Description
Cacao nibs cookie cups that hide a smooth salted caramel cream, crunchy hazelnuts and are topped with a layer of cracking chocolate. Easy to make, naturally gluten-free, refined sugar-free and incredibly delicious. The perfect decadent healthy treat to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie dough
- 1 cup hazelnut meal (90 g)
- 3/4 cup white rice flour (110 g)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (70 g)
- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil (40 g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cacao nibs
- 1 pinch of salt
Caramel filling
- 120 g pitted dates (about 6 large dates)
- 1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk (100 g)
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 pinch of sea salt flakes
Chocolate topping
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil (30 g)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (15 g)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder (15 g)
- 1/4 cup roasted hazelnut, roughly chopped
- sea salt flakes
Instructions
Caramel
- Optional (see notes): soak the dates in hot water for 15 minutes to soften. Carefully drain.
- Place the chopped pitted dates and coconut milk in a high speed blender and blend until smooth without any bites.
- The, add tahini, vanilla and salt, and blend again to combine until you get a perfectly creamy caramel. Transfer in a container and store in fridge.
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a small muffin tin with oil.
- To a large mixing bowl, add hazelnut meal, rice flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add maple syrup, melted coconut oil and vanilla, and stir using a wooden spatula or your hands to massage the dough and incorporate all the ingredients. The dough must look a little dry and crumbly, but must hold when pressed between two fingers. Fold in the cacao nibs.
- Divide the dough into 6 balls of equal size. Place each ball into a greased muffin tin. Gently bur firmly press the dough with your fingers, making a well in the middle of each with your thumbs to shape a cup.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until slightly golden on the edges and dry to touch.
- Remove from the oven and immediately use the back of a teaspoon to push down the bottoms of the cups and reinforce the hole. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins. Then carefully remove the cookie cups from the muffin tin and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Toppings
- Prepare the chocolate by adding melted coconut oil, maple syrup and cocoa powder in a bowl. Mix until combined and smooth, without any lumps.
- Roughly chop the hazelnuts.
- When the cookie cups are cool, fill them with the caramel up to two-thirds. Add chopped hazelnuts on top, then pour the chocolate to fill right to the top and fully cover the hazelnuts. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt flakes.
- Place the cookie cups in freezer for 3 minutes until the chocolate is hard. Enjoy immediately, or store in freezer and remove 10 minutes before serving.
- The cookie cups will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- I’ve used 2,5 inches diameter muffin tin.
- It’s really important that you use soft dates to get a smooth and creamy caramel. I highly recommend to use medjool dates, a natural smooth, juicy and sweet variety. If you can’t find medjool dates or if your dates are dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes before using to soften.
- To make the caramel, I recommend to use thick full-fat coconut milk, with at least 85% of coconut.