Crunchy, gooey, salty, sweet, CHOCOLATEY. Salted date caramel filling, chocolate coating studded with crispy rice cereal, and irresistible all the way through!
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY NATURAL DELIGHTS.
So I kicked peanut butter out of the chocolate cup equation, whatchya gonna do about it? Not even the most loyal of peanut butter lovers will be able to hate me after tasting these caramel-filled, cereal-crunchy, two-bite Chocolate Caramel Crunch Cups. Trust me.
This is one of those mashups where the whole candy cup thing magically becomes so much greater than a sum of the parts. Crunch bar outside, caramel inside, Reese’s shape. Somewhere between snapping through the crispy rice and teeth sinking into gooey caramel and fingers getting messily involved, you will realize there is no way you are not going back for another. That’s why I made them mini – two is basically the same as one so when you have three it’s really less than two and you are a rockstar at pacing yourself. Makes sense, right?
You know what else I love about these cups? Besides the delectable sweet/salty flavor mingling through so much textural variety, of course. I love that they are homemade and therefore endearingly imperfect. Some are lopsided. Some have a bit of caramel squishing out one side. Some are more crunch than caramel, some more caramel than crunch. Each it’s own unique chocolate snowflake.
Okay but specifics.
There are just SIX ingredients:
- Medjool dates
- Water
- Vanilla
- Sea salt (don’t be shy here!)
- Dark chocolate chips
- Crispy rice cereal (not puffed rice, you want CRISP)
We are making instant caramel filling in mere minutes with zero cooking here, so we need the best of the best ingredients. That means real vanilla extract or even vanilla bean powder. That means a generous pinch of sea salt. And that means medjool dates from Natural Delights. I never get un-amazed by how sweet and impeccably squishy they are every. single. time.
Now if you are serious about your DARK chocolate, you could even make the cups with unsweetened chocolate so the medjool dates are the only sweetener. A sweet caramel center contrasting a bitter dark outer spells DELICIOUS to me. But maybe I’m weird, it is intense. Otherwise I recommend something around 70% cacao.
Blend the caramel, (and chill it while you) melt the chocolate, mix in the cereal, build your cups – muffin liner > chocolate > chill > caramel > more chocolate > more chilling – and DONE.
These little gems will last in the fridge for at least a week-ish (or so I’ve heard), but I sorta love them frozen too. There is really no way to mess this up except by not making them. Soon!
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Crunchy, gooey, salty, sweet, CHOCOLATEY. Salted date caramel filling, chocolate coating studded with crispy rice cereal, and irresistible all the way through!
Ingredients
- 8–10 pitted medjool dates (120g)
- 1/2 cup water (120g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (270g)
- 1 cup crispy rice cereal (30g)
Instructions
- Blend the dates, water, salt, and vanilla until smooth. If it gets stuck, stop, scrape down the sides, and try blending on a lower speed for longer.
- Set the caramel in the freezer while you make the chocolate coating.
- Melt the chocolate chips. Stir in the crispy rice cereal.
- Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners and drop a small spoonful of the chocolate cereal mixture into the bottom of each. Try to leave a well in the center.
- Freeze for 10 minutes.
- Place a dollop of caramel in the center of each cup.
- Top with more of the chocolate cereal mixture. Shake the pan so the chocolate goes down the sides completely surrounding the caramel.
- Freeze until set.
- Enjoy! Keep in the fridge or freezer.
Nutrition
- Calories: 100
- Sugar: 9
- Sodium: 42
- Fat: 6
- Protein: 1
Keywords: no bake, easy, candy, chocolate, dessert
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Thank you Natural Delights for sponsoring this post!
These might be the yummiest chocolate cups I’ve ever seen! I love PB cups but sometimes you want something different yet still delicious and your recipe is simply fabulous, I’m seriously drooling over your pictures. <3
★★★★★
Haha yes! I can’t think of a chocolate cup I’ve met and DIDN’T love, but sometimes non nut butter is a yummy alternative. Although date caramel + nut butter wouldn’t be bad either 🙂
Wow Nice Recipe for Chocolate caramel crunch cups
…I wish i could eat but due to Acid Reflux i cant
★★★★★
Aww bummmer. Which ingredient is the issue for you?
Perfectly imperfect! I also love how no two homemade chocolate cups look the same, like you said, they’re like snowflakes! Whenever we make chocolate cups, we either run out of chocolate (because we put too much on the bottom layer) or put too much filling in so the filling can be seen from the top, but who cares, because it’s SO GOOD! These seriously look insanely delicious and incredibly dangerous. There is so much to love about these: obviously the chocolate, but then you’ve got that gooey caramel AND the crunch factor AND salt. Who needs peanut butter cups when you can have these?!? Bahahahaha!!! They’ll last in the fridge for a week-ish…nothing chocolate-y lasts that long in my house 😉
Haha I almost always put too much filling too and it pokes out the top, those are the ones that “have” to be eaten before the photoshoot😉 Spring rolls, chocolate cups, either way I just can’t help but overstuff😆 I sorta wish I had added more salt on top even though they really are good as is, but gah I just can’t get enough of she salty + chocolate thing!
These scream total candy bar to me too, but so much better, they also scream heaven! They look absolutely magnificent. I love the chocolate, the crunch and the gooey caramel filling, they really have it all! One of my favorite candy bars was always kit kats because I loved the crunch with the chocolate so these have a similar crunch chocolate vibe that I love. I make homemade chocolate cups but have never added crunchy cereal and can just imagine how dang delicious these are! Love the first shot showing the gooey center, it’s magic! I like how you say they will last a week…haha, mine would be lucky to last 2 days, for real! I’m totally not kidding. These look insane Natalie!
Oooh they totally do have that kit kat texture vibe!! Just add another candy bar to that mashup list, and one of my personal faves too (highly underrated I think too tbh). Oh I made it 3 days and i was PROUD lol. It’s these stupid simple treats that get me every time…almost too easy to make another batch of too 😀 Thanks for checking them out Brandi!
Oh my these look absolutely amazing! So decadent and chocolatey! YUM!
Oh you know it😋😋 Thanks Natalie!
These. Look. Amazing.
Rice crispy desserts are my fave…I’m just classy like that🙃
….And here we go again! Second recipe I have tried from you, and oh my goodness! How yummy are these? I love the “caramel” filling. So simple yet so powerful! Can’t wait to make again.
★★★★★
YAY!! I am so happy you loved these, the simple ones are usually my favorite🤗😋 I hope the delicious streak continues!
Oh YUM! These guys are something else. They were EXACTLY what I needed today. That crispy rice chocolate shell HELLO. And I love love LOVE the salted date caramel. Perfect combo! I do have a mini dilemma now though – what to do with the remaining puffed rice cereal? 🤔 Do I: A. make your vanilla tahini rice crispy treats (I am a big tahini fan thanks to your tahini medjool date chunk cookies), or B. make your date-sweetened vegan rice crispy treats (tahini may be my new bestie but I think my face truly turns into the heart eyes emoji when I see a purely date sweetened recipe of yours), or C. make more of these delicious chocolate crunchy babies (I miss them already even though they are waiting for me in the fridge)? What do you reckon, Natalie? Your recipe recommendations are always spot on!
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YAY!! So happy you tried these little cups, they are so easy and yummy❤️ Oh man that is QUITE the dilemma…😬😆 My vote would be vanilla tahini crispy treats, those are my personal fave of the three! Or the date sweetened rice crispy treats but with the mini chips mixed in like the tahini ones…now that’d be a good plan too🤷🏻♀️
I just made these and sad to say the caramel is liquid, did not firm up, added more dates, what can I do!
Oh no! Sounds like the ratio may have been off, did you measure by weight or volume? You could add nut butter like almond or peanut butter to help it thicken up though!
Thank you, I did it to the letter but used the wrong type dates!
What about natures path rice puffs? Is this about hardness.
I don’t recommend a puffed cereal, toasted will stay crispier after mixing!