Peanut Butter Caramel Fudge Slice

First layer: coconut cookie dough with almond flour and dates. Middle layer: peanut butter caramel, thickened with coconut oil and taken to the next level with sea salt. Final layer: chocolate. Made with clean, wholesome, plant based ingredients. Everything about this recipe is right – healthy vegan chocolate caramel bars you will love to eat!

Yield: makes 9 slices

Ingredients

Base

• 1 heaping cup dates
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1-2 cups shredded coconut, as needed

Middle

• 1/3 cup peanut butter (RFR tip: for a truly raw version you make your own peanut butter in a food processor using raw valencia peanuts, or use raw jungle peanut butter)
• 3 heaping tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Top

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• Scant 1/4 cup cacao powder
• Scant 1/4 cup agave nectar
• Scant 1/4 cup non-dairy milk, as needed
• Pinch sea salt

Instructions

1. To make the base: leave the dates in the hot water for 15 minutes so they soften up. Add the coconut oil as well so it can melt. Don’t discard the water.
2. Blend the water, dates and coconut oil mixture together until as smooth as possible, it will be a thick, sweet paste. Add more water or some non-dairy milk if necessary.
3. Transfer this date paste into a bowl and mix in the salt, almond flour and coconut. I started by adding just a little almond flour and coconut, and then just kept incorporating more until I had a mixture that resembled a thick, moist cookie dough — so do that. It tasted really good.
4. Press into the bottom of a small lined bread pan. Leave in the fridge.
5. To make the middle: throw all the ingredients into a small pot on the stove (low heat) until the coconut oil melts and you can stir it all together evenly. Tastes SO yummy. Pour this over your crust and leave the fridge again so it can harden, this will probably take about 20-30 minutes.
6. To make the top layer: throw all the ingredients — except the milk — into a small pot on the stove (low heat) until the coconut oil melts and you can stir it all together evenly. Gradually stir in the milk until you have a glossy chocolate mixture. If it’s too watery, add more cocoa or coconut oil. Once your middle layer has hardened up a bit, pour the chocolate over it. Sprinkle on some more salt if you like and leave in the fridge for an hour or two, or overnight. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

You can keep ’em in the fridge for a few weeks, or a few months in the freezer.