Chocolate Slice

chocolate slice✓ Gluten-Free
✓ Dairy-Free
✓ Nut-Free Option

Finally the recipe I tell so many patients about (and have to scrawl on a piece of paper mid-consultation) has arrived! This Chocolate Slice recipe is EASY to make, delicious and great for school lunches. If you have kids at a nut-free school, you can replace the nuts with an equal amount of sunflower seeds. This can be made on a Sunday night and stores brilliantly in a container in the fridge. If you pack it for a morning tea at school, use an ice brick in the lunch box. The good news is, it is not just for kids; if you just fancy a sweet but healthy treat this recipe ticks all the boxes.  ENJOY!

Ingredients

300g cashews (replace with sunflower seeds for a nut free option; you can also do half-half)
200g desiccated coconut
3 tbsp cacao powder
20-25 Medjool dates, pitted
Optional: Can be flavoured with a tsp of vanilla extract, or 1-2 drops of Doterra Peppermint Doterra Wild Orange Oil.

Method
  1. Blend cashews, coconut and cacao in a Thermomix on 10 for 25 seconds, or blend in a food processor/blender on high speed until well broken down.
  2. Add the Medjool dates to the mixture and blend on 10 until well blended (the time will depend on how fresh the dates are, but this generally takes 15-30 seconds). If using a food processor/blender, blend until well mixed and broken down.
  3. At this point, you can blend in the peppermint, orange or vanilla extract if you wish to make a choc-mint, choc-orange or choc-vanilla slice.
  4. Press into a loaf pan (lined with baking paper) or roll into balls. Place in the freezer to harden.

Tip: Don’t blend too long or it will warm up and the fats will release from the nuts and coconut (which is not a problem but it doesn’t look as pretty when finished).

My boys of course like different flavours for their Chocolate Slice, so I divide the batch in two and make one choc-mint slice and one choc-orange slice.

Doterra essential oils are available from health food shops; please read the instructions on the bottle.