Carmelitas - Gluten Free, Vegan

January 13, 2020May 19, 2021

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These gluten free and vegan Carmelitas taste incredible! They have layers of chocolate, gooey caramel, and an oat crumble topping.

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This recipe is sponsored by JJ’s Sweets. All opinions are 100% my own.

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you all today! These Carmelitas are absolutely delicious and SO decadent!

JJ’s Sweets reached out to me a while back to help them create a recipe using their delicious coconut milk caramels and I couldn’t wait to get started.

They have been my #1 go to for any recipe I want to make that uses caramel since finding out about my food allergies many years ago.

I’ve used their coconut milk caramels to make my gluten free and vegan “Twix” Cookies, Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake, Chocolate Covered Caramel Apple Slices, and many more delicious treats.

I’ve made this recipe SO many times over the last month and I just can’t get enough.

I included them on my Christmas treat tray and they were a HUGE hit! I also sent a batch to my husbands work and they were gone fast. Everyone loved them.

They are also really easy to make! So let’s talk about how you make them.

GLUTEN FREE AND VEGAN CARMELITAS RECIPE INGREDIENTS:

For the Caramel Sauce Layer:

Cocomels Coconut Milk Caramels: you can use any of the coconut milk caramel for this recipe. I’ve made them with the Coconut Sugar Cocomels and the Sea Salt Cocomels.
Full fat canned coconut milk

For the Crust and Topping:

Gluten free all purpose flour: I use “Bob’s Red Mill 1-1”
Gluten free rolled oats
Coconut sugar: brown sugar can be used as well
Baking powder
Salt
Vegan butter: I use “Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks”
Vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Layer:

Vegan chocolate chips

HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE AND VEGAN CARMELITAS:

Make the caramel sauce: To make the caramel sauce, unwrap the caramels and place them in a microwave safe bowl with 1/2 cup of full fat canned coconut milk. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring between each time, until the caramels are completely melted. Place the caramel sauce in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to thicken.
Prepare oven and baking dish: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8 inch pan.
Combine crust and topping ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together gluten free all purpose flour, rolled oats, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add melted vegan butter and vanilla extract to the bowl and stir to form a crumble.
Bake crust: Press half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of the pan to form a crust. Bake for 10 minutes.
Add chocolate chips: When the crust is done cooking, pour the vegan chocolate chips evenly over the hot crust.
Cover in caramel sauce: Pour the caramel sauce evenly over the chocolate chip layer. Top with the remaining oat crumble mixture.
Bake: 15 minutes.
Refrigerate: Place the Carmelitas in the refrigerator for 2 hours to cool completely and allow the caramel to set up.
Cut and serve: Cut into bars when ready to serve.

That’s all there is to it! I hope you love this recipe as much as my family does!

♥Don’t forget to rate this recipe and leave a comment below if you give this recipe a try!♥