Healthy Chewy Caramel Chocolate Candy Bars

Ever find yourself with a raging sweet tooth while purchasing healthy fruits and vegetables at the Boulder Farmer’s Market? Next time you’re looking to satisfy it, do so guilt-free at Daydream Dessert!

Daydream Dessert provides mostly Paleo, raw, vegan desserts, with a few exceptions. All of the desserts are free of gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, soy and refined-sugars.

These desserts are ideal for the health-minded, but if you think that healthy means bland, you couldn’t be more wrong. The products are sweetened with dates and raw honey, and the base is made with raw cacao powder and an array of nuts, fruits and other toppings.

Emma Lawman Nelson is the owner of Daydream Dessert, which she started up last spring, but it was last fall when she rebranded and narrowed her focus on desserts.

“Desserts are my favorite thing to eat,” Nelson said. “I also feel like these types of products are still not readily available in grocery stores or coffee shops, even in Boulder.”

Nelson found a love for raw, vegan desserts back in college. While studying nutrition, she helped her mom’s raw honey business as a recipe developer and food photographer. She always loved to bake, but once she began baking raw recipes with the honey, she realized how much better they tasted.

“I could have done something in the medical field with my degree, but western medicine wasn’t for me,” Nelson explained. “Starting my own company sounded a lot more fun!”

Nelson said she loves selling at the farmer’s market, because thousands of people come through to sample products and offer feedback, and she makes a decent profit. She has funded her business from the beginning, so she said the market is a great place to start as a small business.

Nelson has also started selling wholesale, and she has about five set products sold at WonderPress in Boulder, which sell out every week. At the market, she offers 10 to 15 different options.

“It’s really fun to get creative each week, and to use local, seasonal fruit to inspire new creations,” Nelson said. My mouth watered when she mentioned a raw ginger cream cake that will arrive in late summer, with fresh local peaches on top.

Favorite products so far this season seem to be her packaged chewy chocolate caramel bars, and her strawberry shortcakes. Her personal favorite item is the snickers-like bar, which is the same as the chocolate caramel bar, but with roasted peanuts inside.

Nelson now offers boxes at the market, so you can bring your dessert home for later, or purchase a party pack. She also hopes to get a Kickstarter campaign going soon, and she’ll offer rewards for people who support it. Lots of growth is in store for Daydream Dessert in the future, but for now, we’re lucky to indulge in these guilt-free desserts at the market each week!

“What I offer is pretty unique and unexpected, because I do offer things like snicker bars, which can be enjoyed by the health-minded but also those who are just looking for something delicious,” Nelson explained.

Stop by her booth at the next Boulder Farmer’s Market. You won’t be disappointed! You can view photos of her desserts on her Instagram page and email her at daydreamdessertco@gmail.com.

Alicia Howe