Mini Salted Caramel Cupcake Sundaes
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
I use stand-alone baking cups (paper or silicone) to make these half-size cupcakes, which act as mini-bowls for making little sundaes! Note that the cupcakes aren't overly sweet, since the ice cream and caramel sauce really punch things up. If you want more of an independent cupcake, consider adding a touch more brown sugar or coconut sugar with the wet ingredients.
Author: Alisa Fleming
Serves: 10 mini sundaes
Ingredients
Dairy-Free Caramel
- ½ cup packed brown sugar or coconut sugar*
- ⅓ cups full-fat coconut milk (I used So Delicious Original Culinary Coconut Milk)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Caramel Cupcakes
- ⅔ cup all-purpose, white-wheat or gluten-free flour blend of choice**
- ⅜ teaspoon baking powder (reduce to ¼ teaspoon for higher altitude baking)***
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (reduce to ⅛ teaspoon for higher altitude baking)***
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons dairy-free caramel (from recipe above)
- ⅓ cup dairy-free milk beverage (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage)
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed, rice bran or melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
To Serve
- Dairy-free ice cream (I used So Delicious Cashew Milk Ice Creams)
- Coarse sea salt or sprinkles
Instructions
Dairy-Free Caramel
- Whisk the sugar, coconut milk, oil, and salt together in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat while whisking. Once it begins to bubble, let it simmer for about 2 minutes, no whisking required.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Let cool completely.
Caramel Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk the caramel, milk beverage, oil, vanilla and vinegar. Add to the dry ingredients, and whisk until relatively smooth.
- Divide the batter between 10 stand-alone cupcake cups (about ⅓ full each) and place them on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 17 to 19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely.
To Serve
- Top each half-sized cupcake with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream. Drizzle each with the leftover caramel and garnish with sea salt (for salted) or sprinkles.
Notes
*If using coconut sugar, I add about 4 drops alcohol-free stevia with the vanilla, just to brighten the flavor.
**Since the cakes are served right in their cups, you don't need to get overly hung up about using binders, such as xanthan gum, when making them gluten-free. I found that a simple blend of tapioca starch, rice flour and sorghum flour worked quite nicely.
***My high altitude recommendations were tested at about 5000 feet.
**Since the cakes are served right in their cups, you don't need to get overly hung up about using binders, such as xanthan gum, when making them gluten-free. I found that a simple blend of tapioca starch, rice flour and sorghum flour worked quite nicely.
***My high altitude recommendations were tested at about 5000 feet.
Recipe by Go Dairy Free at https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/mini-salted-caramel-cupcake-sundaes