oh Nik.... got a recipe project for you!

You know that caramel dip you can buy for apples?  That has 16 grams of sugar per serving (which I think it two tablespoons?

You know what we need?  We need a protein caramel dip for apples!  What if we used a couple tablespoons of almond butter and some protein powder (does anyone make caramel protein powder?  I think someone makes a butterscotch one but I can't remember who), and added a bit of sugar free caramel syrup and mixed it all up?  What would that do?

Why not just melt sugar-free caramels in fat-free evaporated milk (or heavy cream would be better but it's fatty) over a double-boil? If you use a protein like Any Whey you can add that directly to the finished product (altho it might be a bit grainy).

See why I'm asking you?  I had that protein frosting stuff in mind - you know what I'm talking about?  That you make with peanut butter?  So I was thinking of doing it like that.  But your way makes more sense.  And I would use cream - I have whole raw milk.  I have plenty of cream.  I don't worry about fats in dairy products.

Well I get my ideas about indulgence from the master: Paula Deen. She makes a mint pie that starts with melting peppermint candies in heavy cream. I don't remember much about the recipe after that cuz I was sort of stuck on that bit of dreaminess. But if it can work with that, why not caramels?

I'd say use about 10 caramels to about 1/3 c. cream and see how that does. But do it over a double boil!

Here are a few recipes.  You could add protein powder to any of them and tweak the recipes to make them more sugar free if you want.  If you look on Pinterest there are a ton of recipes.  Many of the Raw & Vegan bloggers have versions of Caramel sauces.

For the first one I would try using unsweetened milk but I'm not sure if it'll work.

http://5perfectimperfections.blogspot.ca/2011/09/caramel-in- can.html

Here is another version.

http://www.thetastyalternative.com/2012/07/coconut-vanilla-b ean-ice-cream-with.html

"Caramel" Sauce 

Ingredients: -2.5 ounces of seeded Medjool dates (around 6 or 7) soaked for at least 3 hours (I soak mine for 6)

-2 tablespoons coconut oil (in liquid form)

-2 tablespoons honey (vegans use grade B maple syrup) 

-1/4 teaspoon vanilla

-1/8 teaspoon salt

-2 tablespoons cashew butter (optional, but worth it)  

And another http://vkreesphotography.com/apple-with-salty-medjool-caramel/

Medjool Caramel Ingredients

• 10 unpitted medjool dates (roughly 150g with the pits)
• Salt to taste, a pinch or two
• At least 6 Tbs non-dairy milk. You may need more to get desired consistency. Also, I used almond milk.
• 7 Tbs water + 3 cups for soaking
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract

Kelly, if you haven't checked it out yet, there is a fabulous protein recipe blog put out by a gal in the UK!

http://www.proteinpow.com/p/recipes-by-category.html

I wonder how the caramel calcium chewy bites would melt .

Umm...not thinking that would turn out well. There is calcium in those after all. And calcium is rather chalky so when it all separates...