Macaroon Slice...

I'm pretty much unable to resist a challenge, so when a friend asked me to 'health-ify' these Macaroon Slices, I set to work straight away! I'm firmly of the opinion that there are very few commercially produced treats that can't be made healthier at home... Feel free to make some suggestions and I'll get to work! 

This recipe requires a little patience since it is made up of 3 layers.... they're all really simple though so you can't go wrong! 

For the base:

• 120g ground almonds
• 50g dessicated coconut
• 1 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 50g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 160d (fan). Line an 8" square baking tin with greaseproof paper. 

Add all the ingredients together and mix well until you have a firm dough. 

Press the dough into base of lined tin. 

Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

For the raspberry jam filling:

• 150g frozen raspberries
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Add the raspberries and lemon juice to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer over a low heat for approx 5 minutes to allow the jam to thicken. 

Spread an even layer of jam over the cooled base.

For the macaroon topping:

• 3 eggs
• 4 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 150g dessicated coconut
• 100g butter, melted

Whisk the eggs & honey together until pale and trebled in volume. 

Fold in the butter, coconut & cinnamon. Stir until just combined. 

Spread over the jam filling. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm and golden. 

Set aside to cool before cutting into squares. 

"Bounty" Bars..

I stopped to think for a for seconds before typing the title to this post... Bounty bars isn't quite accurate... I'd never ever make a Bounty... they're not actual food...

Here's the ingredients list from a Bounty you'll buy in the shop:

Sugar, Desiccated Coconut, Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Skimmed Milk Powder, Emulsifiers, ( Soya Lecithin, E471 Lactose), Milk Fat, Whey Powder, Humectant, ( Glycerol Salt), Natural Vanilla Extract

It's not horrendous, relative to what could be in them...BUT I'm pretty strong minded. I don't eat refined sugars, grains or anything processed... It's important to make a decision and be prepared to stand up for what you believe in. For that reason... you're not going to find recipes containing any of these type of ingredients on GLBTK.

Instead, I bring you "Bounty" Bars.... they're nothing like the real thing... they're so much BETTER...

• 200g dessicated coconut
• 1 can full fat coconut milk (just use the thick coconut cream from the top half of the tin... reserve the rest for my next recipe!) 
• 2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 tbsp organic vanilla extract

Start by lining a 9 inch square baking tin with greaseproof baking paper. 

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan.

Over a medium heat, melt all the ingredients together. Stir constantly as you don't want to toast/burn the coconut.

Once you have a thick mixture, spoon into prepared tin & smooth into corners. 

Place in the fridge/aside at room temperature to set for around 2 hours. 

When the bars are firm, cut into slices. You can eat them as they are & they're be amazing......but I'm a perfectionist so had to go one step further....

CHOCOLATE!!!! 

Right so... you have a choice... you can make my Paleo Chocolate which is ideal for sticking to your Paleo/clean lifestyle... OR you could just use dark chocolate (remember, the higher the cocoa solids, the lower the sugar content)... I know there's some sugar BUT dark chocolate really isn't the worst thing you could be eating so I'll let you away with it... I do accept that making your own chocolate is a little time consuming & tedious for a lot of people... 

Whatever you decide here is ok with me....

• 150g chocolate of your choice

Coat, drizzle or dip one end of the bars in your melted chocolate... it's entirely up to you.... either way, they'll taste amazing...

Leave to set on greaseproof paper, or eat straight away and get absolutely covered in melted chocolate.... Not that I've done this :)