Chocolate Salted Caramel Fudge Bites

Chocolate on your mind? These are the ones for you! A sweet and soft fudge centre, coated with a layer of decadent dark chocolate and topped with a little sprinkle of sea salt. (When I read that back, I can just imagine the voiceover lady on Masterchef saying that!)

My wonderful friend Sean Joseph Young hung out with me last week and we had a go at making them!

Check out the video below:

They are complete and utter bliss and I can proudly say they passed the taste test from ALL my family and friends so this recipe is one I'm very excited to share with you all. They are great for lunchboxes, a mid afternoon snack, a gift to take to parties or an after dinner sweet treat! The only problem with them is that once you start munching, it's pretty hard to stop.

These are refined sugar free, nut free, gluten free, dairy free, (if you use dairy free chocolate or a cacao bar) and just as delicious as the real thing! They are so simple to make and most of the ingredients are store cupboard staples that you'll probably find you have anyway.

Ingredients

70g organic dark chocolate (Green & Blacks is my favourite! I used 90% because my family and friends love their dark chocolate but feel free to use 70% or more)

170g pitted dates

100g sunflower seeds

1/4 tsp salt and extra for the topping (I use pink himalayan salt whenever I say salt in my recipe because it contains trace minerals that aren't found in regular salt. Don't worry if you don't have any though, just maybe something to think about next time you're out shopping and I'd definitely recommend it. It's worth doing your own research on it if you're interested!)

Method

(Makes 12)

Put the dates, sunflower seed and 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor.

Whizz up for about 5-8 minutes (be patient, it does take a while!) until you have a thick dough and it starts clumping together.

Press the dough onto a small baking tray (approx 20cm x 20cm) and place in the freezer for about 30 mins.

Meanwhile, break the chocolate up and place it in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water to melt.

Remove the baking tray from the freezer and carefully turn the now hardened mixture onto a piece of baking parchment.

Carefully cut into 12 small squares.

Spoon melted chocolate over each square and return the squares to the fridge for around 20-30 mins to harden.

Once they're out of the fridge, sprinkle each square with a little sea salt!

These caramel bites can be kept in the fridge or in a container.

Recipe creating can be a NIGHTMARE sometimes. It's my absolute favourite thing to do but it can be incredibly challenging at times. It normally involves about five different disastrous attempts which always results in kitchen chaos and ingredients all over the place. There's always one epic fail attempt that you wish had never happened/never speak of again. Once you think you've perfected it, it's taste testing time. Making a big batch and allowing friends and family to sample your creation. Honesty is key at this point! What makes it all worth it is when you absolutely perfect a recipe and absolutely everyone who tries it totally agrees. I do all the happy dancing when that happens.