Yep. That just happened.
I LOVE these bars. Pure joy in a bit. Or 18. Whichever route your mouth takes you. These would be perfect for a Saint Patty’s Day celebration! Why? Because I said so. And I was too lazy to create a paleo corned beef and cabbage recipe. Mainly because I didn’t want to eat it. I’m sure it’s delicious, but I’d rather eat caramel bars all day, every day. And I can do all that because it’s my blog. Winning!
I saw a full camouflage truck today. Complete camo. Yeah. That was a good idea.
The other day, my friend Missy gave me the idea of making vanilla chai almond butter. And I did it. And ate it all in one day. I wish I were lying. Thankfully I didn’t make a ton of it because I knew I would be alone in the house with it later that night, but it still stared at me for a good 30 minutes, until I consumed all of it.
I totes have a new crush. Not a man, sadly. I have come to terms with the fact that I will never meet the man of my dreams in Colorado. It’s just fact. I will have to go somewhere far from here to find a normal, attractive, incredibly fantastic man. Who is single. That’s a must…as you’ve heard from my past rants.
Holy balls, tangent, my new crush. Back on it. Her name is Joy, Joy the Baker. My other friend Joy introduced me to Joy the Baker’s blog and I was instantly hooked. All because she’s hilarious, and has some awesome photography. How are all these blog people so good at photography and I suck ass? Probably because I don’t have a crazy amazing camera. Yeah, that’s it, it’s the cameras fault.
Sometimes, when I cook a lot of food, I can smell myself when I workout. Then I want to throw up, mid workout. Like today, while I am doing the Open wod 12.4. 150 wall balls smelling like bacon is sure to make anyone uncomfortable. So excited.
Oh and btw, I will be putting together a post of everything I eat in a day to post on Saturday. Had a few questions about what my daily food intake looks like. It really is different every day so hopefully this helps. You can also look back at my first post about what my day usually looks like! It’s pretty boring. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Caramel Pecan Bars
- Yield: 5-6 1x
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1.5 cups pecans
- 3/4 cup almond flour/meal
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
For the caramel
- 12–14 medjool dates, pitted and soaked in water for an hour
- 5–6 tablespoons canned coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Add your pecans to a food processor and blend until you get more of a meal or flour, then add your melted coconut oil, raw honey and vanilla until you get a very delicious pecan butter.
- Add that pecan butter to a large bowl then add your almond flour/meal, baking soda and powder and salt, then add your egg and whisk all ingredients together.
- Grease a bread loaf pan with coconut oil and then add your crust ingredients to the pan and use a spoon to spread out evenly.
- Put in oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes or until middle is cooked completely through. Use the toothpick method to test it.
- While the crust bakes, lightly clean out your food processor (I licked it clean so I didn’t have an issue having to use any dish soap. wow.) then add your dates.
- Turn on until dates have broken down (less than a minute) then add your coconut milk tablespoon by tablespoon to the dates while the food processor is still running. Then add your water as well.
- And add your vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
- Process until you get a caramel. BOOM.
- Once your crust is done baking, let cool for about 10-15 minutes.
- Top caramel over crust using a spoon to smooth out.
- Put in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to set. Or consume right then really.
- Keep in fridge if you have leftovers!
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More Layered Caramel:
Salted Caramel Cookie Ice Cream Cups
Holiday Raspberry Caramel Tart
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Is the oven temp really supposed to be 375°? I cooked the crust at that temp for 25 minutes and it was most decidedly burnt. The color looked more like brownies than what you have in the picture. I had already made the caramel and wasn’t about to waste 6 bucks worth of medjool dates, so I decided to toss the burnt crust and start over, cooking at a lower temp and for less time. I lowered the temp to 350° and decided to start with 15 minutes. I checked it after 12 and it was DONE. Now the color is right. It actually should’ve come out at 10 minutes. My oven doesn’t cook hot, so I’m wondering how the crust turned out for everyone else, and if it should read 315 instead of 375?
Nope 375 is what I used Beth. Sorry it burnt the first time 🙁
Mine were [nearly] burnt too. Luckily I got a hunch to check them and take them out of early. I will probably try making these again…but lower the temp and time. Also, my caramel was runny too. Will next time use more dates and/or less coconut milk and water.
Also, a note to those people who commented that their caramel came out too liquidy – that happened to me when I made the caramel brownie bars, and I realized afterwards that it was because I had used regular dates, not medjools, which are much bigger. I made sure to use medjools this time and the caramel turned out perfectly!
I made these today and they were AWEsome! Thank Juli!!
Well, you have done it again! You just keep hitting it out of the park. These are fantastic! Thank you!
Holy shit balls, Juli. These are EPIC! Your blog is awesome, and I want to try all of your recipes. I’m trying the Brazillian Curry Chicken on Sunday. Thanks and good luck with regionals!
One of the best things I ever put in my mouth! And my body says thank you.
I just made these. My baby waking just before I was supposed to take the base out of the oven (it’s a little, er, crispy), and my blender laughing in the face of me attempting to use it to purée dates means that my finish product is not quite as pretty as yours but they’re still so yummy!
Am very excited about that because when I usually attempt any healthy recipes I find online the tasting of them is followed by horrified facial expressions and much spitting in the sink (seriously. I’m usually a magnet for things that should not have been cooked). Am going to cook my way through your blog now. Thank you!!!!
Believe it or not, I am new to Paleo because of an injury I sustained at Crossfit! I tore my rotator cuff doing 20″ Box Jumps! So, since I couldn’t run, do pushups, etc. I thought I should tailor my eating habits. I made this recipe to curb my PMS cravings and I LOVE IT!!!! I have made it TOO many times!!! Thanks. I’m trying the sweet potato brownies tonight:).
Are you fricken kidding meee???? these are amazinggggg!!!! I can’t believe it.
Have you ever tried the Carmel sauce in coffee?
lol no i have not, but might as well!