Im going to keep this super short as I have already shared this recipe on my social channels before. Truth be told I had never even heard about millionair bars until I saw them trending on the internet a little while back. They must be a popular dessert in America or another country as I have never seen them in Australia. Once I had a look at what they were I immediately decided that I needed to try my own version as they sounded absolutely delicious. The gist of a millionaire bar is a shortbread cookie base, caramel centre and chocolate coating. Three of my favourite things in one! I also cant pass up an opportunity to use tahini in any recipe that calls for caramel. I find caramel too sweet, so I feel like the tahini adds a nice little bit of bitterness to balance it out. Its also very high in calcium. Calcium has been shown in recent studies to be one of the main deficiencies in vegan/plant-based diets so it’s important to eat enough calcium. Calcium is plentiful in plant-based foods but I think special effort needs to be made to ensure we actually eat the foods that contain it. Just two tablespoons of tahini gives us close to 20% of our daily calcium needs (just make sure you buy unhulled, as it contains more calcium) Calcium is also a very important nutrient for building healthy estrogen levels and is strongly utilized by the body in the follicular phase (the first half of a woman’s menstrual cycle when estrogen is rising). Low estrogen is assoicated with low bone mass and risk of osteoporosis so getting enough calcium is crucial for both hormones and bones especially in women!
In this recipe I am also using rice malt syrup, or brown rice syrup (same thing). Its not a sweetner that I use very often in my recipes, even though I do love it. I generally opt for maple syrup as I prefer the consistency, but when it comes to a sticky caramel, I will choose rice malt syrup for better textutre and taste. Rice malt syrup is fructose-free, which doesnt spike our insulin as much as other sugars. It can be a good choice for people that are struggling with insulin resistance, pre diabetes or insulin resistant PCOS.
The recipe is very easy to put together and doesnt require a lot of machinery. I always love that as it saves on clean up! It is also, mostly gluten-free, I will give a gluten-free option, refined sugar-free, dairy fee and vegan.
Equipment you will need
| No Bake Vegan Tahini Millionair Bars | Print |
- SHORTBREAD:
- 1 cup quick oats (or use quinoa flakes for completely gf)
- 3 cups blanched almond meal
- 4 TBSP grape seed oil
- 4 TBSP rice malt syrup
- CARAMEL:
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup rice malt syrup
- 4 tbsp tahini
- Drop vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- CHOCOLATE:
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup almond milk
- Mix all the short bread cookie ingredients in a bowl until sticky. Press down evenly in a lined square baking tin and set aside.
- For the caramel layer melt down the coconut oil until liquid and mix in all the other ingredients until smooth. Pour over short bread layer and place in the freezer to set for 1 to 2 hours.
- Meltdown the chocolate chips on low heat on the stove and mix in almond milk to make it creamier. Once caramel is set, pour over chocolate sauce and place back in the freezer for another 1 to 2 hours. Once set, slice and enjoy.
