Happy National Girl Scout Day! In honor of all those addicted to Girl Scout cookies… I present to you

…(drum roll) …. a healthy Caramel Delite!

It’s true folks.

Before we get to the recipe, I’m sorry to do this to the Girl Scouts, but we have to take a look at the ingredients in a Caramel deLite. When you’re looking at nutrition labels, start with the ingredients. While Caramel deLites only have 130 calories, they are chock full of terrible ingredients that have no nutritional value. I’m not exaggerating. Check it out: Among the first few ingredients are sugar, enriched flour, vegetable oil, corn syrup, and HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Sorbitol is also sugar and can cause gastrointestinal issues. Glycerine is also a sugar alcohol which is used as a filler, but yes, also in soaps fragrances, and skin care products. It’s U.S. FDA approved, but that doesn’t mean you should be eating it.

To sum it up: these ingredients are not worth sacrificing your health for 130 calories.

Okay, now we can move on- here’s the recipe:

What you need:

For the cookie:

• 1 vegan egg ( 1tbsp ground flax seed, 2.5 tbsp water; or you can use a regular egg)
• 2 cups blanched almond flour (I got mine at Trader Joe’s)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup honey (agave if you are vegan)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil (I buy the kind that doesn’t taste like coconut from Trader Joe’s)

For the top part of the cookie:

• 8-10 Medjool dates pitted (depends on the size of your dates!)
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup toasted shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• pinch of salt

For the chocolate:

• 5-6 squares of 75% or more dark chocolate
• 1/2 tsp coconut oil

What to do:

1`. Preheat oven to 350. I like to toast the coconut now, while it’s heating up, but just watch out for it because it’s easy to forget about and burn.

2. Make the flax see egg: in a little bowl, mix 1tbsp ground flax seed with 2.5 tbsp water. Let sit.

3. In a food processor, combine the almond flour, shredded coconut and baking soda.

4. Mix the honey, vanilla extract, and coconut oil in with the flax seed egg. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mixture and process together.

5.  Take dough out of processor and transfer to a bowl to chill in the freezer while you make the topping.

6. Wash and dry your food processor- we’re at it again.

7.  Combine the dates, water, shredded coconut cashews, and salt.  Process until it’s all well blended. *NOTE: the amount of dates will vary depending on the size so use your judgement here- you want the overall mixture to be a like a thick caramel-ish paste.
8. Take the dough of out the freezer and grab a lined cookie sheet or just make sure it’s greased.

9. To make the cookies, I take about a tablespoon of the dough and roll it in my hands to form a 2-3 rope and then I make it into an ‘o’ shape and place it on the cookie sheet. I like to flatten all the cookies at the end with a wet spoon or hands.

10. Bake for 6-8 minutes, but keep an eye on it. The baking time will vary based in your oven. You just want them to be slightly brown/golden on the top.

11. Take them out of the oven and let cool for just a few minutes. Then take some of the date mixture and cover the tops of the cookies.

12. Sprinkle remaining toasted coconut on all the cookies.

13. Melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil in a small saucepan in the stove on low heat and then drizzle over the cookies and place cookies in freezer for 30 minutes. Then enjoy!

*Note: I keep these cookies in the freezer or fridge, because I think they taste the best that way!