Similar to eggs back around the 1990’s, for a long time coconut has had a bad rap due its high content of saturated fat. The tide is now turning and apparently coconut may not be as bad for us as previously thought. Either way, I figure a small amount every now and then is probably okay!
This slice tends to be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I often find the pieces from the outer edge are crisp all the way through while the pieces from the middle are more chewy. I think it depends how evenly I spread out the mixture in the tin!
The slice is nice as it is but if I’m giving it away, I usually ice it which makes a good finishing touch.
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups ground almonds
- 1½ cups desiccated coconut
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup cocoa
- ½ cup sugar
- 45 grams oil
- 3 tablespoons milk (I use oat milk or rice milk but the same amount of dairy milk can be used)
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 190° C. Line a 30cm x 20cm tin with baking paper.
Combine the almonds, coconut, baking powder, cocoa and sugar.
Add the oil and milk and mix until well combined. The mixture is quite dry and crumbly so be sure to fully incorporate all of the dry ingredients. This can take a few minutes. The mixture has enough moisture in it that it comes together well when pressed into the tin.
Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the prepared tin. I find it easiest to do this by placing all of the mixture in the tin then pressing it down and out to the sides of the tin with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Once out of the oven, with the slice still in the baking tin, carefully cut the slice into squares. I find a normal kitchen knife works best for this. It’s best to cut lightly and barely touch the bottom of the tin so as to not scratch the tin but to pre-cut the slice. As the slice cools, it becomes crisp and is very hard to cut once cold. I have tried removing the slice from the tin as soon as it is out of the oven but because at that stage it is still soft, it tends to break.
Pre-cutting the slice while still warm means it cleanly and easily breaks according to the cuts once cold.
If I ice the slice, I make a simple icing of about ¾ cup of icing sugar and about 3 tablespoons of cocoa mixed with enough hot water to make a runny icing. I then spoon about half a teaspoon of icing onto the centre of each piece of slice. The icing is runny enough that it spreads out over the piece of slice.
