"Caramel Chocolate Pecan Clusters. Okay, let's just be real here, they're Turtles. You know, "ra ra ra, ha ha ha, mmm I love Turtles"? Yep, those, but better, made with whole ingredients annnnd garnished with Peruvian salt. This all went down Sunday after Scott and I went for a run by the lake. A bit of a throwback to when I operated my gourmet food shop and we'd handcraft hundreds of bite sized edibles in one sitting. Sunday, I made somewhere around 30. Maybe my endurance is lacking "
Caramel Chocolate Pecan Clusters With Coarse Salt
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Caramel Chocolate Pecan Clusters with Coarse Salt
Makes 24
Ingredients:
Caramel
1 cup dates (soaked if needed)
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp full-fat coconut milk (or milk or cream of liking)
Chocolate Glaze
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup cocoa powder
6 tbsp maple syrup
48 pecans
½ tbsp coarse salt for garnish
Directions:
Caramel
If your dates are not moist, soak them in 1 cup hot water for 1 hour.
Drain well.
Add dates, vanilla, salt and milk to a food processor.
Blend until smooth, scraping down sides every minute.
Caramel should resemble a thick, smooth mixture.
Set caramel aside.
Chocolate Glaze
Add coconut oil to a saucepan and melt on medium low heat.
Whisk in cocoa powder and maple syrup until smooth.
Remove from heat.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using half of the chocolate mixture, spoon 24 dollops of chocolate evenly spaced onto the lined baking sheet.
With the back of a spoon, spread each dollop of chocolate into small circles, about an 1.5 inches in diameter leaving space between each.
Place baking sheet in freezer for 2 minute to harden.
Dollop caramel evenly onto each chocolate circle.
Press 1 pecan onto the side of each caramel.
Drizzle all caramels evenly with remaining chocolate.
Immediately press 1 pecan onto the other side of the caramel cluster (so each bite has a pecan!).
Sprinkle each cluster with coarse salt.
Place back in the freezer until hardened.
Store in the freezer in an airtight container.
Enjoy at room temperature or straight out of the freezer (my personal preference!).