Happy Halloween!!! These are seriously my new favourite dessert. There's not many chocolate Halloween candies that are dairy free, so I really wanted to create a recipe that's vegan friendly while still having that nostalgic Halloween candy feel. These rustic caramel and roasted peanut chocolate bars are sweet and salty, chewy and crunchy, and covered in dark chocolate - totally to die for! Thank you so much to Alpha Health and Vista Magazine Canada for partnering with me for this recipe. I used Alpha's organic, fair-trade, and cold pressed DME Coconut Oil to create my silky chocolate coating. It's absolutely essential!
This recipe is vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free.
If you make this recipe and want to show off on IG, you can tag me, @gardentotableblog.ca!
Makes 10 bars
Ready in 20 minutes, overnight + 1 hour
Ingredients
1 cup medjool dates, pitted
2 + 1 tablespoons Alpha Health DME Coconut Oil, melted
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
100 gram bar of dairy-free dark chocolate, melted
Ingredients
To make the caramel, add dates, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, peanut butter, and sea salt to a food processor. Pulse to combine, then switch to low speed, graduating to high, until smooth, thick, and velvety. Pour the caramel into a large mixing bowl, and fold in peanuts until they are evenly distributed throughout
Firmly press caramel and peanut mixture into the bottom of a lined loaf tin. Spread it out and tap it around to make sure the caramel is in an even layer. Refrigerate overnight
The next morning, pop out the caramel and peanut form onto a cutting board. Slice into 8 rectangles to resemble mini chocolate bar shapes
In a double boiler, over gentle heat, melt dark chocolate with 1 tablespoon coconut oil, until just barely melted, and shiny
Transfer the sliced bars to a wire rack, placed over a baking tray. Carefully spoon melted chocolate over the tops of the bars, and let it drip down the sides
Keep the bars on the rack over the baking pan so all the excess chocolate drips off. The baking pan will catch the mess. Refrigerate the pan for at least one hour, until the chocolate has set and hardened
Remember
You could make these with any nuts you prefer if you don't like peanuts or have an allergy! They would be just as amazing
I like to use a good quality dark chocolate bar that's at least 75%. The darker the better! The caramel is super sweet, so it can really handle the bitterness from the dark chocolate. If you're not typically a dark chocolate fan, I encourage you to try it this way!
I called these bars rustic because of the look of the chocolate dripping down the sides. It's not too perfect looking and I really like that. If you wanted to fully coat the bars in chocolate, you may need a touch more melted chocolate
Disclaimer
This recipe was made in collaboration with Alpha Health and Vista Magazine Canada. All opinions are my own!