Nut Butter Caramel Slice with Toasted Hazelnuts  

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

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

4. Press the hazelnuts firmly into the caramel, covering the entire surface.

5. Put the slice into the freezer for at least an hour to set. Slice into small segments & store in the freezer