Date Caramel Cashew Thumbprint Cookies with Cacao Nibs

 Hello world, so I have finally taken the jump and told the parents I've gone VEGAN so I am now officially vegan, I guess. I know it's not much but it's a start! So to celebrate I wanted to make something I have wanted to make for a while.. Date caramel. I have never been a chocolate fanatic, I mean it's nice but I can live with out it. No, what I adore it caramel and fudgey things, so to hear you could have a healthy caramel was mind blowing. I have been afraid to make it cause my blender is awful and extremely noise but it succeeded so it i can make it with 90's blender so can you! These are full of protein so get em' down your gullet and get some guns to rival Popeye's! Or just for good skin and hair, what ever, big cartoon muscle arms are cool but ya know, your life. Anyway here are my...

Date Caramel Cashew Thumbprint Cookies

I am genuinely so so so so so proud of these.. like so proud.

Date Caramel 

Ingredients 

7 dates

3 prunes

1 tbsp of raisins

1 tsp vanilla bean seeds / 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

-Soak you dates, prunes and raisin in 5 tbsp of water for about half an hour

- Reserve a tbsp of the soaking liquor (for the cookies) then add the rest to the blender along with the salt and vanilla and blitz till smooth

Cashew Cookie

Ingredients 

1/2 cup of raw cashews

1/4 cup oats

tbsp of plain (or vanilla) protein powder (mine's vegan but its not certificated raw, you can however get raw certificated protein powder online to make this 'fully raw')

1 tsp vanilla bean seeds / 2 tsp vanilla extract

4 dates

2 tsp of granulated sweetener of choice (stevia, coconut palm sugar etc)

1 tbsp of agave

1 tbsp of date caramel soaking liquid

 Pinch of salt

1 tbsp of cacao nibs (optional)

- If you have a stubborn blender, like mine, roughly chop up your dates and nuts. Then throw into your blender with the rest of your ingredients (apart from your agave and soaking liquid).

Ingredients going into the noisiest blender ever

- Blitz in till the nuts and oats have been fully ground down and are starting to clump together into a dough, then add your agave and soaking liquid to help it along and blitz till a dough does form.

- Remove from blender and stir in your cacao nibs (you could use vegan chocolate chips also which would be sweeter but not as healthy and full of antioxidants as cacao nibs, plus I like the crunch you get from the nibs)

- Roll in to balls the size of a large marble the flatten and make a dimple in the center of the cookie (for the caramel)

Ready for the caramel!

- Fill the dimple with the caramel and serve!

KEEP CALM AND MAKE THESE