Shortbread ingredients:

1 cup cashews

1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup dates

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Chocolate ingredients:

1 cup cashews

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup, honey or agave nectar

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons raw cocoa powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon water

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Process: Place all shortbread ingredients in the food processor. Process until the mixture sticks together and the dates are well processed.

2. Dump shortbread mixture into your pan. Press the crust down firmly in your dish with your hands. (Shortbread base is now done.)

3. Blend: Place all chocolate mixture ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend until very smooth.

4. Pour/deposit chocolate mixture on top of shortbread, similar to pouring icing on brownies. Smooth with the back of a spoon.

5. Freeze: Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour. Always store these in the freezer.

6. Eat! I like to slice a frozen piece, then let the slice thaw out on the counter for 15 minutes or so.

The Rawtarian's Thoughts

These are freezer bars. I tend to make them in a square baking dish.

if you're having trouble getting the chocolate mixture to blend properly, turn your high-speed blender off and insert a spatula down one side to let a pocket of air down near the blades. Then remove the spatula, put the lid back on and continue blending--going from slow all the way up to fast again.

You must use the coconut oil in this recipe. It's what makes the chocolatey mixture thicken in the freezer.

These raw chocolate shortbread bars call for a lot of lemon juice, but that's the secret ingredient that makes the chocolate taste a bit more zingy (like chocolate cheesecake) rather than just like pure chocolate. This gives the chocolate a deeper dimension and more of an adult flavour.

These bars need to be stored in the freezer.

I am addicted to these right now. Serve them with thawed raspberries thrown on top = dreamy!

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Comments

Oh wow I've been experimenting with these. I have to say the bases is the best and I've added coconut meat to the chocolate topping and it's amazing.

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The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Mel, ooooh take something good and sweet, add real coconut meat from a young Thai coconut and YUM - even better!

Hi there!
I can't find any coconut oil where I live (small town in France), is there any substitute I could use instead? Thanks

The Rawtarian's picture

Bonjour Celine! Sorry, there is no substitue for coconut oil - it is important because it will solidify when cold. No other oil will do

This may be a silly question but the dried unsweetened coconut is that from a packet or is that a fresh coconut??

The Rawtarian's picture

Mandy - packet!

Thanks:)

Hi hope your having a great day!!!! OMG I just made the shortbread and it worked perfectly for me. I love the taste of the topping, I wasn't going to waste any of it!!!! It tastes amazing, thanks so so soooo much, your a gem!!!!! Cant wait to eat it.
Kindest regards Gracie xo

The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Gracie, so gald you liked :) xox

Hi Laura, hope your day is fantastic! I just love the shortbread, my husband love it too as do my children!!! I want to know how long can I keep them in the freezer for, its just that we love them so much I thought i would make a double batch and have them ready in the freezer when I needed them. I also just want to tell you that I lined the tray with baking paper it worked a treat. Once the shortbread was set I lifted the paper out of the tray and was able to slice up the shortbread on my copping board it was perfect and so easy to cut up this way. I then placed them in a container and returned it to the freezer, having individual peices ready for me!!!!!!!!!! You are a star and a raw food princess!!
Kindest regards Gracie xox

The Rawtarian's picture

Great tips Gracie! xox xox

These squares are unbelievably easy to make, and absolutely delicious! I'm converting more and more of my food choices to "raw". Thanks SO much for helping to make the transition an easy one! LOVE , LOVE, LOVE your site, and your recipes, and your enthusiasm! I'm happy to be excited about food again! :)

The Rawtarian's picture

:)))))))) Sherry

Would it be possible to substitute almonds into this recipe? They are the only nuts my mum is not allergic to and I thought this would be great to make for her birthday. Thanks

The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Linda, for the BASE (crust) you can definitely use almonds instead of cashews.

But for the topping, I am going to suggest a different, nut-free recipe for you: http://www.therawtarian.com/raw-chocolate-icing

The chocolate icing recipe above written up with this shortbread recipe is much better so make that if you can, but if you can't do nuts the link is a good substitution.

best ever best ever best ever best ever best ever best ever best ever best ever best ever best ever

The Rawtarian's picture

lol Sara S. . Well said!

Any idea on the nutritional info per bar? Or batch?

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Hi Shannon, Sorry I am unable to provide. But if you enter all the ingredients into an online calculator (like fitday) you'll get your answer :)

I really love these! Thank you so much for the great recipe!!! I'm on my second batch...and although they are great, after two back to back batches I'm getting a little tired of the tangy chocolate taste and the coconut. Do you think if I subbed the coconut in the base for Hemp seeds and the lemon juice in the chocolate for vanilla it would give it a less cheesecake like taste and still work?

The Rawtarian's picture

hi Barbara, yes! Great ideas and very astute substitution suggestions. Truly.

It's in the freezer. . . thumbs up so far from my son and I, the topping is yummy :)

The Rawtarian's picture

Melissa, thumbs up from a son is always a good sign :) Glad to have you here and hope it turned out as well as you'd hoped!

I just put my first batch of shortbread bars in the freezer! Can't wait to eat them!

The bars were a hit with my boyfriend and our friend! However, my boyfriend told me he wouldn't eat anymore of them because it was my "Expensive" dessert...he would stick with his SAD store bought cookies worth $3 a box. Lol! Whatever!

I think I used too big of a glass dish because the thickness of the shortbread was much thinner than the chocolate. It's the only dish I have so I'm thinking of doubling up the recipe next time to get the thickness I like. ;-)

The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Rhinda, that is much better than him wanting to eat the whole batch!!! LOL (I don't like sharing heehee). So glad they worked out well for you!

I bought a food processor just so I could make these !! thank you so much for posting this recipe, I totally loved them !! x

The Rawtarian's picture

So glad that it was worth it Jules. Food processors are awesome, I use mine ALL the time!

I'm wondering if you could add a layer of caramel sauce between the chocolate and the base to make 'millionaire shortbread' (is that a british thing?). I looked at the sauce recipe, do you think it would work? I'd love a salty chocolate caramel treat!

The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Lizzy, could be a British thing as I have never heard of it here in Canada. That being said, I am sure it would be delicious! You could use the TRK caramel sauce, but perhaps add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to the caramel sauce to ensure that it freezes in the freezer.

This could be very yummy!

This was hit with my family, thanks:)

The Rawtarian's picture

You're more than welcome, Eva :) Glad they were a hit!

Which dates are preferable, here in Istanbul we have harder chewy ones or really big soft mushy sweet ones ?

The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Susan, Either could work, but if given the choice definitely go for the really big soft mushy sweet ones :)

These bars were amazing!! Thanks so much!

The Rawtarian's picture

Hi Laura, You are welcome :)

OMG!! These bars are sooooo goood that my friend and I ate the whole pan in one night!!! The crust being chewy, sweet with the bit of salt mixed with the topping being creamy and the "zing" of the lemon juice made my taste buds burst with happiness! I soak and dehydrate all my nuts, so the only change I made was to use my "crispy" cashews. Thank you so much for developing this fantastic yummy "raw" dessert. Another friend of mine emailed me this recipe and am so grateful she did! I have made your dehydrated "dill pickle" kale chips which are awesome, but had not found this recipe! I also love that it is refined sugar free with only 1/3 cup of maple syrup. This is now my favorite dessert. Which I maybe making every weekend!!

The Rawtarian's picture

Lol Awesome Terrilynn!

The whole family loved them.

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:) Jennifer

Yes, just as you described, definitely my favourite too, together with the refrigerator carrot cake. The lemon juice and the raspberries on top turn these slices into a delish desert! Thank you :-)

The Rawtarian's picture

You're welcome, Ellen! You've chosen some excellent recipes to make :)

Just made them - husband said woohoo!

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Becky, when a husband says "Woohoo" we call that a resounding success :)

Think I blended the base to long as its a bit sticky.. Still tastes good but looking forward to my next batch..

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Gabrielle, next time you'll perfect it :)

I make these allll the time. They are absolutely amazing!

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Grace :)

SoooooooOooooo Good! Had to bring half of it to work today and everyone loved it! people could not believe it was raw :) Thank you SO much for all these recipes!

The Rawtarian's picture

You are much more generous than I, Cristina! ;) Keep spreading the good word!

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