Pecan Sandie Turtles

We’ve just finished up an amazing week of filming for The Raw Chef Desserts at Home Online Course and I feel super inspired by making desserts all week! Testing new recipes every week can be tough, like artistically, it’s a lot of content to produce on an ongoing basis, but working with desserts everyday for a week reignited something inside me and when that happens I ride the wave till the end!

These treats were created based on a mouth watering image I saw on Pinterest of something similar in cooked form. I was so excited to take the photo that I had to make these right away.

The pecan sandies are light and crunchy with bits of pecan running through them and the date caramel on top is super sweet, so it carries the sweetness for the whole bite. Add in that crunchy, and naturally sweet, activated pecan on top, drizzled with chocolate and you have a delight for all the senses. I sprinkled mine with some flaked sea salt and that made them look so pretty I could straight up cry.

Pecan Sandies
65g ( ⅓ cup ) buckwheat
50g ( ¼ cup ) maple syrup
40g ( scant ⅓ cup ) ground almonds
½ tsp vanilla extract or 4 drops vanilla medicine flower extract
2 tbsp water
Pinch sea salt

5g ( ¾ tbsp ) psyllium husk

15g ( 1 ¼ tbsp ) coconut flour
30g ( ¼ cup ) activated pecans, chopped

Method

• Soak the buckwheat 20 minutes – 1 hour, drain, rinse and allow to sprout 10 hours. Once sprouted, rinse once more before using.
• In a high speed blender, combine the first set of ingredients and blend on low/medium to break down the buckwheat. You may need to scrape down the sides a few times as you go.
• Once it’s all smooth, add the psyllium and blend on low to combine.
• Mix together the coconut flour and pecans in a bowl and add the blender contents. Using your hands, mix it all up and form into a ball.
• Roll it out between two pieces of teflex or greaseproof paper to about ¼ inch thickness.
• Cut with a 1 ½ – 2 inch ring cutter ( I use these ). Dampen the cutter between cuts to keep it cutting clean and not sticking to the dough.
• Carefully place the cookies on a mesh dehydrator tray and dry on 115f for 8 hours or until crisp but with a little give in the middle still.
• Allow to cool before adding the caramel layer.

Date Caramel
100g ( ¾ – 1 cup ) medjool dates, pitted
100g ( ½ cup ) cashew nut butter
100g ( ⅓ cup ) maple syrup
2 tbsp water, if needed to help blend

Method

• Combine all ingredients in a Vitamix or similar blender with a tamper stick.
• If you don’t have a blender with a tamper stick, use a food processor.
• Blend the mix on low/medium speed, using the tamper stick to keep it all moving. Turn the speed up as the mix breaks down.
• Once the dates are fully broken down and all is incorporated, transfer to a bowl or container.
• This recipe makes more than you’ll need, but if you try to make less in the Vitamix, it won’t blend. It freezes really well.

Assembly
18 pecan sandies
½ date caramel recipe
18 activated pecans
½ tbsp flaked sea salt
100g ( 1 oz ) chocolate, melted

Method

• When the pecan sandies are cool, pipe a round of the caramel on top of each one to fill cookie by ¾ .
• Place an activated pecan on top and gently press so the caramel fills out the cookie.
• If desired, dehydrate 1 – 2 hours to dry the caramel a little on the surface.
• Allow to cool once again before drizzling with melted chocolate.