This month, I ventured into the raw and vegan blog, This Rawsome Vegan Life, by Emily von Euw. In addition to having a strong online following, she is a bestselling author of several cookbooks, including her latest, The Rawsome Vegan Cookbook.
It was love at first sight with Emily’s mouthwatering social feeds that feature rich, decadent treats, and in many cases, bright and fruity desserts. Emily also posts raw and lightly cooked entrees and juices, but let’s be real, the winners in my eyes are the sweet treats. With all the options, I didn’t know what I was going to try first until I saw her rendition of Twix bars, Coconut Twix Bar. After seeing the cookie crumble, gooey caramel, chocolate coating layered dessert, I just knew I had to give it a try. Now, I don’t eat chocolate, sugar, or cashews, so you may wonder how I could make this work. The answer, in this case, is carob and monk fruit powder. While carob does not taste exactly like cocoa, it has worked as a pretty great chocolate alternative for me in recipes past. Monk fruit, a recent addition to my cupboards, is a sugar substitute similar to stevia. I also used sunflower seed butter instead of cashew butter.
Here is my version!
Cookie layer:
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup monk fruit powder (I used Dixie Diners’ Club brand)
1-2 tablespoons melted coconut oil, if needed
Caramel layer:
3/4 cup monk fruit (next time I will use less, as I actually found it too sweet!)
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter
3 tablespoons water, or more as needed
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Chocolate coating:
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup carob powder
1/4 cup monk fruit
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cookie Layer:
- Mix all of the ingredients with a food processor or blender until it is moist, and can hold its shape when you squeeze it together. Instead of coconut oil, I added a tablespoon of extra water.
- Press into the bottom of a lined bread loaf pan and freeze while you prepare the next layers.
Caramel Layer:
- Emily says to “blend all ingredients until smooth and thick”. Mine came out a bit runny, and not as thick as I was expecting. Next time I will use 2 tbsp of water instead of 3 tbsp.
- Pour evenly over the cookie layer in the loaf pan, and return to the freezer for at least two hours to solidify.
- I found that the caramel layer did not harden up as I was expecting. It was sticky to touch after a couple of hours. This may be due to the added water, or to the consistency of the sunflower seed butter. Either way, it tasted amazing and the consistency did mimic caramel!
“Chocolate” Layer:
- Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. I found it to be a bit powdery, so make sure you mix it very well. Add extra coconut oil if needed.
- Cut your caramel-cookie layer into bars and dip into the “chocolate”. Since coconut oil solidifies when chilled, the coating will harden quickly when applied to the frozen caramel-cookie layer.
- Once hardened, place it back in the freezer to store.
- Alternatively, you can pour the chocolate on top as one thick layer.
I was expecting that the three layers would be time-consuming to make, but the whole process turned out to be quite simple and quick to put together. I was blown away with how utterly amazing the final product turned out to be, even with the several recipe adjustments I made. I found the bars to be rich, chocolatey, and bursting with sweetness from the monk fruit. A small portion goes a long way with the richness of this recipe. I will most definitely make this again, especially to dazzle friends and family at a social event. It does melt pretty quickly, so I do not advise keeping it out of the freezer for too long. That shouldn’t be a problem, though, because the bars are that delicious!
Joy Elkayam Joy Elkayam is currently the Production Manager and an editor for Parvati Magazine. She is also a volunteer at Parvati.org, dedicated to realizing the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. Before landing in teaching in a kindergarten, her career started out in health care as a coordinator in research and cancer screening. She is living in Toronto, Canada with her husband.