Ben’s Bars – raw, delicious & nutritious!
17 October 2014
My youngest – Ben – has magically transformed into a chef. That is, ever since my amazing kitchen gadget - the Thermomix - arrived last week, Ben has been on a mission to cook, then to cook a bit more, and then a little later to start cooking again. The fridge is groaning under the weight of Ben’s delicacies and the rest of us are having trouble keeping up with him! The reason he can cook with it is because it has recipes actually inside it, with step by step instructions on a touch screen, so all Ben needs to do is follow the steps and lo and behold, he has produce a pot of steaming hot soup, or refreshingly zingy sorbet!
Anyway, the other day I said “Ben, we’re not following a recipe this time. We’re going to invent one” and here it is: Ben’s Bars – raw, delicious and nutritious!
Ingredients
- Raw cacao paste or very dark chocolate (at least 85% cocoa solids)
- 150g cashew nuts (or if you need nut free go for 150g oats)
- 200g pitted dates (buy with stone in as they will be softer)
- 1 tbs honey
- 2 tbs cacao powder (of cocoa powder)
- Zest of half an orange (preferably unwaxed otherwise very well-scrubbed)
Step 1
Whizz the cashew nuts up in a high powered blender – yep, that’s my Thermomix for me! – until you have what looks like flour.
Step 2
Add the pitted dates and whizz up with the cashew flour
Step 3
Add the honey, the cacao powder and the orange zest and give it another blitz. You’ll have a slightly sticky mixture.
Step 4
Empty it into a large bowl and squeeze the mixture together into a ball of dough. You can now shape it into bars, or truffle-shapes or whatever shape take your fancy. Just make sure that you apply enough pressure so that the dough isn’t crumbly.
Step 5
Melt your cacao paste or very dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Fully coat your bars in cacao and place them on greaseproof paper on a baking tray before popping into the fridge to set.
They are sooooooo tasty!