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Quirky Cooking

Gut-Healthy Chocolate Caramel Slice

QuirkyJo by QuirkyJo
February 5, 2021
in Cakes, Chocolate, Dairy Free, Desserts, Egg Free, Favourites, Featured, GAPS, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Gut Health, Holidays, Naturally Sweetened, Nut Free, Nuts, Paleo, Snacks, Thermomix, Wholefood
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Gut-Healthy Chocolate Caramel Slice, Quirky Cooking

I don’t eat many sweets these days, but sometimes I just really crave something special after dinner or for a weekend treat. Last Saturday while I was doing a cook up of sensible, meat-and-veg kinda meals for the freezer, I couldn’t stop day-dreaming about chocolate caramel slice. So I finally gave in and made one!

I cobbled together a few recipes from my blog and my upcoming cookbook, and kept it pretty simple. A nutty base with a few dates to stick them together, a simple date caramel filling, and my dairy free chocolate on top. It’s made with nutritious, gut-healthy ingredients – no nasties – and can be dairy free and even vegan if you prefer.

If you’re worried about eating too much, just cut it into little squares and freeze it so it’s not staring you in the face every time you open the fridge! 😀

You can watch me making it here (for the first time – very experimental ha ha!):

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Quirky Cooking (@jowhitton)

A few little notes on the recipe:

  • You can use any nuts or seeds for the base really – I think oily nuts like pecans, walnuts, macadamias and cashews will work best, but mix it up and use what you have. If the mixture is too dry, just add another date to bind it together.
  • Make it dairy free by using coconut oil instead of butter; or if you are a dairy lover and don’t love coconut, try sour cream in the filling – it’s amazing!!
  • I added gelatine (this brand) to give the filling a bit of firmness so it doesn’t ooze out when you bite it. But if you want ooziness, leave out the gelatine!
  • If you LOVE nuts, try adding a handle of activated (or roasted) pecans to the filling after blending – it gives it a creamy-crunchy delicious texture!
  • For the chocolate layer, you can use my Raw Dairy Free Chocolate, the Nutty Chocolate in our Life-Changing Food cookbook or app, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge recipe, or whatever chocolate recipe you like!

Tweak to your heart’s content… knowing me, I’ll probably make it different every time. Ha ha!

ENJOY!

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Gut-Healthy Chocolate Caramel Slice

Gut-Healthy Chocolate Caramel Slice, Quirky Cooking

This delicious chocolate caramel slice is practically guilt free! It’s made with whole-food, gut-friendly ingredients and sweetened naturally… plus it’s super simple and quick to make. Wooo!! 

Scale

Ingredients

Base

200g pecans

200g cashews

80g unsalted butter or coconut oil, plus extra for greasing dish

4 pitted medjool dates

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Filling

300g pitted medjool dates

150g ghee, unsalted butter or coconut oil

300g coconut cream or sour cream

1 tsp vanilla paste or 1/4 tsp vanilla powder

1 Tbsp gelatin powder

1 tsp fine sea salt

Chocolate* (or see Notes for other ideas)

200g cacao butter

50g cacao powder or 30g Dutch cocoa

50–60g honey or pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1/4 tsp vanilla powder

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

Thermomix Method

Base:

  1. Place all base ingredients into Tm bowl and mix 20 sec/speed 6, or until mixture comes together. Blend longer if you want a finer result. (If you use other nuts/seeds you may need to add another date, if mixture is too dry.)
  2. Press base mixture into a greased rectangular baking dish (approx 26x19cm). Place into freezer while making the filling.

Filling:

  1. Place all filling ingredients into bowl and cook 5 mins/80C/speed 3.
  2. Blend 30 sec/speed 6.
  3. Pour filling over base and place back into freezer to set. (Make sure dish is on a flat surface!)

Chocolate:

  1. Chop cacao butter roughly with a knife on a chopping board to approx. 1-2cm cubes then mill in Thermomix 20 sec/speed 8.
  2. Melt cacao butter 6 mins/50°/speed 2, scraping down sides of bowl with spatula towards end of cooking time to ensure all the cacao butter is melted.
  3. Add remaining chocolate ingredients and blend 30 sec/speed 6.
  4. Pour chocolate over cold filling, place back into freezer to set chocolate.

Conventional Method

Base:

  1. Mix all base ingredients on medium-high speed in a food processor or blender until mixture comes together – blend longer if you want a finer result. (If you use other nuts/seeds you may need to add another date, if mixture is too dry.)
  2. Press base mixture into a greased rectangular baking dish (approx 26x19cm). Place into freezer while making the filling.

Filling:

  1. Chop dates finely. Place all filling ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for 5 mins over medium heat, stirring, until ingredients have melted together.
  2. Using an immersion blender, blend in pan until smooth. Or pour mixture into a blender once slightly cooled and blend for 30 seconds at medium speed.
  3. Pour filling over base and place back into freezer to set. (Make sure dish is on a flat surface!)

Chocolate:

  1. Chop cacao butter roughly then melt in a saucepan over medium heat until completely melted. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until well combined and smooth.
  2. Pour chocolate over cold filling, place back into freezer to set chocolate.

To serve:

Slice into squares as soon as chocolate is just set (about 10-15 mins) as it will crack if you slice it when the chocolate is very firm. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

  • Swap the nuts for pepitas and sunflower seeds for a nut-free version.
  • Omit the gelatin, use coconut oil rather than butter/ghee, and use pure maple syrup to sweeten the chocolate for a vegan version.
  • If you prefer a softer chocolate use this recipe: Nutty Chocolate from Life-Changing Food cookbook/app.
  • If you don’t have cacao butter, use this recipe: Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge (with or without the chopped nuts).
  • Make a very simple, soft chocolate layer with coconut cream, honey and cacao powder using the chocolate in my Chocolate Gingerbread recipe, which can be found in “A Taster” ebook.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag @quirkycooking on Instagram — I can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Tags: cakeschocolatecoconut creamdairy freedatesdessertsEgg FreegapsGluten FreeGrain FreeNaturally Sweetenedpaleoquirky cookingSnacksThermomixwholefood
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1 tsp fresh lemon juice
60g Parmesan cheese or 2 tsp savoury yeast flakes (opt)

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Conventional Method
Chop garlic and nuts in a food processor until roughly chopped. 
Add remaining ingredients and process until desired texture is achieved.

Storage
Store in a glass jar in the fridge for approximately 1 week, or freeze for 3-4 months.

Variations
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I love it when my readers are as excited about my recipes as I am, and want to share them! I only ask that if you do share my recipes on your own blog or on social media, you only share an excerpt or link, not the entire recipe. Full and clear credit must be given to Quirky Cooking with a link back to the original content. If you’d like to share one of my photos, please contact me for permission. Thank you! Jo x

Recent posts

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  • Gut-Healthy Chocolate Caramel Slice February 5, 2021
  • Gluten Free Sourdough Bread (and Starter) June 19, 2020

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