I have been writing recipes for over a decade now but in only the past seven years have I been crafting concoctions that serve as an alternative to sugar, wheat and dairy-filled desserts. Why? Because avoiding sugar, wheat and dairy enables my body to function really, really well! So if you are coeliac, gluten-intolerant and want to treat your family, I really recommend these bars which are sticky, delicious and will go down well with any age!
I call them my Raw Toffee Caramel Bars.
For the caramel toffee you will need:
300g medjool dates (make sure you take the stones out!)
3 tbsp peanut butter (unsalted, no added sugar. You can substitute other nut butters if you are not a fan of or cannot consume peanuts)
2 tbsp maple syrup or raw honey
5 drops caramel medicine flower
a pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
Process all the above ingredients in a food processor until they are all incorporated and you have a sticky mass.
Transfer onto a board covered with parchment paper
Roll out until you get a rectangle (use your hands to help shape it too) about 1/2 cm thick
Cut in half and put both halves in the freezer for 1 hour
In the meantime, break up 150g of your favourite raw chocolate. I have many favourites but I tend to use the 'Milk' chocolate Om Bar for this one. I also totally recommend Decadently Pure (the orange one would work so well for a chocolate orange twist!)
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (I put a pan with about 3 cms water and bring to the boil and melt the chocolate by placing it in a Pyrex bowl which sits on top of the saucepan. Make sure it is not floating in the water but sitting on top of the pan, firmly.)
I add 1 tbsp coconut oil and 1 tbsp nut butter to this mix plus 4 drops caramel medicine flower.
When this mixture is melted, take out the two halves of caramel toffee from the freezer.
You are going to start layering now! Spread chocolate over one layer of toffee and wait for a minute or so whilst it starts to set (the chocolate should start to react to the cold pretty much straight away and harden).
Then place the next layer of toffee on top and repeat the process by adding more chocolate. Pop this back in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Take out of the freezer, flip upside down and add another layer of chocolate to the toffee.
Set in the freezer then slice. You can add any left-over chocolate around the edges to make a chocolate bar (and let me just say right now... this is BETTER than any Mars Bar in the world!)
This recipe first appeared on Mama Baba Do you can learn to make treats like these with Victoria here.