Dreamy Caramel Slice
Indulging in Easter delights - because some moments are meant to be savoured, with zero guilt, and all the nourishment.
Ingredients
Base Cookie Layer
- 2 cups blanched almond meal
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 4 tbsp collagen (optional, but great!)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
- 1 egg
- Pinch of salt
- 3 Tbsp of your choice of sweetener, granulated or maple syrup!
Caramel Layer
- 3/4 cup nut butter of choice, preferably roasted macadamia nut butter (I use toasted macadamia nut butter, cashew also works great or a combination of the two).
- 2 tsps vanilla essence (or even better, scrapings from a fresh vanilla pod)
- A good pinch of salt (or two...!)
- 1/2 cup melted/softened ghee
- 3-4 Tbsp maple syrup, or an alternative sweetener works perfect too. The sweetness amount will depend on your audiences preference!
Chocolate Layer
- 1/4-1/2 cup chocolate of your choice (see below for preferred options especially for the Twix upgrade!)
- Or, make your own with 1/4 cup coconut oil or cacao butter, 1/4 cup cacao powder and 3 Tbsp maple syrup
Method
1. Blend all of the cookie base layer ingredients together in your blender until well combined.
2. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line a loaf tin with baking paper, and then press down the dough into the tin using the back of a spoon.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, or until slightly golden and firm enough in the centre, but absolutely not overcooked! Remove from the oven, and place in your fridge.
4. Add all of the caramel layer ingredients to your blender and blend on medium to high speed until fully
creamy and emulsified.
5. Once the base cookie layer has cooled completely, pour over the caramel layer and spread out evenly.
6. Place the tray back in the fridge or freezer until firm, and meanwhile prepare the melted chocolate.
7. If using pre-prepared chocolate, simply melt on a very low temperature in a small saucepan and once it has almost all melted, turn the heat off to melt the rest from the residue heat. If preparing your own, using a small saucepan, turn the heat to low and add the cacao butter or coconut oil (or a mix of the two), and do not allow it to burn. Turn off once it is nearly all melted but not completely so the residue heat can melt the rest. Once melted, remove from the heat and add the maple syrup. Stir to combine.
8. Add in the cacao powder and mix thoroughly until smooth and creamy! Pour over the chilled, firm caramel layer and you may need to use the back of a spoon to smooth it out. It is meant to be a nice thin layer, not too thick as the real MVP is the caramel! Place it all back in the fridge or freezer until it is ready to slice!
9. To slice perfectly, heat up the knife under hot water, dry and then slowly slice. This will prevent it cracking.
The Twix Upgrade
The alterations you need to cater for:
- Add one less tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee so the cookie base is slightly more crumbly (in a good way!). Do not over-blend the cookie mix.
- Freeze the cookie and caramel layers together, and use a warmed and dry knife (you can run under a hot tap and then dry) to slice into thin slices.
- Choose your chocolate wisely. Try opt for a milkier chocolate. We have used The Carob Kitchen chocolate, Loco Love Milk Chocolate Drops, Pana Organic Baking Mylk Chocolate.
- Allow the chocolate to cool down after gently melting.
- Drizzle or dip the slices into the chocolate. If you have a cooling rack, use that to drizzle the chocolate over the pieces, or simply dip the slices into the chocolate and coat evenly.
- Lay them on a sheet of baking paper and place back in the fridge or freezer.
- Consume from the fridge, not freezer, so the caramel isn't too firm!
