Rollo Date Caramels
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Rollo Date Caramels
~ raw, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free ~
These raw candies turned out better than what I could have ever imagined. They taste exactly just like Hersey’s Rolo candies. Even though they have been around for 75 years, a few of you may not be familiar with them. They come wrapped individually in gold foil, have a chewy caramel center, and are covered in a milk chocolate outer layer.
Now, through this recipe, you can experience a healthier version of Rollo’s, made in the comfort of your own kitchen.
I know what your thinking… why don’t you just dip a date in raw chocolate and call it good? Or perhaps, your thoughts are getting all fancy on me and thinking… how about pouring the melted chocolates in candy molds, hollowing them out and putting date paste in the center?…
Truthfully, those would work but here’s the difference…by dehydrating the date paste and rolling it into coils… it creates a very chewy center for the rolls, that matches the commercially made candies.
Below I provided a link on making your own raw hardening chocolate for these candies… if that is out of your comfort zone, or you don’t have access to such ingredients… or perhaps you are new to raw, and you are taking baby steps through this learning curve… you can use melted commercially made chocolate chips. Do the best you with what you have.
The Hersey’s company advertised for many years with the slogan of… “Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rollo?” So, my question for you is… “Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Raw Rollo Date Caramel?” All I can say is that Bob now knows just how much I love him. hehe
Ingredients:
Yields 24 candies
Date caramels:
Chocolate coating:
Preparation:
Date caramels:
- Spread the date paste edge to edge on the non-stick sheet that comes with the dehydrator. Mine spread into a 12 x 12” square.
- Make sure that you spread it evenly, so it dries evenly.
- Dehydrator at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour, then reduce to 115 (F) degrees and continue to dry for up to 24 hours.
- Part way through the drying process, flip the sheet over onto the mesh sheet and peel off the non-stick sheet. This will help speed up the dry time.
- The date paste will never dry to a crispy texture, which is good in this case, we want it flexible.
- You know it is done when it isn’t tacky to touch.
- Cut the date leather cut into 1” strips, then cut in half creating a total of 24 strips.
- Tightly roll each strip into coils. Repeat until all are done.
Chocolate coating and assembly:
- Create the chocolate coating. It will take roughly 1 cup of melted chocolate to coat the candies.
- Drop each caramel into the chocolate one at a time. With a fork, turn the caramel over and over until it is thoroughly covered.
- Lift out with the fork and tap the handle of the fork on the side of the bowl, so the excess chocolate falls back into the bowl.
- Swipe the base of the fork on the edge of the bowl to clean the dripping chocolate from it.
- With a toothpick, slide the chocolate candy onto parchment paper to dry.
- For a little decoration, I took the tip of the toothpick and swirled it on top of the chocolate candy while still wet.
- Store the candies in an airtight container for as long as they last, which typically isn’t long. :)
Culinary Explanations:
- Why do I start the dehydrator at 145 degrees (F)? Click (here) to learn the reason behind this.
- When working with fresh ingredients, it is important to taste test as you build a recipe. Learn why (here).
- Don’t own a dehydrator? Learn how to use your oven (here). I do however truly believe that it is a worthwhile investment. Click (here) to learn what I use.
© AmieSue.com
Tags: Gluten Free, Nut Free, Vegan
Are you serious??? Holy cow!!! I’m speechless!!! I’ll just have to get back to you on this. Unbelievable!!!
lol Maureen… your response made my day. :) Fingers crossed that you love them! Keep me posted for sure. hugs, amie sue
Wow! Rollos were my favorite candy as a child, as I’m a mega-fan of caramel! What a thrill to see this ingenious recipe! While I’ve missed having the occasional Rollo all these many years, I haven’t missed their junk ingredients, GMOs, & health-destroying effects. But now I can enjoy them again without any worries. I absolutely can’t wait to try them! Thanks so much for this, Amie-Sue!:D
Oh, I am so tickled that I was able to increase the nutrition status of your childhood favorite candy. :) I hope you really enjoy this Andrea. Please be sure to keep me posted. Blessings, amie sue
GENIUS!!! I can’t wait to try this. It would make excellent Holiday gifts!
Absolutely! It’s time to start thinking about those things already. hehe I hope you truly enjoy them. Please keep me posted. Blessings and happiness, amie sue
I had to write and say I think you are amazing. I love getting your emails and really can’t believe all the gorgeous recipes you create! This one is over the top! Thank you for making it more fun to be raw vegan!
Genius! Your imagination is endless. Thank you for your inspiration into the raw food world of desserts. You are the reason I started a home business selling raw desserts. I have a small clientele in my home town and its just perfect for this empty nester. Many thanks for your endless raw recipes.
Michelle
Your message this morning really blessed me Michelle. Thank you for all your kindness. I am honored and humbled. hugs! amie sue
Ahhhhhh Amie Sue, I just started a healthy detox this morning, I open my email, and see this !!! You are totally in trouble (not) lol . But I have decided when I am done, this will be my reward. Thank you for making wonderful , tempting creations for us all. These look so beautiful !!!! Hugs, Lyn :]
Oh the timing of things my friend! Sorry to add temptation to your first day of detox but I wish you great success, and a cleansed body in the end! hugs, amie sue
These look so so so good and I bet even my rolo-loving Dad would be a fan! I love that they only have a few ingredients too. I can’t wait to make them!
I am pretty confident that he will like if not love them Christine :) Please keep me posted. Blessings and joy, amie sue
You are awesome I plan to make this date caramel my mouth is watery yummy thx.
Let me know how it goes Mari. I hope you love them! amie sue :)
Keep me posted Mari! I hope you enjoy them. amie sue
Did my comment go through?? I got a funny reply after I his post comment :(
Yep, it came through just fine :)
I discovered a great way to make date paste without adding water. I put my dates through my masticating juicer with the “blank cone” not the juicer screen. It comes out FANTASTIC, smooth, chewy, creamy. Perfect for turtles, snickers, or rolos! I will try and dehydrate my date paste also.
That’s great Cassie. A food processor,even a high-powdered blender can work great… it just all depends on the dates that you are using. If they are moist and plump, no water is usally needed. But by all means, if a person owns a Champion juicer or similar, they work great too! I have one but don’t use it a whole lot due to all the cleaning…. I create enough dishes to wash in a day. lol I hope you enjoy making these. Keep me posted. :) amie sue
You are such an inspiration, thank-you for all you do!! I am so on these.
Thank you Suzie, I appreciate your kind words. Enjoy and keep me posted how it goes. I always love to hear from those who visit and try out the recipes. It encourages me. :) Blessings and joy, amie sue
ami-sue, I just sent an e-mail off to you, but wanted to ask you one thing. Do you think, you could create a salted carmel kale chip. If anyone can, you can. I love, love salted carmel anything. What got me to thinking about this, is I just made your cheese kale chips last night. Thank-you, again, for creating such wonderful recipes, but also sharing them .
Why I think anything is possible and a challenge that I would love to take on. :) I too love salted foods, specially sweet treats. I will see what I can come up. Please feel free to check in on me in case the days slip by. hehe Blessings! amie sue
Thank-you so much, I don’t want to be a pest, but I will poke my head in from time to time. Grin and wink!!!
Never a pest, never a pest :)
Hi Amie Sue,
These are absolutely fantastic! Spot on! Even my kids love these, and they usually don’t like treats covered in dark chocolate.
I only have one suggestion to anyone thinking about making these; double the batch! 😀 They will mysteriously disappear from the jar in no time.
lol Veronica… the disappearing Rollo Date Caramels… darn. hehe But I agree, they do go quickly. Dark chocolate isn’t for everyone and for me, it took a while for that flavor to grow on me. We are so accustomed to sweeter foods these days. Now, it’s my preference. :) Thanks so much for sharing and give the kids a squeeze for me. :) Blessings, amie sue
Hi Amie Sue – these are my all-time favorites. However, when I make the date roll ups I am wondering how you get yours so smooth and precise looking. And also width and texture. Is it just a matter of blending more? And, they really stick to my silicone sheets when i go to flip them. Should I be using teflex? Thank you!
Good morning Shasta,
These are family/friend favorites on this end as well. The date paste should be blended until it turns a pale brown/tan color. While it’s blending in the food processor you can see the color change. The consistency of the date paste almost gets fluffy…lighter in texture. On the date paste recipe post, scroll to the bottom to see the process-photos… you can see the color and texture change. So it might be that you aren’t processing it enough.
I use an off-set spatula (like these- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WSXCT5J/?tag=nouraw-20) and spread it evenly over the non-stick teflex sheets. I haven’t made it on silicone sheets so I can’t really comment on that. If they are sticking really bad, they might not be done enough to peel it off to flip so make sure it has dehydrated long enough. The time it takes to dry will depend on how thick or thin you spread the batter.
I hope this helps! Keep me posted. blessings, amie sue