I’m not much of a baker – you may have noticed. There aren’t many sweet things on the blog and those that are tend to be ‘healthy’.
I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth and will always go savoury over sweet. That’s not to say I don’t order dessert when we’re out – but I’ll always go tart and citrus over sugary and chocolate.
If there’s chocolate in the house I can break a piece off and the bar of chocolate will sit in the fridge for a couple of months until the next time I remember it.
I like to tell Rich this makes me a better person, not a weird one ?
Given the option, Rich will always go the chocolate route and has no self control over any ‘treats’ in the house. Once the chocolate is open, it’s all or nothing. A whole bar of Lindt Salt chocolate can be practically inhaled in seconds.
Apparently it’s all my fault there are treats in the house and Rich isn’t losing any weight.
Love tahini? You’ll love this cumin roasted cauliflower & tahini soup!
Enter from stage left the salted tahini caramel bar aka the Twicker bar – so called because Rich decided if a Twix and a Snicker got it together, this would be their offspring.
I’m happy with the name because it’s a recipe I’ve tweaked {twicker/tweaked – geddit?!} into a healthier version of either of the originals – and I’d much prefer a few bars of this went AWOL over a whole packet of chocolate!
A base of oats, cashews, coconut and almond meal provides the perfect foundation upon which to lay a nice generous layer of gooey salted tahini caramel.
And just when you think life can’t get any better suddenly it does.
Roasted nuts, drizzled liberally with raw chocolate finish off the bar adding more crunch and sweetness – but not so much to make your teeth tingle ?
It’s a fairly lengthy list of ingredients, but it comes together really quickly.
Refined sugar free, dairy free, gluten free…..these bars may be a lot of things ‘free’ but certainly not taste free and they will last in the fridge as long as your will power lasts.
Which isn’t very long in this house!
Salted Tahini Caramel Bars
A guilt free healthy fudgey sweet treat with salted tahini caramel sandwiched between an oat & cashew base and a raw chocolate nutty top. A little goes a long way.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
Base
-
1
cup
gluten free oats -
1
cup
cashews -
1
cup
almond meal -
1
cup
desiccated coconut - pinch of salt
-
1/2
cup
rice malt syrup {Note 1} -
2
tbsp
coconut oil
Salted tahini caramel {Note 2}
-
4
tbsp
rice malt syrup -
8
tbsp
tahini -
4
tbsp
water -
1
tbsp
coconut oil - good pinch salt
-
1/3
cup
each roasted cashews & almonds {Note 3}
Chocolate
-
1/4
cup
coconut oil -
1/4
cup
cacao powder -
2
tbsp
rice malt syrup
Instructions
-
Line a 22cm square cake tin with baking paper.
-
Make the tahini caramel: place all ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat and stir to combine. Keep stirring until it thickens up and turns a darker colour. Set aside to cool.
-
In a food processor, process oats, cashews, almond meal, coconut and salt until ingredients have broken down and have the consistency of sand.
-
Add rice malt syrup and coconut oil and process until well combined and sticky.
-
Press into the tin and put into the freezer to set for 20 minutes.
-
Spread the cooled caramel over the cold base. Scatter with the nuts.
-
Whisk all the chocolate ingredients together until smooth and drizzle over the nuts.
-
Put the slice into the freezer for at least an hour to allow the caramel to firm up.
-
Slice into small bars and place in an airtight container in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
{Note 1} Use your sweetener of choice – honey, maple syrup, rice malt syrup
{Note 2} This is a double quantity of salted tahini caramel with a tablespoon of coconut oil to help to set it.
{Note 3} The original recipe is raw & vegan, but I prefer roasted nuts here.
Do you have any willpower when it comes to chocolate? Or do you inhale every.single.last.piece. in the house?
Or are you just a better person like me ?
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Thanks for reading!