Back to sweet things this week. I realised I’d pinned a couple of separate recipes on Pinterest – both for healthier versions of Twix bars {for the uninitiated, the original Twix has a biscuit base covered in caramel then the whole thing is coated in chocolate}. The version I found on Oh She Glows has a rice puff base. The other had more of a biscuit type base. I tried the puff base. Original recipe here, although I made a couple of changes in the recipe below.

So, what do you need?
A cute sous chef {of course!}
Base:
¼ cup rice malt syrup
2 tablespoons ABC paste {originally called for peanut butter, but we have replaced that with organic almond, brazil and cashew paste in our house}
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
pinch of salt {we use pink Himalayan rock salt, some prefer sea salt}
1 ¼ cups organic spelt puffs {packed with nutrients, I used these because I like their nuttier flavour but if you are celiac or have a gluten allergy you will want to use a gluten free rice puff}
‘Caramel’:
12 pitted Medjool dates, soaked in water to soften {you can drink the water they’ve soaked in, or use it in smoothies or make ice cubes from it!}
1 tablespoon of coconut butter
Rice {or almond or whatever flavour you like} milk {I didn’t need much because I soaked my dates for a little longer than usual so they were super soft, but you’ll probably need somewhere between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon}
Pinch of salt
Topping:
½ cup dark chocolate {I broke up a block of dairy free raw dark chocolate because I wanted to make this one dairy free; you can use any dark chocolate}
1 teaspoon of coconut oil

Okay, now what do you do with it?
Line a slice tin with baking paper. Put malt rice syrup, ABC paste and vanilla in a saucepan, bring to simmer stirring constantly. It’s toffee like consistency means it will burn if you leave it. Maybe it almost happened to me! Add your pinch of salt then take it off the heat and pour into a large bowl with spelt puffs and stir well to combine.

Once well combined, pour mixture into your slice tray and pack down. Wet your hands a little first otherwise you’ll end up with tasty nutty puffs stuck to your fingers. Once you have covered the base of the tray well, pop it in the freezer.

Into your blender put dates, ABC paste, coconut butter and salt. Process and process until it’s smooth. This is where you may need to add your milk if your caramel is too thick. Because I’d soaked my dates for a little longer than anticipated, I only used 1 teaspoon, and next time I don’t know if I’ll add it at all.

Take base out of freezer and spread date caramel over the top, then put it back in the freezer.

In a small saucepan, melt your chocolate and coconut oil, removing from heat just before all chocolate is melted. Take it off the heat and stir until smooth and well combined. Pour chocolate over your caramel layer to cover. As a little tip: I poured mine in the middle then just tilted the baking tray on each side so the chocolate drizzled evenly. Pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes to set the chocolate, remove and cut into inch square pieces, then freeze for another 10 minutes so it’s fully set.

These store well in either the fridge or freezer. Unless you tell your workmates about them. Then they don’t store at all! They were asking for more and couldn’t believe there was no sugar in the date ‘caramel’.

And what did my sous chef think? Mumma, this slice is SO yummy!