For the Date Caramel Sauce
You’ll want to use fresh dates for this recipe. If they are dried out/hard they will be more difficult to work with. Store this sauce in the fridge for up to 7 days!
- Soak dates in warm water for 5 min prior to using, then drain well before adding to blender
- Remove the pits from the dates (if not already pitted)
- Add dates to the blender jar along with the salt, vanilla, and ¾ cup light coconut milk.. (I use a Ninja high speed blender)
- Blend for about 15-30 seconds. Stop blender and scrape down sides, pushing unmixed ingredients down into the jar.
- Cover and blend again for 15-30 seconds.
- Repeat until all ingredients are well integrated and you reach the desired consistency. Add the additional ¼ cup of coconut milk to thin the mixture further. (¾ cup of coconut milk seems perfect for dipping/dollops, and 1 cup makes it a little thinner for drizzling)
- Refrigerate until ready to use then pull out for a few minutes prior to serving.
Note: I reserved two tablespoons for the topping and poured the rest into a squeeze bottle for drizzling.
For the Apple Filling
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the spices until evenly coated, then transfer to a baking dish and set aside.
For the Caramel Crumble Topping
- Put all crumble topping ingredients in a food processor and pulse, until the nuts are coarsely chopped and the ingredients are well combined.
- Push mixture down sides of blender bowl if needed and pulse again. Don’t over process, you want the texture to be thick and crumbly. (This does not take long.)
- Sprinkle the topping all over the apples to fully cover.
- Bake in the preheated oven loosely covered in a sheet of foil for 50 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake 5-10 more minutes, until the apples are soft and the topping is slightly golden and crisp.
- Let sit for 15-20 minutes to cool before serving.
- Serve with a scoop of your fave vanilla ice cream and/or drizzle some of the date caramel sauce over the top for extra gooey caramelly goodness!
- If you have leftovers, store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days and reheat before serving…enjoy!