Chocolate Chip Cookie Date Caramel Brownie Bars. Vegan Recipe

On a happy note, if you do not know about Esther the Wonder Pig. Well now you do. 

I happened upon these hard hitting pictures of waste yesterday. Cell phones, cars, glass bottles, plastic. e-waste, chargers, circuit boards. So so many of them. I also remembered this post by Andrea about how much plastic we use unconsciously. Another friend of mine refuses to use most processed and packaged food unless it is packaged in bio-degradable or entirely recyclable options. So out go the cartons, and packaging for a lot of things. 
A smaller carton, packet or wrapper sure is convenient, but as it gets smaller and smaller, it produces more and more waste. I have spoken about Midway documentary before, Here is the video about a devastating environmental tragedy on a remote, Midway islandin the Pacific. There are vast collections of plastic suspended in the sea, and thousands of baby albatrosses (birds) die as their parents feed them plastic caps, rings and pieces. 

There are no clear answers and most times it feels like not enough solutions. Till there is a better solution, let us start with Reduce and reuse. Reduce the amount we use, and use re-usable options.

Steps:
Make the brownie batter and pres sit in the pan.



Blend the dates and spread the date caramel evenly on top.
Make the cookie dough and press down on top.



Bake until golden. Cool, slice and serve.



Chocolate Chip Cookie, Date Caramel, Brownie Bars.
Allergen Information: free of dairy, egg, soy, yeast. can be made gluten-free
makes 1 medium 8.5 by 4.5 bread pan

Ingredients:
1 Recipe Brownie batter Recipe from the Tiramisu Cheesecake Brownies (Gluten-free) or This brownie batter
1 Recipe Date Caramel (below)
1/2 recipe Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip cookies or 1 recipe Glutenfree Chocolate chip cookies

Date Caramel:
6 large Dates soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
1 Tbsp almond butter
1 Tbsp dry coconut shreds
1/2 cup almond milk
1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
Make the brownie batter. fold in 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips in it and pat into a greased baking pan.
Make the Date Caramel. Blend everything under date caramel until very smooth.
Spread the date caramel on the brownie batter evenly.
Make the Cookie dough. Flatten the dough into somewhat pan shape in your hands and then place on top of the caramel. Lightly press and shape into the pan. 
Bake for 26-28 minutes or until the cookie top is golden on the edges and not jiggly in the center.
Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan. Cool for another 10 minutes before slicing.