Addictive nutty base, creamy coconutty chocolate chip center followed up with a sweet chocolate cream icing on top... are you hungry yet? Check this one out!

You might have noticed how much I love desserts by now! ;) You know, it’s funny because before I changed my diet, I was never a fan of dessert! When a server came with the extra menu at the end, I would almost never order anything and certainly didn’t make my own treats at home! In fact, I thought I didn’t like chocolate or any ‘treats’ as they were often too sweet for me and I never seemed to feel very good after eating them!

It wasn’t until I made changes in my lifestyle that my inner dessert goddess came out to play! Desserts in stores or at restaurants are always temperamental for me with my dietary requirements since I don’t eat anything that comes in our traditional recipe repertoire!

That means that in order to enjoy desserts, I needed to learn how to make them myself and let me tell ya, (not to toot my own horn or anything) but I have kind of gotten pretty dang good at it! Not only do I make my own snacks, treats and yums, I make a lot of my own ingredients including my delicious chocolate/chips, coconut milk/cream, nut milks! Once I started, the door opened and has never shut! There are endless possibilities and I love trying them all and continuously learning!

People often see me eating my treats (I bring them around with me so I always have a healthy treat on hand whenever I get hungry) and they'll say "Oh, I don't have a sweet-tooth" or "*I can't have desserts like that, I'm watching my weight."

Well, you haven't tried my treats yet. See, the problem with many of the typical desserts we find is that they are loaded with not so great stuff for your body, so I decided to pack my treats full of energizing, health promoting, beneficial ingredients to offset the negative rap all of the sugar and dairy industries have created with their nasty treats causing people problems.

Not mine.

Let's have a look at what makes my treats different, ya?

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What you need:

Base

• 3/4 cups shredded coconut
• 3/4 cups pitted dates
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/3 cup gluten free, organic oats
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

Middle

• 1 cup soaked cashews (soak in filtered water overnight)
• 1 cup coconut cream
  (I have gotta tell ya, coconut cream made fresh from a chopped open coconut is amazing and super simple to make but if you don't have a coconut handy, always check the ingredients, they can be pretty scary!)
• 2 tsp coconut nectar (if your coconut cream is unsweetened)
• 2 tbs chia seeds
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

Icing

• 1 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 3/4 cup cacao powder
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• 2 tbs coconut nectar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup maca root powder (keep separate)

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What to do

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Base:

• Put all of the base ingredients into a food processor and blend until it gets to be a crumbly but sticky consistency.
• Place the crumble firmly into a pan that has been rubbed down with coconut oil first so it doesn't stick!

• Place in the freezer to set while you go on to the creamy middle!

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Middle:

• Place all of your middle ingredients in the food processor (no need to rinse it out!) and blend until you get a thick, creamy consistency!
• Pro tip: ideally you will have soaked the cashews overnight, making them softer, and able to create the creaminess we're after!
• Add this creamy layer onto the brownie bottom!
• Optional: Add some chopped pecans and chocolate chips into this layer and place back in the freezer!
• You've got one more layer to go!
  

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Icing:

• Mix together all of the icing ingredients except for the maca root powder. You can use the food processor or just a spoon and a bowl!
• Try your best not to eat it all before you spread it on top of the middle layer!
• Add your maca onto the top and take a spoon to swirl it into a beautiful design on top!
• Sprinkle with chocolate chips!
• (My chocolate chips were handmade: I mixed cacao powder, coconut oil, coconut nectar, some coconut butter and a bit of sea salt and froze it in a container then chopped into pieces! Store bought have a lot of ingredients that this girl isn't a fan of and they are super easy and quick to make at home!)
  

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• Put the whole mixture in the freezer for about 30 mins to an hour to freeze if you want an ice-cream bar otherwise feel free to start spooning it into your mouth right away, I won't judge you!
• Make sure to keep this covered if you want to store it in the freezer to avoid freezer burn!
• Take out and let thaw a bit before serving or, better yet, cut into squares after it sets for easy access!
• I took mine out of the freezer after a day and moved it to the fridge. It only lasted a day and a half here so just goes to show how yummy it really is ;)
• Enjoy!
  

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🌺🌼🏵️🌺🌼🏵️🌺

Sending you love through (plant-based/vegan) food, as always! If you are new here, it's great to have you here!
I am obsessed with food as you'll surely see, and I am a strong believer in the power it has within it, and the ability it has to heal us! I aim to inspire through my recipes and posts and hope to connect with you here, through your heart. Some say the way to the heart is through the stomach, I 100% agree with that theory ;)
I believe in sharing what makes the heart happy, if you'd like to see more, come on by @heart-to-heart!😘

Here is my latest recipe of a periwinkle smoothie that is beautifully crafted through the use of the blue flower you see on the dish of my nice cream bars! See the recipe here!

Until next time, love what you eat, eat what loves you back!
XO,
😘