Disclosure:
This post is brought to you in partnership with our friends at Bob’s Red Mill. We used their superfine almond flour, coconut flour and xanthan gum to make these show stopping gluten free chocolate caramel slice bars! We love using Bob’s Red Mill products to craft the most delicious baked goods. Thank you for supporting the brands that help to bring fresh new content to A Full Living!
About This Keto Caramel Slice:
This dessert is just the epitome of deliciousness. Fool all of your sugar and gluten loving friends with this dessert, they won't be able to detect a thing! The best part about these bars is that the shortbread base only spends about 15 minutes in the oven. The rest of the layers are made on the stovetop, or in the microwave and then they just need a little bit of time to set.
Make sure to read through the whole post to see all of the process photos and read about the tips and tricks that bring these yummy bars come together. If you have questions, make sure to read the post first where we take time to answer them.
This caramel slice recipe is also available as a Google Web Story.
Ingredients:
- Bob's Red Mill Almond flour & coconut flour - Our preferred gluten free and low carb flour. Bob’s Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour is just that, super finely ground, so you’re not going to get a bunch of grainy bits. We also use a bit of Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour for the perfect balance in texture. Make sure you don’t substitute the almond flour for coconut flour however. Coconut flour is very drying, and is not a 1:1 substitute for almond flour.
- Sweeteners - We use granular erythritol for the shortbread crust, and you could substitute this 1:1 for regular granular sugar. For the caramel, we'd recommend allulose. We don't recommend using erythritol, since it won't caramelize quite the same way that regular sugar would. For many sauces, syrups, dressings and for things like caramel, we always use allulose.
- Butter - There's a whole lot of butter in this recipe, just both salted and unsalted. 😉 We like to use salted butter for extra depth of flavor in the caramel layer. For the shortbread crust, we use melted and cooled unsalted butter. We also use a little unsalted butter to melt alongside our chocolate to create an easy spreadable chocolate top.
- Heavy whipping cream - To make the caramel layer. In many traditional recipes, sweetened condensed milk is used, but we don't need to worry about all of that with this recipe.
- Sugar free chocolate chips - Use your favorite sugar free chocolate chips here. Our favorite is semi-sweet, with milk chocolate being a close second.
- Vanilla extract & kosher salt - The flavor enhancers. Vanilla is added at the end of making the caramel, and kosher salt is added to the shortbread crust, and the caramel if you like!
How To Make Easy Gluten Free & Keto Caramel Slices:
Prep Work
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan, then add parchment baking paper.
- To make sure your bars pop right out of the pan, grease two layers of parchment. Each piece of parchment should cover two edges, meaning there should be no edges exposed straight to the pan.
- If you have them available, metal binder clips work really well to help keep parchment paper from attaching it self to any of the caramel slice layers.
Step 1: Make the Shortbread Crust
In a mixing bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, xanthan gum, and kosher salt.
Pour in the melted and cooled butter and combine until a sandy like texture is achieved and you can press the dough into small balls. We like to use our hands to work the dough.
Press the dough into a thin, even layer on the bottom of your pan. Using the bottom of a glass cup or measuring cup to smooth it into an even layer. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool completely before moving on to the caramel layer.
Step 2: Make the Caramel Filling
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine heavy cream, butter and allulose. Stir to combine, then simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes until it's reduced by half. The mixture will bubble and bubble and begin to brown. The change is subtle and takes time. Don't leave the caramel alone!
Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla extract. Pour immediately onto the cooled shortbread layer and allow to cool completely before moving on to the final chocolate layer.
Step 3: Make the Chocolate Topping
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine chocolate chips and butter, and microwave at 50% power, checking and stirring with a rubber spatula every 15 seconds until completely melted and smooth. This should take about 1 minute in total.
Smooth over top of the cooled caramel layer, and allow chocolate to cool and harden. This should take about 30 minutes - 1 hour in the fridge.
Step 4: Cut & Garnish
Using a knife that has been warmed up in warm water, cut the bars into 12-20 equal pieces depending on your preference.
Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Enjoy!
Tips For The Gluten Free Millionaires Shortbread:
- Flakey sea salt is optional, and it isn't a traditional ingredient, it's something we add to many of our baked goods for amazing results! If you haven't tried any salted desserts before, just let us tell you, this makes it absolutely perfect. 😍 The salt adds some really nice texture, adds some flavor and kind of mellows out that intense sweetness & richness that these bars possess.
- Heating your knife in a glass of warm water, then drying it with a towel between cuts will help give you the cleanest cuts.
- Allow bars to sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes - 1 hour before serving after being refrigerated so the chocolate and caramel can soften a bit.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Your heat was probably too high, or you cooked it a little too long. Keep the heat on medium and let it bubble, the change you will notice in the color is subtle, takes a while (be patient!) and when it starts to happen, it happens fast.
Stir frequently (yet gently) to avoid burnt bits, and make sure to get caramel out of your pot after the vanilla extract is whisked in, or it will continue to cook and may burn.
We haven't tested substituting this with Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour, so we can't answer this with certainty.
If you'd like to try it yourself, let us know how it goes! If you do try it, we'd suggest starting out with roughly 2 cups gluten free plain flour, then adding more slowly as needed.
The crust texture needs to be sandy-like, that comes together when pressed together gently. This will give us that nice crumbly, biscuit base.
If you like salted caramel (we definitely do!!) you can easily up the salt level a tad. Simply add about 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt to the batch of caramel alongside the cream, sweetener and butter.
Really love salted caramel? Try topping the bars with our keto salted caramel sauce and/or adding a little sprinkle of salt on top of the caramel before you add the chocolate layer.
We haven't had the chance to try it ourselves, and if we get the chance, we'll make sure to update this post.
Our best guesses would be replace all butter with vegan butter, and replace the heavy cream with coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk.
More Gluten Free & Keto Recipes To Try:
All recipes were made in partnership with Bob's Red Mill!
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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere
Gluten Free Caramel Slice – Keto Millionaires Shortbread
Ingredients
For the shortbread crust:
- 224 grams Bob's Red Mill super fine almond flour (2 cups)
- 28 grams Bob's Red Mill coconut flour (1/4 cup)
- 48 grams granular erythritol (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Bob's Red Mill xanthan gum
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the caramel layer:
- 8 ounces heavy whipping cream (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick of butter)
- 1 cup allulose (192 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the chocolate layer:
- 6 ounces sugar free chocolate chips (we used semi-sweet)
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
For the shortbread crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 inch or 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper.In a mixing bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, xanthan gum, and kosher salt. Whisk to combine. Pour in the melted and cooled butter and combine until a sandy like texture is achieved and you can press the dough into small balls.
- Press the dough into a thin, even layer on the bottom of your pan. Using the bottom of a glass cup or measuring cup to smooth it. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool completely before moving on to the caramel layer.
For the caramel layer:
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine heavy cream, butter and allulose. Stir to combine, then simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes until it's reduced by half. The mixture will bubble and bubble and begin to brown. The change is subtle and takes time. Don't leave the caramel alone!
- Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla extract. Pour onto the cooled shortbread layer and allow to cool completely before moving on to the final chocolate layer.
For the chocolate layer:
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine chocolate chips and butter, and microwave at 50% power, checking and stirring with a rubber spatula every 15 seconds until completely melted and smooth, this should take about 1 minute.Smooth over top of the cooled caramel layer, and allow chocolate to cool and harden. This should take about 30 minutes - 1 hour in the fridge.
- Cut into 16-20 pieces, and garnish with flakey sea salt if desired. Serve, and enjoy!
- These will keep for 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Allow bars to sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes - 1 hour before serving after being refrigerated so the chocolate and caramel can soften a bit.
Video
Notes
- Sea salt is optional, but recommended for amazing flavor and texture!
- Allulose is necessary to make sugar free caramel, erythritol won't caramelize the same way as sugar or allulose does.
- Use a knife that has been warmed up in a glass of hot water between cuts to keep them clean and smooth.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
Darcy says
Can you use powdered allulose vs granular allulose?
Briana says
That should work!