Creamy, gooey, salted, caramel frosting is perfect for icing cookies or cupcakes. Make this frosting with coconut butter (not oil), Medjool dates, and sea salt.
This salted caramel frosting is the bomb on my banana cookies! It would also be great on any vanilla, pumpkin, or spice flavored cookie or cupcake.
Back in the day before I was vegan, I used to make a rich caramel-flavored browned butter frosting by heating the butter in a pan over heat until it was nicely browned. This lent a real caramel-like flavor to my frosting.
When I started exploring vegan baking I had to come up with substitutions for dairy. No problem, I thought, I’ll just brown the vegan buttery stick. That should work, right? Nope! It didn’t quite brown up – and so I continued to heat and stir and cook until it was burned. Not exactly what I was looking for.
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Enter the Medjool date!! Medjool dates are often used in plant-based cooking as a processed sugar replacement in recipes such as my Raspberry Mint Vinaigrette or my Healthy Homemade BBQ Sauce.
In this salted caramel frosting recipe, we still use powdered sugar for the traditional flavor and texture of frosting; but also use Medjool dates because of their naturally caramel-like flavor. Read more about cooking with the Medjool date here.
Tips and Suggestions for Making Crazy Good Salted Caramel Frosting:
- First things first – start soaking those Medjool dates! Your dates will need at least 30 minutes to completely soak in hot water. They should be mushy and falling apart when finished.
- Put the pitted, soaked dates along with your plant milk and vanilla in a high-speed blender or food processor. You’ll know it is finished when most of the Medjool dates have been blended and incorporated. A few tiny dark flecks of date might remain. This is normal and expected.
- Coconut butter is not the same this as coconut oil. If you use coconut oil, your frosting will be oily and may not set up as well. If you are having a hard time finding coconut butter, (affiliate link) you can order this one on Amazon.
- The recipe calls for two cups of organic powdered sugar. Add in 1/2 cup at a time and beat well with a hand mixer.
- There is already salt in the recipe ingredients. However, a little sprinkling of sea salt on top adds just the right salted flavor. I also like to top with pecans or other nuts; especially if the cookie or cupcake I am icing has nuts as one of the ingredients.
- This frosting will take a little longer to “harden” or develop that slight crust on top. It will still taste amazing though if you are too impatient to wait!
Items I found helpful making this recipe:
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Salted Caramel Frosting
Ingredients
- 8 Medjool dates pitted and soaked
- 1/3 cup plant milk
- 1/2 cup coconut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pit and soak the Medjool dates for about 30 minutes or until soft. Drain.
- Put soaked and drained dates into a food processor along with plant milk and vanilla. Process until dates are smooth.
- Put date mixture into a large bowl. Add in coconut butter and sea salt. Use a hand mixer and mix until smooth.
- Add in powdered sugar 1/2 at a time. Beat until thoroughly mixed and frosting is light and fluffy.
Nutrition
If you happen to only have roasted cashews on hand, then you will need to soak for 2-3 hours to get the rich creaminess that this jalapeño ranch dressing deserves. Make sure to use unsalted nuts or your dressing will be way too salty. If salted nuts are all you have, then rinse well. 
I do use the canned garbanzo beans, but I do know that a lot of people like to make their own. Feel free and then measure out about 2 cups when you are putting together this recipe.
Do drain them and roast at 400°. They won’t properly dry out and roast up nicely if they are too wet when you put them in the oven. I also recommend opening the oven halfway through and turning and moving the roasting chickpeas around some so that they won’t burn.
Enjoy as a snack or as a pizza or salad topping!
Add to a marinade of red wine vinegar, seasonings, and the special ingredient: nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is used to give a cheesy savory flavor to many plant-based recipes and really is a staple of the vegan kitchen. This is not the same as brewer’s yeast or baker’s yeast. It’s sometimes hard to find in the grocery store but can sometimes be found near the “healthy” or “gluten-free” or “natural” foods. I just order mine online. I should probably have it on auto-ship, I use it so much lol.
Put all ingredients, including the soaked and drained cashews and dates into a high speed blender or food processor and blend/process on high for about 3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Important note: Do make sure that all of your dates have actually been de-seeded! (What a horrible noise…and a recipe I just couldn’t recover…sad!)
When I use fresh, I like to use “living herbs”. They make me feel (almost) as if I grew them myself. Yes, I’ve tried…and failed.
Use Medjool dates. Remove the seeds and soak in hot water for about 20-30 minutes (depending on how fresh they are.) Put in a food processor and pulse until you have a paste. You might need to scrape the sides and re-direct the dates to the blade.
Toss it all together and what you do get?
After the five minutes is up, do a quick release. I use a measuring cup to protect myself from the steam.
