No-Bake Hazelnut Date Slice

I found this recipe on My Darling Lemon Thyme blog. Yummy. It was basically raw and the kids loved it - they thought it was brownies.

No-Bake Hazelnut Date Slice

Ingredients

Makes 8 decent slices
2 cups (265g) dried dates
4 Tbls coconut oil
2 Tbls maple syrup
2 Tbls cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla essence
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground flaxseeds (linseeds)
2 small pinches fine sea salt
1/2 cup (60g) hazelnuts, toasted, skins rubbed off and roughly chopped *
cocoa powder, extra, for dusting


Method

Place all the ingredients except for the hazelnuts into a food processor and blend until the mixture is reasonably fine and paste-like. You may need to stop the machine on occasion and mix it with a spoon to help your processor along.

Transfer date mixture to a medium bowl and mix the hazelnuts through by hand. Press the mixture into a baking paper lined tin (I used a loaf tin), smoothing off the top with the back of a spoon.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight before slicing. Dust with cocoa powder if you like and serve. This will happily store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 5-7 days.

* To toast the hazelnuts, cook in a preheated oven at 180 C/350 F for 8-10 minutes, shaking the tray a few times during cooking, until golden. Remove from the oven and tip onto a clean tea towel. Rub the hazelnuts between the towel to remove some of the skin. You will probably not be able to remove all the skin, that's fine, do your best.