Caramel & Nougat Chocolate Bars
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, no refined sugar
Serves: 8 bars
Prep time: 30 minutes (+ soaking/setting times)
These Caramel & Nougat Chocolate Bars are perfect for Easter and resemble an original Mars Bar. These bars are completely vegan and free from refined sugar, preservatives and additives, and instead only sweetened with dates and rice malt syrup, making these bars the ultimate clean and tasty treat. They start with a nougat base, followed by salted caramel middle, and topped off with a coating of dark chocolate.
What nutrients are we talking about?
Dates are naturally sweet which makes them a wonderful replacement for sugar and caramel’s, not to mention they are also a great source of antioxidants, dietary fibre, selenium, potassium, copper and magnesium. Cashews are also fantastic to use as a base in desserts as they contain magnesium, which is an excellent mineral at reducing blood pressure. It is also worth mentioning that cashews contain considerable amounts of copper, iron, zinc, phosphorus and manganese, and are a great source of healthy fats.
Recipe by Maddie Bingham
Insta: maddie_bingham
Ingredients
Ingredients for the nougat: |
1 cup of OWN cashews (soaked for 4 hours) |
½ cup of OWN almond meal |
¼ cup of coconut oil, melted |
2 tbsp rice malt syrup |
1 tsp vanilla extract |
½ cup of Absolute Organic coconut cream |
Ingredients for the caramel: |
2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk |
½ tbsp natural smooth peanut butter |
½ tsp vanilla extract |
10 medjool dates, pitted and cut into quarters (about 1 cup chopped), soak in boiled water for 5 minutes to soften if needed |
¼ tsp Himalayan salt |
Chocolate for coating: |
150g Loving Earth Dark Chocolate (or any chocolate that’s at least 70% cocoa) |
1 tsp unrefined coconut oil |
Method
1. Drain cashews and rinse well. Add to a high-speed blender along with the remaining nougat ingredients. Blend on high speed until very smooth. Pour mixture into a loaf tin and put in the freezer to set for a couple of hours (2-4hrs) or overnight.
2. Blend the caramel ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Pour the caramel over the set nougat and use the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly. Freeze for 30 minutes or until firm.
3. Once the caramel has set, remove from the silicon loaf tin and cut into bars using a sharp knife.
4. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil together in a bowl over a pot with hot water, stirring until it has completely melted and mixed together.
5. Dunk each bar into the melted chocolate and place on a flat tray lined with baking paper, and store in the freezer to set.
6. Tip: if you don’t have 4 hours to soak the cashews you can cover them in boiling water for 20-30 minutes instead to soften them. These bars can be stored in the freezer for up to a week.
