Recipe developed by Libby Bird
Ingredients
For the base
- ½ cup ground almonds
- ¼ cup desiccated coconut
- 1 Tbsp. peanut (or other nut) butter
- ½ Tbsp. cacao butter or coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup dried pitted dates
- 1 tsp cacao powder
Topping
- 1 cup dried pitted dates
- 1 Tbsp. peanut butter (or other nut)
- 2 Tbsp. ground almonds
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1 -2 Tbsps. rice milk (or milk of choice)
- ¾ cup whole hazelnuts
- Optional: a couple of teaspoons of melted dark chocolate for garnish
Method
- Blitz all the base ingredients in a food processor until it coalesces together enough to stick together in a lovely thick ‘dough’. Use clean hands or a spatula to press it flat & evenly into a small, paper-lined or silicon loaf tin (mine is 22 x 10 cms). Even if you think it looks a bit crumbly in the food processor, it should come together nicely when you press it into the tin.
- For the topping, start by soaking the dates for 10 minutes in warm water. While they’re taking a bath, toast the hazelnuts – put a clean dry skillet over a medium heat, add the hazelnuts – skins & all – and toast until they turn fragrant and golden. A little blackening is okay, so is the occasional loss of skins!
- Drain the dates & put the remaining topping ingredients into the food processor (not the hazelnuts!) and blend until a gooey thick caramel is formed. Start with the smaller measure of rice milk, but add a splash more if you feel it needs more moisture. Use a spatula to spread it evenly over the base.
- Press the hazelnuts firmly into the caramel, covering the entire surface.
- Put the slice into the freezer for at least an hour to set. Slice into small segments & store in the freezer
