Caramel Shortcake
By: Nikki Brown
Published: Friday, September 22, 2017 - 3:13pm

Ingredients




For the base:
140g/5oz almonds
55g/2oz coconut flour
4 pitted dates
1-2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. almond butter
For the caramel layer:
1 x 400ml/13.5fl oz can coconut milk
6 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
For the chocolate layer:
5 tbsp. coconut oil
3 tbsp. cacao powder
6 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. almond butter

Preparation

1 Start by making the base, add the almonds and coconut flour to a food processor and blitz until the almonds are finely chopped and well combined with the flour, then add in the dates and almond butter. Blitz again until combined. 2 Add in 1 tablespoon of water and blitz. The mixture should be a sticky but not wet dough, if you need to add in another tablespoon do that now and blitz again. 3 Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spread the dough out evenly. Freeze for 30 minutes. 4 To make the caramel add all the ingredients to a saucepan, bring to the boil then leave on the heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring continuously until you have reached a thick consistency. Be careful not to leave it too long as the caramel will burn. Leave to cool slightly while the base is still setting in the freezer. 5 Remove the base once it has been in the freezer for 30 minutes and add the caramel layer on top, then place back in the freezer for a further 30 minutes. 6 After the caramel layer has been in the freezer for 30 minutes, start making the chocolate topping. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and melt, stirring continuously until the mixture is well combined, then spread on top of the caramel layer. Place back in the freezer for 1 hour, then remove and slice into small bites to serve.

About

This delicious, healthy and nutritious, no-bake caramel shortcake recipe is one of our favourite snacks. You’ll need a food processor to make it but it’s a really easy, non-fuss recipe that is sure to impress.
We’ve used homemade almond butter in my recipe, which is super easy to make. You can get the recipe for it here http://www.mynutricounter.com/recipe-almond-butter/, but you can also buy almond butter in most supermarkets and health food stores if you prefer.
To make the base we’ve used almonds but other nuts that would also taste great as a substitute are: walnuts, pecans, cashew nuts or pistachios.