Dairy-Free Iced Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk Recipe
Today we are making a Dairy-Free Iced Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk Recipe! Did you grow up drinking chocolate milk as a kid? I sure did! Chocolate Nesquik, which was a popular, sugary chocolate syrup that all the kids would drink after school by swirling spoonfuls of it into their after-school snack of milk with cookies (or was that just me?!) I mean, it’s not just Nesquik. Chocolate chip cookies? Hot chocolate? Vegan Magnums with a crunchy almond chocolate shell? Check, check and check.
Now, this recipe is inspired by a cup of chocolate milk. But it’s not just your regular old chocolate syrup in a cup! It’s a twist using simple ingredients to make a homemade salted caramel sauce (taken from my homemade Starbucks Macchiato recipe, with extra salt added for that “salted” caramel flavor. There’s no vegan butter in this caramel either, so no need for fancy gourmet vegan items)! It’s the perfect combination of rich chocolate with sweet and salty caramel! You can also batch make this caramel syrup and store it in an airtight container for all your future caramel needs (maybe a salted caramel ice cream in the works.. Does ice cream count of as a serving of food?!)
Why You’ll Love This Dairy-Free Iced Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk Recipe
Easy to Make: The best thing about this easy recipe is that it’s a breeze to make, contains no animal products and only has natural ingredients. And even though the caramel is homemade, it still doesn’t take too long! The caramel is just made of coconut milk, coconut sugar and salt on the stovetop, cooked for a few minutes until it thickens. The natural flavor of the coconut sugar gives a caramel-like taste, and when it caramelizes on the stovetop with the coconut milk, it gives a caramel sauce texture!
Then all of this is blended with the maple syrup, cocoa powder and oat milk until smooth. Pour some ice into a glass and add this milk on top, with some optional whipped cream. Then enjoy! It takes about 15 minutes and is the perfect “dessert drink,” without overdoing it on the sugar.
Substitutions
Oat Milk: Substitute with any other neutral non-dairy milk of choice. Almond milk, cashew milk, full-fat canned coconut milk, soy milk or other plant-based milks may work. Oat milk has a sweet and nutty flavor, which is enjoyable in this drink. The original Silk brand of oat milk is sweetened and works best. You can also use the unsweetened variety, but you may need to add more maple syrup to compensate.
Cocoa Powder: This is the bitter, dark chocolate-tasting powder that’s commonly used in chocolate baked goods. You can also substitute with cacao powder, which is cocoa powder’s raw, unprocessed counterpart. Cacao is processed at a lower temperature, has more antioxidant properties, and tastes almost the same.
Maple Syrup: Substitute with another sweetener of choice. If using maple syrup, then choose pure syrup that contains just one ingredient on the level.
Coconut Sugar: Substitute brown sugar.
Full-Fat Coconut Milk: Use full-fat, canned coconut milk. I recommend Thai Kitchen brand, which you can find in the Asian foods aisle of grocery stores. This makes the delicious dairy free caramel sauce taste decadent and have a thicker texture due to the healthy fats. On the other hand, carton milk or a lower fat vegan milk, such as light coconut milk, almond or cashew, is low in fats and will make a thin caramel sauce that doesn’t have that silky caramel texture.
To keep it coconut-free though, use a different non-dairy milk with a thick texture, such as Silk brand oat milk. Choose milk without added sugar, to keep it refined sugar-free.
Iced Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk Recipe Notes
- Gay Lea brand makes delicious coconut cream based whip. This is usually next to the regular aerosol cans of whipped cream in the grocery store.
- For a non-coconut-base, ReddiWhip makes an almond based whip instead. There may be other brands providing soy-based whip instead of a nut-based one as well, depending on where you live.
- Big sweet tooth? To make it even more chocolate-y, blend in vegan semisweet chocolate with the oat milk in the blender. Now you have a creamy chocolate drink with double the chocolate flavor!
- Add a little bit of the caramel as caramel swirls into the glass cup, before pouring in the drink, if desired for the aesthetic.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Milkshake
Starbucks Snickers Frappuccino
If you make this Iced Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!
Dairy-Free Iced Chocolate Salted Caramel Milk Recipe
Equipment
- High Speed Blender
Ingredients
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1⅓ cups oat milk original, sweetened variety
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup add more as desired
- ¼ cup ice cubes
For the Salted Caramel
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar
- ¼ cup canned full fat coconut milk
- pinch sea salt add as desired for the "salted" flavor
For the Topping
- vegan whipped cream optional
Instructions
- Add all syrup ingredients into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Constantly stir it for 2-3 minutes until it becomes a thicker syrup, then set aside.
- Fill a glass cup with the ice cubes.
- In a blender cup, add the oat milk.
- Then add in the caramel sauce, maple syrup and cocoa powder. Blend until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Pour this mixture into the cup over ice.
- Top with vegan whipped cream, if desired. Enjoy!
