Recipe: Super Easy Vegan & GF Salted Caramel Slice

A few months ago I began slowly changing my diet to cut out refined sugar, dairy, and gluten. I've been a vegetarian for many years and to me this seemed like a very doable and rewarding next step. The one challenge I kept facing was that my obsessive sweet tooth meant I was constantly craving a chocolate bar or bag of sweets, and I knew I needed to figure out how to make some healthier alternatives. I began reading some amazing blogs and recipe books (post on some of these coming soon), and now my pantry is stocked with ingredients that I can throw together to create some sweet deliciousness. Admittedly this is a little dangerous, but so far I am loving creating new and exciting treats.

This week I experimented a little bit and created something absolutely incredible: vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free salted caramel slice. Caramel slice has been a favourite of mine since I was a little kid, so this made me so so happy! This recipe is super duper easy, and you only need a handful of ingredients.

Salted Caramel Slice (Vegan, GF, Refined Sugar Free)

Makes approx. 16 bars

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook/cool time: approx. 2 hours

Ingredients:

• For the crust
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• For the caramel filling
• 5 medjool dates, pitted and halved
• 1/2 cup almond butter (homemade works best here)
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 small tin full-fat coconut milk
• For the chocolate top layer
• 100g vegan chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Start by preheating the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. While the oven is heating up, mix the crust ingredients together in a bowl until it is a dough-like consistency. Line a tray with baking paper or grease with coconut oil, and evenly spread the crust mixture out in the tray.
2. Place the crust in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. While it is baking, place all the caramel filling ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, and keep stirring until it forms a slightly runny, mostly goeey consistency. If you want it totally smooth (the dates will add some texture), then just blend it for a few seconds once it's mostly smooth.
3. Once the crust is done and cooled, pour the caramel filling over it and place it in the fridge for about an hour, until it is nearly solid. 
4. Melt the vegan chocolate with the tablespoon of coconut oil either over the stove or in the microwave, and pour over the other layers. Place it in the fridge again for another hour.
5. Once the chocolate layer has solidified, remove it from the pan and slice into pieces. Enjoy the caramel and chocolatey goodness!

If you try this recipe, let me know in the comments below how they turned out, or tag me on Instagram with @rebeccasather!

x B