Healthy Snickers Slice

Easter is coming up! I’m not a fan of store bought Easter eggs. They tend to have a lot of unhealthy additives that aren’t good for you, and where possible I like to source Fair Trade chocolate to ensure farmers in the third world are getting a better deal, and that there is no child labour or slave labour in the production line. So I’ve pretty much decided to make my own chocolatey goodies at home and where possible I buy Fair Trade cacao! This is cocoa powder in its raw form and it is full of nutrients that are really good for you! This is my recipe for my Snickers slice. It’s healthy enough to eat for breakfast on Easter, yet so tasty my hubby and kids can’t tell they’re eating something healthy! Good fats and wholesome ingredients that taste amazing!!! I make it in my Thermomix. You can make it in a blender or whatever else you have but be careful because I have broken at least two blenders in the past by trying to blitz up dried dates in them!!! This slice doesn’t taste like dates or coconut, it tastes like Snickers! Please note you will need one 250g bottle of maple syrup (NOT maple flavoured syrup) for this recipe.

Base:

100g roasted, salted peanuts

25g desiccated coconut (I make sure I buy this preservative free)

120g dried dates

15g coconut oil

20g cacao powder (can be substituted with cocoa powder, where possible I buy Fair Trade)

Peanut layer:

140g roasted, salted peanuts

10g macadamia nut oil (can be substituted with grapeseed or coconut oil)

Caramel layer:

70g roasted, salted peanuts

100g dried dates

10g vanilla essence (where possible I use Queen’s Fair Trade vanilla)

150g maple syrup

Chocolate topping:

30g cacao

130g maple syrup

40g coconut oil

Step 1: Line 18cm x 28cm shallow slice tray with baking paper. Blitz ingredients for base until the mixture looks like chocolatey breadcrumbs (in Thermomix 20 seconds on speed 10). Press mixture firmly and evenly in to the bottom of tray using hands.

Step 2: Blitz ingredients for peanut layer together until it resembles crunchy, chunky peanut butter (in Thermomix 10 seconds on speed 5). Spread mixture evenly over base.

Step 3: Blitz ingredients for caramel together until ingredients are mostly blended together. It’s ok if small chunks of dates remain (in Thermomix 1 minute on speed 6). Spread over peanut layer.

 Step 4: Blitz ingredients for chocolate topping together and spread over caramel (in Thermomix 20 seconds on speed 5). Freeze immediately so the maple syrup and coconut oil don’t separate.

Step 5: Check after 30 minutes to an hour. Once chocolate topping has firmly set, chop slice in to rectangles and enjoy! Please note coconut oil turns to liquid at room temperature and the chocolate topping will separate and melt, so this slice must be stored in the fridge or freezer.

I didn't rinse my Thermomix bowl between steps either, which makes this pretty quick to make! So there you have it! Vegans will love this dish too! I figure if I'm going to be feeding my family a lot of calories, eg. from chocolate, that it may as well be nutitious and healthy at the same time! I hope this inspires you to think about where your chocolate products come from this Easter, and that you can eat healthy food that tastes delicious! My kids absolutely love this Snickers slice and I’m sure yours will too!

 If you'd like to know more you can check out World Vision's Ethical Chocolate Scorecard HERE.

Find out about the Fair Trade Easter range 1016 HERE.