Salted Date Caramel Pecan Clusters aka vegan chocolate turtles

Recipe Difficulty: Easy

Recipe Tags: Vegan, Chocolate Turtles, Pecan, Clusters, Sea Salt, Caramel, Dates

I set out to make these one year around Christmas time. My mum every single year gets a box of chocolate turtles. If my brother is home, there will be a second box, or three. Chocolate Turtles are then eaten morning, noon and night for the first couple of days ha. My thought process is always, "how can I make something delicious but with better for you ingredients?" This recipe is the result. They don't necessarily taste like chocolate turtles exactly, but they are certainly inspired by them.

Recipe Notes
These chocolate pecan caramel clusters happen to be delicious AND simple to make. Whole pitted dates blended together with a bit of plant milk make incredible "caramel". They get soaked in water just to soften, and then blitzed with a bit of vanilla, a splash of plant milk and a pinch of salt.

Then you just mix the date mixture with toasted pecans, portion it into irregular shaped clusters, chill, then dip into melted chocolate. Finally a sprinkle of sea salt before the chocolate hardens, and honestly a little bit of salt right before eating one is good, too.

I can't decide if I like these better straight from the freezer or room temp. Both ways are good. The date caramel stays soft even in the freezer, a tasty contrast from the hard chocolate. Either way, salty caramel bites with pecans and chocolate is an addictive situation. 

I'll definitely be switching up the nuts in these sometime. How about adding some dried fruit? 

Tips for Recipe Success

• Use good quality chocolate. 
• Toast the pecans first & make sure the date mixture is really studded with them.                        1 heaping cup of pecans or a bit more if they mix in.
• Don't skip the sea salt. If you are feeling fancy and want to use a finishing salt like fleur de sel, go for it.