These vegan chocolate and salted caramel tarts are a delightful sweet treat made with wholesome ingredients such as oats, dark chocolate, coconut sugar, and coconut milk.
It has been a fun week here on the blog, hasn’t it? I’ve shared vegan macaroni and cheese with buffalo tofu and roasted beet and broccoli salad with green tahini dressing so far. You know what that means: It’s time for something sweet! I developed these vegan chocolate and salted caramel tarts over the Christmas holidays, and as soon as I shot the photos, I knew that they had to be shared as this year’s Valentine’s Day dessert.
If you were reading Up Beet Kitchen last year, you might remember my vegan Valentine’s Day menu post. In lieu of a full dinner menu post this year, I opted to share a few Valentine’s Day-appropriate recipes all week long. These tarts are definitely the show-stopper of the bunch, however. If you make just one of my recipes this week, let this be it!
These little tarts are not difficult to make. However, if you are anything like me, you might find it challenging to wait until they firm up in the fridge!
They start with an easy press-in crust that is made in the food processor with oats, dates, coconut oil, and sea salt. These are baked in muffin cups, before being filled with a simple 3-ingredient chocolate cream made with coconut milk, chocolate chips, and sea salt. Pop the tarts into the fridge so that the ganache can firm up.
A few minutes before serving, make the salted coconut sugar caramel sauce by combining coconut milk, coconut sugar, peanut butter, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm. Drizzle the caramel sauce over top and enjoy immediately!
One essential thing to note about this recipe is that you’ll need to chill a can of coconut milk overnight before making it.
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ingredients you’ll need
- For the crust: Rolled oats, coconut oil, medjool dates, and sea salt. You might also need a little bit of water to help it along.
- For the chocolate filling: Chocolate chips, chilled coconut milk, and sea salt.
- For the salted coconut sugar caramel: Chilled coconut milk, coconut sugar, peanut butter, and sea salt.
step by step instructions
- Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with 10 paper liners.
- Process the rolled oats into a coarse flour in the food processor. Add the dates, coconut oil, and sea salt. Process until a dough that sticks together when pressed between your fingers forms. If it isn’t sticking together, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and process until it comes together.
- Form the dough into 10 equal balls and place them in the prepared muffin cups. Press them down into the bottom and partway up the sides of each muffin cup. Pierce the bottom of each crust once with a fork.
- Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven to cool. Once cool, gently lift them out of the tin and place them on a large plate or tray.
- Make the ganache: Combine then chocolate chips, chilled coconut milk, and a pinch of salt (if desired) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk often until melted and uniform. Remove from the heat.
- Fill the tart shells with desired amount of ganache. I used around 1 ½ tablespoons in each of mine. If you have any leftover after filling the tart shells, store in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or in the fridge for longer. Reheat for a quick and easy ice cream topping.)
- Place the tarts in the fridge to firm up. I chilled mine for 2 hours.
- A few minutes before serving, make the coconut sugar caramel sauce. Combine the coconut milk and coconut sugar in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, whisking often, until uniform in colour and consistency. Whisk in the peanut butter and salt, if using.
- Drizzle the tarts with the caramel and serve.
more vegan Valentine’s Day recipes
- Lentil, Mushroom, and Walnut Bolognese
- Vegan No-Bake Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
- Vegan Date Night Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce
Well, I hope that you love these vegan chocolate caramel tarts with salted coconut sugar caramel! If you make them, let me know how you enjoyed them by leaving a comment and rating below. And if you post a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen.
Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tarts
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Decadent little chocolate and salted caramel tarts made with a rustic oat crust, chocolate filling, and salted coconut sugar caramel topping.
Ingredients
Tart Shells
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 6 large, soft pitted Medjool dates
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1–2 tablespoons water (optional- as needed)
Chocolate Filling
- 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chilled coconut milk (only use the cream that rises to the top of the can after chilling for 12 hours)
- Pinch of fine sea salt (optional)
Salted Coconut Sugar Caramel Sauce
- ¼ cup chilled coconut milk (only use the cream that separates from the water in a can of coconut milk after refrigerating for 12 hours)
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter (optional)
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with 10 paper liners.
- Process the rolled oats into a coarse flour in the food processor. Add the dates, coconut oil, and sea salt. Process until a dough that sticks together when pressed between your fingers forms. If it isn’t sticking together, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and process until it comes together.
- Form the dough into 10 equal balls and place them in the prepared muffin cups. Press them down into the bottom and partway up the sides of each muffin cup. Pierce the bottom of each crust once with a fork.
- Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven to cool. Once cool, gently lift them out of the tin and place them on a large plate or tray.
- Make the chocolate layer: Combine the chocolate chips, chilled coconut milk, and a pinch of salt (if desired) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk often until melted and uniform. Remove from the heat.
- Fill the tart shells with the chocolate filling. (I used around 1 ½ tablespoons in each of mine. If you have any leftover after filling the tart shells, store in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or in the fridge for longer. Reheat for a quick and easy ice cream topping.)
- Place the tarts in the fridge to firm up. I chilled mine for 2 hours.
- A few minutes before serving, make the coconut sugar caramel sauce. Combine the coconut milk and coconut sugar in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, whisking often, until uniform in colour and consistency. Whisk in the peanut butter and salt, if using.
- Drizzle the tarts with the caramel and serve.
Notes
Make sure to put a can of coconut milk in the fridge the night before you plan to make these tarts. After chilling, the coconut cream separates to the top of the can, while the water stays on the bottom. Scoop out the cream and either discard the water or reserve it for another use, such as a smoothie.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
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Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness says
What an adorable looking, creative dessert! Looks like my kind of sweet tooth treat.
Allison says
Thank you so much, Nicole! My family and I really enjoyed them- I think I’ll make another batch soon! 🙂