Vegan Caramel Chocolate Turtles - 5 Ingredient Recipe {GF} (2024)

Vegan caramel chocolate turtles – a simplified 15 minute healthier version of caramel chocolate turtles made with only five ingredients. Gluten Free and Refined Sugar Free.Vegan caramel chocolate turtles that are gluten-free and also sugar free! Stop everything you’re doing in life and make these immediately.

This might just be the best recipe I have ever created. In almost 6 years of blogging, and hundreds of recipes, it all comes down to one.

Chocolate turtles. With a vegan caramel sauce. And only five ingredients. And 5-15 minutes on hands on times.

For the best dessert you’ll ever have.

I’m not even exaggerating. This to me, is the best dessert I’ve ever made. Especially when you factor in the complexity of the recipe (super easy), the time required (barely any) and the list of ingredients needed (little to none), this blows every other dessert out of the water.

I mean sure if you want cheesecake you can make a vegan pumpkin cheesecake, or if you want brownies there are fudgy vegan protein brownies, but for me these chocolate turtles are the dessert that beats them all.

This recipe starts with nuts. Feel free to use your nuts of choice. Almonds, pecans, cashews, all work. I have to save pecans are the best in this recipe followed by almonds and then cashews. You want a solid hearty nut here. The cashews are a bit too soft of a nut in this recipe for me, the almonds and pecans being firmer nuts hold up better if you ask me.

You just need to scatter the nuts in little clusters on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Then you’re ready for the vegan caramel sauce.

The vegan caramel is a combo of maple syrup, coconut oil and sunflower seed butter. Yep, I said it, sunflower seed butter. I didn’t even know such a thing existed. I mean nut butters sure, but sunflower seed butter – that’s a new one for me.

And I love it, it gives this caramel sauce that perfect element of intrigue. The maple syrup and coconut oil need to be heated in a pot, and then the sunflower seed butter is added.

Let that boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring it while you go, and that’s it. That’s all it takes for a vegan caramel sauce.

Amazing right? Now butter or cream needed. I am sure this would work with an almond or cashew butter too, so feel free to use those instead if you do not have sunflower seed butter.

Pour the caramel sauce onto the clusters of nuts, covering them so they stick nicely together. Let those two hang out in the freezer for a bit 5-10 minutes, or longer if you want the caramel a bit more solidified.

Then just melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzle over the caramel nut clusters.

You chocolate turtles are almost complete. One last optional step. A light sprinkling of coarse sea salt on each chocolate turtle. This is entirely optional or completely mandatory if you’re me and need a bit of salt with everything you consume.

Salt + sweet = my favorite kind of dessert.

No joke these vegan caramel chocolate turtles are my new favorite dessert.

Normally I am not a dessert person at all. Dessert never tempts me and I can have cheesecake, brownies, cookies, chocolate, scattered all over the kitchen counters, fridge, cabinets, without every getting a single craving, but when these chocolate turtles are in the freezer I feel myself gravitating towards that part of the kitchen.

When these are in the house I need to eat at least 2 of these a day. And that’s saying a lot for me.

That’s how I know these chocolate turtles are truly epic.

Make these to impress your dinner guests or just to treat yourself to a healthier yet quick and delicious chocolate treat.

Some of my other favorite dessert recipes:

• Almond Chocolate Nut Clusters {GF}
• Honey Chocolate Cashew Truffles {GF, DF}
• Vegan Peach Coconut Almond Clusters {GF}
• Caramelized Vegan Plantain Recipe {GF}

How to makevegan caramel chocolate turtles