Caramel Apple Chocolate Mini Cakes

These mini cakes are free of dairy, gluten, egg and sugar!

These mini cakes are delicious and worth the effort to make!

Hello there all! Can you believe it is here…?! It is time to start sharing some of the early Fall preparations including recipes and decor! I am joining Kristen at Ella Claire as well as so many other friends (whom you can find at the bottom of this post) for the 2018 Tastes of the Season Holiday Recipe Series! And today, I am sharing how to make these decadent Caramel Apple Chocolate Mini Cakes…

I haven’t shared much about this (a little here and there), but our family struggles with some food sensitivities and last year I joined the crew with an handful of sensitivites ;(. In attempt to assist some of the issues we were encountering, I have really been on a whole food journey. It has taken months and so many failed recipes, but I am slowly learning how to substitute ingredients and make them work for our family.

This recipe does just that and I am proud to say that these sweet cakes are dairy, gluten, egg and even sugar free (I used dates and date sugar to make it work). So I hope if any of you are out there that may need recipes like this, it will be a blessing to enjoy, because I sure have missed my desserts this last half of the year!

Here is what you will need:

*Please note: This recipe makes 6 large sized muffin cakes and you will need large muffin tins. If you want to double the recipe I would still bake in batches of 1/2 a dozen, otherwise the flax seeds may not work as well. And even though this recipe is helpful to some, it is NOT nut friendly. It could easily be made Paleo if you take out the peanuts.

• 2/3 cup of cocoa powder (I use carob powder instead and it works fabulous)
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup date syrup
• 6 flax eggs (Eggs should work fine as well)
• 6 tsp. coconut oil
• 2 tsp white distilled vinegar (apple cider vinegar would work ok)
• 6 tsp. vanilla
• dash of cinnamon
• 3 small green apples
• Toppings: caramel (I made our own simple stovetop version with coconut milk and date sugar), chopped peanuts. Anything atop these cakes would be delicious: berries, cashew cream etc…

And here is how truly simple these cakes are! Directions below…

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa/carob powder, salt and baking soda.

Next, mix the wet ingredients: Flax eggs (or eggs), date syrup, coconut oil, vinegar and vanilla.

Mix the wet into the dry ingredients, but do not over mix as you do not want to deactivate the baking soda/vinegar reaction.

Grease your muffin tins with some coconut oil. Scoop evenly into 1/2 dozen large muffin tins and set in the oven for 20 min. Depending on your oven you may want to check these a few minutes before or leave them in a few minutes later. The great thing about baking with Flax seed is that you don’t need to worry about cooking through, but if you are using eggs you DO want to cook till a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cakes bake, begin thinly slicing your green apples.

Use a small saucepan to sauté  them over medium/low heat. They will begin to soften and become sweet. At this time you can sprinkle some cinnamon atop as well.

Once baked, bring your cakes out and let them cool on a rack. While they are cooling this would be a good time to make your caramel sauce or if you are using store bought, sit back and enjoy for a bit ;).

I flipped the cakes so that the bottom was the top. Then take your cooked apple slices and fan them around the top of the cake.

And have fun with the rest! I first drizzled our home made gooey coconut caramel and then finished everything off with salty peanuts… Mmmmm!

I am so happy with this recipe and intend to keep playing around with it. I think a Peanut Butter version may be in the works soon!

It seems everyone else enjoyed them too ;). Although, Wesley and Wyatt never actually got a taste, haha.

Here below you will see the rest of these amazing recipes, so please make sure to stop by and enjoy!

Thanks so much for visiting all!

Slab Apple Pie + Caramel Sauce by Ella Claire | Applesauce Sheet Cake + Cream Cheese Frosting by Love Grows Wild | Apple Spice Streusel Cake by Inspired by Charm | Baked Apple Slices by Julie Blanner | Cinnamon Maple Sourdough Apple Pie by Farmhouse on Boone

Brioche Apple Bread Pudding by Boxwood Avenue | Apple Cider Pound Cake by Anderson + Grant | Apple Crumble Muffins by A Burst of Beautiful | Banana Apple Cake Bread by Sweet C’s | Rustic Apple Strudel by So Much Better with Age

New England Apple Crisp by Nina Hendrick | Maple Apple Oatmeal by Finding Home Farms | Chocolate Apple Mini Cakes by Zevy Joy | Artisan Apple Bread by Nesting with Grace | Low Carb Apple Sandwich Snacks by My Sweet Savannah

Apple Peach Crisp by Summer Adams | Roasted Apple and Butternut Squash Soup by Town & Country Living