Since then they’ve self-published their first, very pink, recipe book “Make It Merry”, and have plans to extend their online community through a new app, as well as holistic events and Merrymaker products in the coming months.

“It was a major mindflip for us, to realise that we didn’t need to have the security of a full-time job,” says Emma.

“We put these thoughts on ourselves, that we must have stability, must find a boyfriend and get married at a certain age. We had to break those thoughts because they are actually not real.

“We want to continue to reach more people and learn more about running an online business.

“We believe in positive thinking, and trying things out. Our mindset is, everything’s a risk or an opportunity!”

The perpetually happy sisters say they set themselves a series of goals, and the first one was to produce a hard-copy recipe book.

“We like recipe books so we just had to go for it,” says Carla. “It was a massive learning curve, finding a designer, a printer, getting costs, there were so many hurdles. But we couldn’t be more proud of the result.”

The book features more than 70 recipes for paleo smoothies, main meals, breakfasts and sweets, with an emphasis on what they call “bio-individuality” – finding what works for you.

For them, this has included a mission to drop even more sugar from their diets and their recipes, and they believe they have come up with the goods with a series of low-fructose versions of their popular sweet treats, including a low-fructose, salted-caramel slice.

“If you’re already used to eating this way, then the desserts still taste sweet, and many people prefer the less-sugary versions. It’s a transition!” says Carla.

Their journey started when Emma was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance, and decided to try “paleo” after hearing about it repeatedly.

“We decided to give it a go and within a couple of weeks we were feeling amazing. Clear, shiny hair, no brain fog, and we lost a little weight,” says Emma.

“We used to have such a negative mindset around food, with guilt for eating something we shouldn’t.

“Paleo alleviated that stress and worry about food and calories. We felt more free.”

The sisters say they started out by sharing their new recipes on Instagram in 2012, which developed into their blog, The Merrymaker Sisters.

“After we went to America for a conference called PrimalCon, we just couldn’t come back to jobs that we hated,” says Emma.

“It seemed ironic that we weren’t living our message; which is follow your bliss. We had found our bliss but we weren’t living it. We were blogging in the mornings before work, and allowing so little time to get showered and dressed, it was ridiculous.”

The girls say they didn’t have a good work-life balance, and were lacking sleep.

“We realised that we were focused on hating our jobs, and it hit us that what you focus on grows,” says Carla.

“We started saying, imagine if the good stuff in our lives was the focus. Imagine what we could achieve if our business was our focus.”

Carla said she did some rough figures and decided they would still be able to pay the bills.

“We didn’t really look too closely into it though! And it was scary,” says Emma.

“We just had this attitude of, let’s make this amazing thing happen, hustle a little and maintain our health along the way.

“Even now we sometimes ask ourselves, what are we doing? Then we reflect back on our journey in the past year and we have no regrets.

“Now our happiness is times a million.”

“Make It Merry”, $27.95 with free postage in Australia. It’s also available as an e-book for $14.95 from themerrymakersisters.com.

Recipe: Low-fructose caramel slice

Ingredients
FOR THE BASE

• 1 cup of your favourite nut (we used macadamias and almonds)
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 4 tbs. coconut oil
• Pinch of salt

FOR THE FILLING

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup ghee (we use Primal Collective Ghee)
• 1/4 cup rice malt syrup
• 1 tsp. 100% vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

FOR THE ICING

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3 tbs. raw cacao
• 1 tbs. rice malt syrup

Instructions

Line a 20 x 20cm (8 x 8inch) baking tray with baking paper, or we like to use a silicone mould.

In a blender or food processor (we use our Vitamix) place all of the base ingredients.

Whiz until a smooth butter forms.

Transfer this into the lined tin and spread out evenly, covering the entire base.

Place into the freezer.

On to the filling (don’t worry about rinsing your blender!).

Place all of the filling ingredients except, we said EXCEPT, the rice malt syrup into the blender.

Blend on medium speed until super smooth.

Now add the rice malt syrup and blend on LOW SPEED until smooth. You do not want the filling to heat as the rice malt syrup will separate.

Place the filling on top of the base and smooth out the top.

Place back into the freezer.

Rinse the blender.

Now for the icing. Place all of the ingredients EXCEPT the rice malt syrup into your blender and blend on high until smooth.

You don’t need to melt the coconut oil first as the friction from the blender will slowly melt it all together.

Now add the rice malt syrup and blend on LOW SPEED until smooth.

Spread the icing on top of the filling and place into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Once set, slice and ENJOY!

MERRYMAKER TIP : We suggest you slice and freeze separate pieces then thaw out when it’s time for low fructose salted caramel slice!