Description
Think crispy and crunchy shortbread, with a silky smooth vanilla caramel made from dates, coated in a layer of smooth dark chocolate. Could dessert get any better?!
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Crust
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup sunflower butter or peanut butter
- 3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Date Caramel
- 15 juicy medjool dates
- 3 tbsp cashew milk or almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
Chocolate
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips, preferably refined sugar-free
- 1 tbsp Coconut oil (optional, use only if the chocolate is too thick)
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F and lining a square oven-safe pan with parchment paper. I recommend using a smaller square cake pan, about 6×6 so that the crust is not too thin.
- Next, pit all of the medjool dates and add them into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes to soak.
- While the dates are soaking, make the cookie layer. In a mixing bowl, add in the almond flour, sunflower butter, honey/maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt.
- Mix the cookie crust together with a spatula until the dough begins to look crumbly. At this point, I like to finish mixing the dough together using my hands. It helps make everything stick together and it’s also easier and faster than using the spatula.
- Add the cookie crust dough into the parchment lined pan and press down firmly to pack the dough into the pan. One trick is to use the bottom of a cup to really pack the dough into the pan and ensure it’s even and flat on top. Pop the dough into the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- While the cookie crust is baking, make the date caramel. Drain the dates that have been soaking and add them into a blender — a mini food processor or small blender like a Ninja also work.
- Add in the cashew milk, vanilla extract and salt. Blend the mixture together, stopping now and then to scrape down the sides. Continue to blend on high speed until the caramel looks smooth, thick and creamy. There should be no date chunks left.
- At this point the cookie crust should be done baking. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Then spread on the caramel overtop of the crust and place the entire pan in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
- While the cookie crust and caramel are setting in the freezer you can melt the chocolate. If the chocolate seems a little thick, add in 1 tbsp of coconut oil to thin it out.
- Take the Twix bars out from the freezer and remove from the pan using the parchment paper to lift it out onto a cutting board. Cut the Twix bars into 12 equal pieces — I cut the block in half lengthwise and then made five cuts horizontally to get 12 Twix-sized bars.
- Next, dip one of the Twix bars in the chocolate, using your fingers or a fork and spoon. Make sure to fully submerge the bar in the chocolate. Gently let the excess chocolate drip off before returning the Twix bar back to the parchment paper. Repeat with all of the bars.
- Return the chocolate coated Twix bars to the freezer to set for 20-30 minutes before enjoying. For presentation, you can add a sprinkle of flaky salt on top of each bar.