caramel slice – Nat's Ladle

Healthy Twix Bar (grain free, sugar free, vegan, paleo, low fat)

Published on August 23, 2016 by nathaliejasmin2019Leave a comment

Who doesn’t love a Twix bar? The combination of a crumbly biscuit, gooey caramel and creamy chocolate certainly never goes astray. Shame only that the original Twix bar is so full of sugar and industrial oils – not to mention that for us gluten free folks, it is off-limits anyway. So I thought I come to your rescue and create a healthy version of this popular treat.

As part of my subscription to a monthly box with organic goodies, I was regaled with a packet of coconut flour recently. Though by no means a coconut flour newbie, I have experimented a bit with the stuff lately and just love how it is so easy to create yummy and healthy goodies with it. As it sucks up all the moisture of any other ingredients you mix it with, it is also a great staple for lowfat baking as mixing it with mashed banana or apple sauce yields terrific results. Once I had nailed my shortcrust base, it was time to think of the caramel (knowing that I would use my favourite Lindt chocolate as topping). So it came in handy that Minimalist Baker has this recipe for making a one-ingredient date caramel. A one-ingredient date caramel ticks all my boxes for healthy, easy and yummy delicacies. And I tell you, the stuff rocks. I use it in yogurt, on icecream or porridge. It tastes just as indulgent, creamy and buttery as store-bought caramel – minus the fat and the sugar slump! For this recipe, I use the caramel of about 4 dates, but I’d recommend making the original recipe and keeping any leftovers in the fridge – they won’t stay there for long!

So once you got your biscuit and your caramel sorted, it’s time for the chocolate glaze! Just use your favourite dairy free chocolate for a true vegan delight. If you tolerate dairy and are not vegan, you could also use milk chocolate. It#s a matter of taste and experimenting. The date caramel is rather sweet so I try to offset the sweetness with a bitter-ish chocolate. Using milk chocolate would obviously yield a result closer to a “real” Twix bar (whatever is real about the stuff). It’s up to you – but this recipe is sooo easy and requires just 15 minutes in total so I think you should do it again and again and see how you like it best!

Makes one double-finger “Twix” bar

For the biscuit base
40 g coconut flour
40 g “babyfood” (i.e. unsweetened apple sauce, pureed banana or any other pureed fruit)
2 tbsp of plant milk
stevia or erythritol to taste
generous pinch of Maldon sea salt
pinch of gluten free baking powder

For the caramel
1/4 of this recipe

For the chocolate glaze
40 g chocolate (dairy free preferred)

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Line a baking tray with paper. Mix all ingredients for the biscuit base until it comes together in a uniform mass. Roll a ball, then half this ball and shape two “Twix” like logs. Bake until slightly golden, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool slightly before adding the caramel.

Meanwhile, prepare the date caramel according to the recipe. Spread evenly onto the biscuit logs.

Break up the chocolate in little pieces, place in a microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave in 30 second increments. Once it is liquid and smooth, drizzle over the caramel logs.

Now, here comes the hardest part: If you can at all resist, place the Twix bars in the fridge to firm up. But there’s no harm in devouring these beauties straight away.

Enjoy!

Healthy Snickers / Bounty bar (gluten free, vegan, no bake)

Published on May 10, 2016 by nathaliejasmin2019Leave a comment

Healthy Snickers Bar - gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free — Healthy Snickers Bar – gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free

If you asked me what would be better than a Snickers or Bounty, I’d have to say a Snickers AND a Bounty! Don’t you think? But wait – before you run to the nearest vending machine or fuel station to indulge in said lovelies, wouldn’t it be even more satisfying to make these babies yourself, knowing you’d have a healthy treat in the end?

This recipe allows you to whip up your own Snickers/Bounty bar in next to no time! Sure, it needs some chilling, but other than that, the process couldn’t be easier. And as there is no baking allowed, you save some energy, too. Good for the environment, good for your wallet. Oh, and like all my recipes, these bars are not only good for you and easy to prepare, they also taste amazing! And if you belong to the family of health nut cooks and bakers, you should have all ingredients in your pantry ready to go, which is an added bonus (if the weather in your place is like Melbourne at the moment, you surely don’t want to leave the house, not even for buying ingredients!).

Okay, but what IS this, I hear you asking? A Snickers, a Bounty, or what? Well – I think it takes the best of both worlds, i.e. peanuts and coconut. Of course, if you use any other nut butter than peanut butter, then the Snickers aspect would be lost, but it would certainly still be delicious! I could also call these superfood slices as something so yummy, satisfying and still good-ish for you must be a superfood slice, but it seems that these days, superfood slices need to involve goji berries and acai and these ones have neither (feel free to include them though – a goji Bounty bar, wouldn’t that be nice?). Coconut and peanut make a great item and the bitter chocolate topping cuts nicely through the sweetness and gives the whole creation a lift. So the only thing missing is a name!

Maybe just make them and then find a good name. If you come up with one, just let me know. 🙂

Makes 20 slices

For the base:
150g peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
100g desiccated coconut
80g rice malt syrup (or honey if not vegan)
25g raw cacao

For the filling:
150g peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
80g rice malt syrup (or honey if not vegan)
20g coconut oil, melted
dash of vanilla essence

For the topping:
20g rice malt syrup (or honey if not vegan)
20g raw cacao
20g coconut oil, melted
chopped nuts to decorate (optional)

Line a 20x20cm baking tin with baking or greaseproof paper. Mix the four base ingredients one by one in a large mixing bowl until very well combined. I’d recommend elbow grease here rather than a processor as you’ve got more control and won’t end up with a mess. It shouldn’t take long before a ball forms; adjust the wet/dry ingredients if you have issues with the consistency, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Press the coconut mass evenly into the prepared baking tin and make sure that it sits in there really firmly. If you can, use a heavy item such as a book to press it down even further. Put in the fridge to set.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling by mixing the filling ingredients until everything is mixed through and smooth. Spoon on top of the chilled base and spread evenly with a spatula. Return tin to the fridge.

Lastly, mix the topping ingredients – you might want to place this into the microwave for 20 seconds to make it nice and thin, but strictly no more than 20 seconds. Pour over the chilled slice, sprinkle with chopped nuts if you like and return to the fridge again for at least four hours or overnight before cutting in slices/squares.

This slice freezes very well and can be eaten straight out of the freezer, so it is a great option to make to have a healthy and filling snack on hand whenever you need it.

Enjoy!

Millionaire’s Shortbread aka Caramel Slice {gf, vg, soy free, paleo}

Published on May 29, 2015 by nathaliejasmin20192 Comments

Millionaire’s shortbread was my childhood heaven like brownies for other people. I fell in love the minute my mum brought a tray from a business trip to Scotland – a crunchy shortbread base + decadent caramel + chocolate = bliss! When a Marks & Spencer’s opened in Frankfurt, we travelled all the way from Berlin just to bite into one of these moreish delights (that Marks & Spencer’s did not last long in spite of their heavenly baked goods, but that is another story).

Making a gluten free version of Millionaire’s shortbread has been on my to-do-list for a couple of years now. In fact, this is a gluten, dairy and soy free blog, so creating a Millionaire’s shortbread fit for No Worries Cooking was a bit like squaring the circle. There were many failed attempts – either the shortbread was ruined (I had heated the butter a couple of times – never do that!), or the caramel was NQR, or the chocolate burned while melting. But now I can finally tick it off the list: Here is a vegan, grain free, dairy free, sugar free, soy free, and, in fact, paleo-ish version of Millionaire’s shortbread! I love ticking off items from my to-do lists, so this was a success on so many levels!

The shortbread base I have slightly adapted from a recipe for paleo all-purpose flour I found here. I am keen to try it in some other recipes as well, but it worked a treat in this shortbread. The caramel is a super quick vegan caramel sauce (of which I will post the recipe separately later), and the chocolate is my favourite, Lindt Excellence 90%. So it is really a lot easier to whip up this treat than I had antcipated, probably less than 30 minutes preparation, which should be the maximum amount of time you wait before trying this great recipe!

For a 20 cm square baking pan

For the shortbread base:
120 g coconut flour
100g almond meal
60g tapioca flour
pinch of salt
1 “flax egg” (1 tbsp milled flaxseed dissolved in 4 tbsp filtered water)
150g coconut oil or vegan butter, softened
50g rice malt syrup or other liquid sweetener

For the caramel:
1 tin full-fat coconut cream, chilled overnight
1 tbs molasses
dash of vanilla extract
generous pinch of sea salt
150g rice malt syrup or other liquid sweetener
dollop of coconut oil or vegan butter

For the chocolate topping:
200g vegan dark chocolate (at least 80% cocoa)

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Prepare one 20 cm square baking pan by lining with baking paper. Mix all ingredients for the shortbread in a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands until everything comes together and the mass resembles crumble. Note: it will take a while to come together, but you should really use your hands as the warmth of your hands will soften the butter, thus helping to combine the fat molecules of the butter with the dry ingredients. (And you get to lick your fingers, yum!) Once the dough resembles a crumbly mass, pack firmly to build a “ball” and chill for up to 30 minutes (though you can skip this step). Press firmly and evenly down the baking pan and pierce holes into the fough with a fork. Bake for approx. 20 minutes until the edges start to lightly golden.

Meanwhile, prepare the caramel. The solid part of the coconut cream should be on top of the tin. Scoop it out and into a small saucepan. The leftover coconut water can be used for smoothies. Add the remaining caramel ingredients bar the butter and slowly heat over medium heat. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until the caramel starts to bubbly and thicken up. Stir, stir, stir! Once the caramel has the desired consistency, turn off the heat and stir in the butter. Pour into the tin on top of the baked shortbread and refrigerate for one or two hours.

Once set, melt the chocolate in a double boiler while constantly stirring until completely melted. Pour on top of the shortbread and caramel and refrigerate again for another hour or so.

Once everything is firm and set, lift out of the tin and cut into squares with a very sharp knife.

Enjoy!