1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Make the Shortbread Cookies

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the cassava flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix in the shortening, maple syrup and vanilla, first with a fork or spatula, then use your hands to knead the dough. 
2. Dust a sheet of parchment paper with cassava flour, press the cookie dough onto the parchment and then sprinkle more cassava flour on top of the dough. Grab another sheet of parchment paper and roll the cookie dough between the parchment sheets. You'll want to roll the dough between 1/8" and 1/4" thick.
3. Use circular cookie cutters to cut out the cookie shapes. I purchased these circular cookie cutters and love them, but have also cut out shapes using a glass drinking cup and a shot glass.
4. Place the cut out cookies on the lined baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. After baking, transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
5. Re-roll the remaining dough to make more cookies. I made about 15 cookies, but the number you get will depend on the size of cookie cutters you use.

Make the Date Caramel

1. Soak the dates in hot water for 5 minutes to soften them up. To do this, place the pitted dates in a glass or ceramic bowl. Heat a pot of water (hot, not boiling), then pour the water over the dates so that they are fully submerged. After 5 minutes, drain the water from the dates, squeezing out as much of the moisture as you can.
2. Place the dates, sunflower seed butter and coconut oil in a food processor and blend until the mixture is fairly smooth and consistent. Add coconut flour to thicken the caramel. Start with 3 tablespoons and add more as needed, until the caramel reaches a sticky consistency that can be shaped and rolled.
3. Once you've reached the right consistency, pulse the shredded coconut into the mixture.
4. Scoop out one tablespoon of the date caramel and roll it into a rope. Gently press the rope down on top of the shortbread cookie and use your hands to mold it to the cookie.

Coconut Topping

1. Top each cookie with toasted coconut. I found the easiest way to do this is to place the cookie on a plate or flat surface, sprinkle the coconut on top and then gently press it down so that it sticks to the date caramel. Turning the cookie upside down and pressing it into the coconut resulted in a few broken cookies...oops.
2. Freeze the cookies for at least 20 minutes to make dipping them into the chocolate a bit easier. (This step isn't required, but firms up the caramel and makes dipping the cookies in chocolate easier.)

Drizzle with Dark Chocolate

1. Melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil. Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a small sauce pan and melt over low heat on a small stove-top burner. (You may also melt the chocolate in the microwave or with a double boiler.)
2. Once melted, grab the cookies from the freezer and dip the base of the cookies into the chocolate. Place the dipped cookies onto a lined baking sheet to set.
3. Once all the cookies have been dipped, drizzle the remaining chocolate over the cookies. You can drizzle the chocolate straight from the pan, or pipe the chocolate over the cookies in a small zip lock baggie.

Storage

1. Store the cookies in a sealed, air-tight container or baggie in the fridge or freezer.