Homemade Dairy-Free Macadamia Nut Caramel
This recipe was born of a sugar craving….
The only thing sweet that I had in the house was coconut sugar….and I had been contemplating eating it right out of the can with a spoon. I mustered up some self-control and decided that I had to mix it with something and save myself some dignity. I wanted caramel. Bad! The macadamias in the fridge came to mind so into the Vitamix they went and macadamia nut caramel was born. Oh sweet victory!
Homemade Dairy-Free Macadamia Nut Caramel
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw macadamia nuts
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1-2 Tbsp water
Instructions
- In a high-powered blender, blend until creamy.
- Serve with apple slices, or shamelessly eat with a spoon while standing in the kitchen (not that I did that!).
Bonus: this caramel is actually pretty good for you! Macadamia nuts contain the lowest percentage of omega-6 fats (which we need, but already get WAY too much of in our modern diets). According to Mark Sisson:
“[Omega-6] is easily oxidized, highly unstable for cooking, usually rancid on the shelf, and, thanks to government farm subsidies and public hysteria over animal fat, it’s in absolutely everything nowadays”
Here is a comparison:
Omega-6 Content Various Nuts (1/4 cup)
- Walnuts – 9.5 g
- Almonds – 4.36 g
- Cashews – 2.6 g
- Macadamias – 0.5 g
- Brazil nuts – 7.2 g
- Hazelnuts – 2.7 g
- Pistachio – 4.1 g
- Pine nuts – 11.6 g
- Pecans – 5.8 g
So, I feel pretty good about eating macadamia nuts when compared to other nuts. Now this does not mean that you can eat huge amounts of nuts, they still pack a pretty heavy caloric punch and you can easily meet your recommended daily caloric intake prematurely in the day if you snack on nuts continuously!
Now for the coconut sugar, thats healthy too! It’s lower on the glycemic index scale (doesn’t spike the old blood sugar as fast as other sweeteners) and it also contains some vitamins and minerals.
Here comes another comparison:
Glycemic index of sweeteners: (note that I do NOT advocate eating agave because it is also low on the scale….but that’s a whole blog post in itself!)
- Stevia 0
- Xylitol 7
- Agave 15-30
- Brown Rice Syrup 25
- Coconut Sugar/Nectar 30
- Raw Honey 35-58
- Sucanat 43
- Organic Sugar 47
- Maple Syrup 54
- Blackstrap Molasses 54
- Evaporated Cane Juice 55
- Raw Sugar (Turbinado) 65
- Corn Syrup 75
- White Sugar 80
- High Fructose Corn Syrup 87
- Glucose 100
- (source)
Sea salt contains tons of natural minerals if you buy the right kind. Do not use table salt! It is highly processed and stripped of its natural mineral content. We use this brand. If you are curious, I found this awesome breakdown of the nutritional content of natural sea salt. Put it in everything you eat, please!!!
I think this pretty much justifies my indulgence. I hope you enjoy it too!
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Hi, my name is Kate.
I love food. Real food. We eat all of the things that nursing school taught me were bad for you: butter, eggs, bacon, and raw milk.
I am a Nurse, a Mom, and a Real Food loving blogger. Just trying to save the world.