Ingredients:
- 180g whole wheat pastry flour
- 65g coconut sugar
- 170g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 2g fine sea salt
- 300ml sweetened condensed milk
- 60g unsalted butter
- 5ml pure vanilla extract
- 1g flaky sea salt
- 200g raw pecan halves, roughly chopped
- 100g dark chocolate chips, 60% cacao
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 175°C (350°F). Line your 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper, making sure it hangs over the edges like handles.
- Mix the dry base. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 180g of whole wheat pastry flour, 65g of coconut sugar, and 2g of fine sea salt. Note: Whisking breaks up any clumps in the sugar.
- Cut in the butter. Add 170g of cold, cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter or fork to work it in until you see coarse crumbs about the size of peas.
- Press the crust. Transfer the crumbs to the pan and press down firmly. The crust should look even and tightly packed to prevent it from crumbling later.
- Bake the base. Place in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Bake until the edges are just barely golden and the center looks set.
- Toast the pecans. While the crust bakes, toss the 200g of chopped pecans into a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir for about 3 minutes until they smell intensely nutty and look slightly darker.
- Make the caramel. In a saucepan, combine 300ml of condensed milk and 60g of butter. Stir constantly over medium heat until the butter is fully melted and the mixture starts to bubble and thicken.
- Add final flavors. Remove the caramel from the heat. Stir in 5ml of vanilla and the 1g of flaky sea salt. Note: Adding vanilla at the end prevents the flavor from evaporating.
- Layer it up. Scatter the toasted pecans over the warm crust. Pour the caramel evenly over the nuts. The caramel should slowly fill all the gaps between the pecans.
- Finish with chocolate. Sprinkle the 100g of chocolate chips over the hot caramel. Let them sit for a minute to soften, then let the bars cool completely before lifting and slicing into 24 pieces.