BRAINY CHOCOLATE SLICE
This is a delicious sweet treat that feeds the brain and supports the immune system, helping keep blood sugar levels nice and steady. It’s loaded with healthy fats making this treat highly anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. Perfect for lunch boxes and requires absolutely no cooking – a mere assembly job.
Ingredients
- 90 g pack of coconut chunks
- 100 g raw cashew nuts
- 2 tbsp raw shelled hemp seed
- 165 g pitted Medjool dates
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 50 g 100% cocao chocolate
- 2 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Place the coconut chunks and cashew nuts in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the dates and honey and pulse a few more times until you have a coarse paste (you can also do this by hand)
- Spread the mixture on a sheet of baking parchment and shape into a 15cm square with a thickness of about 1cm. Put in the fridge to firm up while you make the chocolate topping
- Melt the chocolate (I used Willie's Cacao 100% Pure Gold purchased from Waitrose) and the coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes and cool down a little, then spread over the cashew and date mixture and put back in the fridge until the chocolate sets
- Cut it into pieces and keep in the fridge for up to a week
Notes
THE SCIENCE BIT
The fat in CASHEWS is almost entirely made of oleic acid (found in olive oil) with strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. DATES are a wonderful source of fibre and are loaded with Iron and B vitamins to support the nervous system as well as vitamins A and K to protect the eyes and maintain healthy mucus membranes, protecting the gut lining. RAW COCONUT and COCONUT OIL have anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties and contain medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) that are easily digested and readily cross cell membranes. MCFAs are immediately converted by your liver into energy rather than being stored as fat. HEMP SEEDS are loaded with anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids, and are a wonderful source of fibre to protect the colon. HEMP SEEDS are the perfect protein – containing all 20 amino acids, including each of the 9 essential amino acids that our bodies cannot produce. Good quality organic dark CHOCOLATE, not only tastes divine, but cacao is full of antioxidants and has been shown to help boost serotonin levels (our feel good neurotransmitter) which in turn makes melatonin our sleep hormone. Finally RAW HONEY is packed full of anti-oxidants to protect cells from damage and is highly anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory.
