.
Are you ready to do this? Three, two, one, bake!
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
- FOR THE BASE: Rolled oats, coconut oil, medjool dates, sea salt, and nutmeg.
- FOR THE PECAN CARAMEL LAYER: Medjool dates, maple syrup, tahini or nut butter, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, and pecans.
- FOR THE TOPPING: Pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon, and chocolate chips.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- Make the base: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8×8-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper. Leave enough overhang so that you’ll be able to lift the bar out of the dish easily.
- Grind the oats into a coarse flour in a food processor. Add the coconut oil, dates, salt, and nutmeg. Process until the mixture begins to stick together. You’ll know that it has the proper texture when it sticks together when you press it between your fingers.
- Transfer the base mixture into the prepared dish. Starting in the middle and pushing outwards with your fingers, press down into an even layer. The more firmly you press it together, the better- we want it to hold together once baked and sliced. 🙂
- Using a fork, poke several holes in it to allow air to escape. Bake for 10 minutes while you prepare the date pecan caramel layer.
- Make the date pecan caramel layer: Add dates, maple syrup, tahini or nut butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt to a food processor. Process until smooth. This will take a couple of minutes. Once smooth, add the pecan halves and pulse until they are very finely chopped and incorporated.
- Spoon the date pecan caramel onto the pre-baked crust. Because it is so sticky, you’ll need to either wet your hands or use a wet spatula to carefully spread it over the surface of the crust.
- Make the topping: Toss together the pecans, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a small dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the date pecan caramel, followed by the pecans. Gently press in to the caramel.
- Put the pan back into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. (I baked mine for 15.)
- Let it cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.
I love serving these bars with a cup of chai, or a vegan eggnog latte! (Fear not, there will be an eggnog recipe up on the blog in the next little while!) I’ve just been obsessed with nutmeg lately! Pomegranate also adds a lovely little pop of colour to your dessert spread, and it is at its peak right now. 🙂
MORE HOLIDAY TREATS
- Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Cups (Vegan)
- Peanut Butter and Honey Rice Crispy Squares with Chocolate
- Oil-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Maple Sweetened)
I hope from the bottom of my heart that you are having a lovely December so far. Wishing you a fabulous weekend, and I’ll be back on Monday with a brand new recipe that involves chai and white chocolate!
If you make this recipe, leave a comment and rating below the post, and if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made. 🙂
Enjoy!
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Vegan Pecan Caramel Bars
Description
These healthy vegan, gluten-free pecan caramel bars are made with oats, dates, maple syrup, pecans, and a handful of other ingredients. They’re the perfect holiday slice!
Ingredients
Base
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 6 large, soft pitted Medjool dates
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Date Pecan Caramel Layer
- 8 large, soft pitted Medjool dates
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons tahini or nut butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup raw pecan halves
Topping
- 1/2 cup raw pecan halves
- 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Make the base: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8×8-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper. Leave enough overhang so that you’ll be able to lift the bar out of the dish easily.
- Grind the oats into a coarse flour in a food processor. Add the coconut oil, dates, salt, and nutmeg. Process until the mixture begins to stick together. You’ll know that it has the proper texture when it sticks together when you press it between your fingers. Note: If it remains crumbly, even after a good long process, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and process again until it sticks together. Sometimes, if your dates are not super fresh/gooey, it’s a bit crumbly and you need to add water; other times, water isn’t necessary.
- Transfer the base mixture into the prepared dish. Starting in the middle and pushing outwards with your fingers, press down into an even layer. The more firmly you press it together, the better- we want it to hold together once baked and sliced. 🙂
- Using a fork, poke several holes in it to allow air to escape. Bake for 10 minutes while you prepare the date pecan caramel layer.
- Make the date pecan caramel layer: Add dates, maple syrup, tahini or nut butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt to a food processor. Process until smooth. This will take a couple of minutes. Once smooth, add the pecan halves and pulse until they are very finely chopped and incorporated.
- Spoon the date pecan caramel onto the pre-baked crust. Because it is so sticky, you’ll need to either wet your hands or use a wet spatula to carefully spread it over the surface of the crust.
- Make the topping: Toss together the pecans, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a small dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the date pecan caramel, followed by the pecans. Gently press in to the caramel.
- Put the pan back into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. (I baked mine for 15.)
- Let it cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.
Notes
Crust adapted from the Pecan Cranberry Pie in The My New Roots Cookbook by Sarah Britton.
Julia
I made these today and they turned out great! Even my normally picky kids enjoyed them. Will definitely make another batch soon. Love pecans!
★★★★★
Allison
Thank you so much! Glad your kids enjoyed them, too.