VEGAN SNICKERS

Who says you have to give everything up once you go vegan? This post is inspired by This Rawsome Vegan Life's all-natural raw snickers candy bars. I've changed it up to create my own version, with fewer ingredients and with peanuts instead of almonds and pine nuts. Dates are naturally sweet and have a caramel-like taste so they mimic the caramel and nougat layer in the regular snickers bar perfectly without the need of added processed sugar or syrup. 

These turned out fantastic - gooey, crunchy and chocolaty all at once - but they are sooo rich that I think I'll only make them once in a blue moon. Snickers bars happen to be a family favourite, so perhaps I'll be able to convince my family to switch to this vegan version.

*Also, check out this interview I did for Vegivoirienne's blog recently :)

Ingredients

(makes about 10)

- 2 bars dark chocolate (about 100 g each)

- 1 cup pitted dates

- 1/4 cup fresh pineapple

- 1/2 cup salted peanuts

Start by lining a rectangular plastic container or small tin with some greaseproof paper.

Melt the first bar of chocolate. Simply break the bar up into small pieces in glass bowl, place the bowl over a saucepan of steaming hot water and stir until the chocolate has melted completely. Pour the melted chocolate into the greaseproof-lined container/tin, making sure it spreads out to form an even layer and covers the base of the container/tin completely.

Evenly distribute the salted peanuts onto the melted chocolate. Place in the freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate hardens.

To create the caramelly-date filling, place the dates and fresh pineapple into a food processor/blender and whiz to form a gooey paste. (The pineapple is added to provide a bit of moisture, but you'll hardly taste it in the finished product)

Take the container out of the freezer and spread the date mixture evenly over the first layer of chocolate. Place in the freezer for another few minutes.

In the meantime, melt the second bar of chocolate in a clean glass bowl (repeat the process outlined above).

Take the container out of the freezer again and drizzle the second layer of melted chocolate over the top, making sure to cover the date filling completely. Don't worry if it looks a little bumpy or whatever, it's all part of the home-made charm ;)

Place the container in the freezer one last time for about 20-30 minutes so that all the layers harden sufficiently. 

Lift the chocolate out of the container/tin and peel back the greaseproof paper. Use a large knife to cut the chocolate into 10 little bars of roughly equal size. You can trim the outer edges if you want it to look all neat and extra fancy. Share and enjoy!