I am venturing in making quite a few new recipes lately. Prime example? This amazing no bake gluten free samoa bars.

I guess these gluten free samoa bars can be a modification of the well known Samoa cookies, that to be honest, I have no idea what they are! Seeing how good they looked and the ingredient list was enough for me to make the  bars.

I must say that these gluten free samoa bars were on the sweet side though because I added a bit more honey to the base than I was suppose to, however, the version posted here has been adjusted in a way in which less honey would be needed. A much better option.

It is also the first time I am using dates for any of my baking, and I must say, it will not be the last. I loved using them. I don’t know why I waited so long. Have also found out that you can buy different type os dates. Some can be pitted while others will still have the pit in it. Either way, they are both still good.

All this week I will be posting some sort of chocolate related recipe so for the following week I will refrain from posting any sweet recipes. I will balance it out with some savory dishes, which to be quite frank, I think you are going to like, so stay tuned.

Until now, enjoy this recipe and stay safe!

Here you can see the base and the middle layers. These bars are out of this world. If you are turned of by the dates don’t be because the flavor is just fantastic.

Gluten free No bake samoa bars

Ingredients:

Base

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup almond flour or almond meal
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2-3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp Celtic salt

Middle layer

• 1 1/2 cups dates, soaked for about 10 minutes in hot water
• 1/3 cup coconut milk or 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1/8 tsp Celtic salt, optional
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips, vegan if need be

 

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse the walnuts and coconut together until it resembles fine crumbs.  Add in the almond flour, honey, and salt, and process until a moist dough forms.  Press the dough into a parchment lined 8x8" baking pan.

After soaking the dates, drain the water, and pulse in a food processor until a paste forms.  Add the coconut milk, and salt, and process until smooth.  Add the shredded coconut, and pulse until just combined.  Scoop the coconut mixture out, and spread it evenly across the top of the base.  Transfer to the fridge while you work on melting the chocolate.

Place the chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl, and microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted.

Remove the pan out of the fridge and pour the chocolate over the middle layer spreading it evenly. Place back in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour to harden the chocolate. Remove the mixture out of the fridge and cut into squares.  Store covered in the refrigerator.

Recipe slightly adapted from cooking ala mel

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Ok my fellow friends, what can I say about these beauties? Plain and simple, you just need these chocolate and coconut bars in your life. These bars are out of this world. On top of that they are no bake and super easy to put together.

I think I am going to be making these for time to come and I thought it was urgent for me to share and post these chocolate bars ASAP.

I have been looking for some no bake quick fix desserts for when we go away to our mountain condo, and these for sure fit the bill. Now I have a mini collection of some sensational no bake recipes that actually involve chocolate :-) I am a happy girl!!

By the way, if any of my readers is interested in staying in our condo on the Appalachian mountains in TN let me know. It is brand new and we are renting it per day :-) Here is the link It looks better though becuase we have made some changes to it. You will be able to see the new pictures in about 3 weeks.

Anyhow, there is not much I can elaborate on these chocolate bars. Just make sure you keep them in the fridge because with the coconut oil at room temperature they tend to get a bit soft. If you like them soft there is nothing wrong with that. I prefer them a bit more consistent to the touch so I keep them in the fridge.

Go and make these bars quick. Trust me, your family will love you for it!!

Enjoy!

These chocolate and coconut bars are out of this world so I hope you get to try them soon!!

No bake dark chocolate and coconut bars

Yield: 20 bars

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil (unrefined is important here for the coconut flavor)
2 cups gluten free rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/4 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup toasted coconut for topping (optional)

 

Directions:

Melt the peanut butter, honey and coconut oil in a medium size saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir frequently as the mixture melts. When it has melted, add the chocolate chips and keep stirring until they have melted. About a minute or so.

Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Stir until the ingredients are well combined.

Pour into an 8x8 pan. Top with toasted coconut. Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens, at least 3-4 hours, and slice into 1"-2" square pieces.

Store in the refrigerator.

Adapted from barefeet in the kitchen

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 20 bars.

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These cranberry bars are sweet and tart all at the same time…not too sweet though. I think they are more tart than sweet, which is what I like.

I also really like the almond flavor these bars have. I think it complements the cranberries rather well.

I always get my cranberries from TJoes, as it is the only place I have seen them organic. They are a little bit more expensive than regular ones but not by much.

I think these bars can also be made with a variety of fruit filling. I am thinking peaches, and any type of  berries would work really good as well. Come peach and berry season I will be making them again for sure.

So how are you doing on your Christmas baking so far?

I think I am adding a couple more cookie recipes to the list…oh boy…I think I am going to be baking for a while.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these cranberry bars. They are really high up on my list so I hope you get to try them.

Enjoy!

Here you can see the crust and topping being made. Make sure your crumbs resemble fine breadcrumbs. When pressing mixture with your hands it should stay together, just like in the left picture. Then press mixture onto your baking pan.

Cranberry bars

Yield: 16 bars

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Crust and topping

• 3/4 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1 organic egg
• 2 tablespoons  olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Filling

• 4 cups fresh organic cranberries, I get them at TJoe's
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking sheet with butter and set aside.

In a bowl combine crust ingredients except slivered almonds. I do this process by hand. Just make sure you end up with a crumbly mixture. Just like in the picture.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the crumb mixture and mix in the slivered almonds. Press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and set aside.

In a heavy bottom sauce pan add cranberries and honey over medium to low heat. Cook for about 5-8 minutes until cranberries have soften.

Spread the cranberry filling over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the top. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until the filling bubbles and the topping is lightly browned, and extra 25-30 minutes.

Cool completely before cutting.

Recipe adapted from healthy seasonal recipes

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These Almond butter banana Granola bars are sensational. They have no added sugar, are super healthy, chewy, and are perfect for a snack. These are not your typical hard and super crispy granola bars since they don’t contain all of the sugar.

These Almond butter banana Granola bars are a great snack. When ever I make them my son takes them to school and loves them. They are also great for breakfast on the go. Next time I will double the batch for sure because they are really good!!

These Almond butter banana Granola bars are the bake version. While I made both baked and no baked versions I think both are super good. I was not able to get decent pictures for the no bake version ones but because they were so good I will be making them again soon. I will try to get some nice pictures  so that I can post the recipe in the blog….. so stay tuned!!

For these bars you can add what ever dry fruit or nuts you may prefer. The mix-ins are endless so get creative and let me know what you come up with.

Enjoy!!

I mashed the bananas with a potato masher. You can do as well with a fork.

Here you can see the roughly chopped almonds ( I used sliced almonds because I did not have whole ones) with the dry fruit. Then add the remainder of the ingredients in the bowl before and after mixing them with a spatula. Not hard at all to do!!

Here you can see before and after baking the granola bars which took about 25-30 minutes.

The granola bars are supposed to turn a bit brown around the edges. That is what you want, just be careful not to burn them though. I used wax paper to wrap the granola bars in and then store them in the fridge for future consumption. These are great for my son as a snack for school. He loves them!!

Like I said before, you can add any nuts or dry fruit of your choice. The combinations are endless!!

Almond butter and banana Granola bars

Yield: 12 bars

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1/ 2 cup almond butter
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup mixed seeds, I used raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds
1 cup gluten free regular rolled oats
2 tablespoons flax seed meal

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8x8 baking square pan with parchment paper.

In a small pot heat almond butter and mashed bananas. Stir gently until well combined. Set aside. ( It takes about a couple of minutes or so)

In a food processor, coarse chop the almonds, apricots, and cranberries. Transfer to a bowl. Mix in seed, flaxseed meal and oats. Fold in the almond butter mixture. Press the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let granola cool before cutting into bars. Wrap each one on wax paper and store in the fridge.

Adapted from Anja's food 4 thought

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Do you have high cholesterol? well if you do or know someone that does these bars are the perfect treat. Prunes have the soluble fiber you need to lower cholesterol. I am sure you have heard about cheerios or oatmeal doing such right? That is because they contain soluble fiber (cheerios not that much, oatmeal its sort of ok) but there are other better food options that can lower cholesterol much better, and this is one of them.

Not only prunes have quite a lot of soluble fiber but they are very rich in antioxidants as well.

These bars are a really easy way to get soluble fiber in, not to mention the amount of flax seed meal that it is also included in the recipe and that it also contains tons of soluble fiber :-) THESE BARS ARE A SUPER SUPER POWERFUL NUTRITIOUS TREAT.

Just a little FYI note about how soluble fiber lowers cholesterol: Lowering cholesterol through diet it is pretty simple. Because cholesterol is recycled in the body and it is not excreted the only way you can lower it is by adding soluble fiber foods in your diet. Why? cholesterol will get attached to the soluble fiber and then excreted. It is as simple as that!!

Anyhow, I was thinking of getting my husband some protein energy bars for Christmas. I was thinking of getting them in bulk since they are super expensive. Instead, I am going to make him some home made energy bars using this recipe since he already likes them a lot.

They will be pretty much like these ones but I will add the protein powder he always has for breakfast in the morning so that they can be protein energy bars :-) I will make him a bunch. He is going to be super pleased…….

Well enjoy this super food. They may not look good but they taste awesome :-) or at least we think so…..

Enjoy!!

You can cut the energy bars as you wish. I cut them as squares some times rather than bars :-)

Here you can see one of the first steps. The flax seed, the dark chocolate chips and the almonds already made into a meal texture, all being mixed together. The right picture is after all of the ingredients are blended together in the food processor.

The next step is the peanut butter, prunes and honey. The right picture is after all of the ingredients are mixed together including the previous almond mixture.

Then I pad it down in the square baking pan, place the parchment paper over it and top it with a small plate. I place in the fridge for about 2-3 hours before I cut the bars.

No bake double chocolate and prune energy bars

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 14-16 bars

Total Time: 20 minutes max!

Ingredients:

1 lb whole pitted prunes
1 cup raw or toasted almonds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2-3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons organic peanut butter, you can use any brand you like but make sure it has no hydrogenated oils

 

Directions:

Line a 8 by 8 inch square pan with a piece of unbleached parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the long edges (you can use any other size square pan you may have). Set aside.

In a food processor, with the metal blade, add almonds and pulse until coarse bread crumbs have formed. Add dark chocolate chips and flax seed meal and pulse until finely chopped. Place this mixture in a bowl and set aside.

Place prunes, honey, peanut butter and cocoa powder into the food processor and pulse until mixture is finely chopped and it comes together nicely. Add previous almond mixture into the food processor and pulse for a few seconds until everything come together.

Press the mixture evenly over the pan and fold excess parchment over the bars. Place a plate to cover the bars, like in the picture, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Transfer the mixture to a cutting board and cut as desired. I keep my bars wrapped in wax paper in the fridge. Unrefrigerated bars are good for about a day or two.

  Nutrition facts are calculated based on the recipe giving 14 servings. Notice this is high in fiber.

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I made these cranberry crumble bars and let me tell you, they were sensational. I actually had not used fresh cranberries before. My husband brought a bag from the store the other day and told me to bake something with them, so I did……and so glad I did.

I was so glad I baked these cranberry crumb bars that I sent him back to the store to get 3 more bags. I really loved the tart taste with the sweetness of the crumble…..

I am already planing on making a cranberry pie with the remainder of the cranberries…I am so excited. Until then….

Enjoy!!

Pictures of the cranberry filling and the crumble dough. The pictures are a bit off since I took them at night…need to get a more powerful flash :-)

You can make these bars with any fruit filling you desire really. With cranberries it worked beautifully :-)

Healthier cranberry crumble bars

Yield: 10-12 bars

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, you can use a total of 2 1/2 cups if you don't have oat and barley flour
3/4 cup oat flour
3/4 cup barley flour
1/2 cup oats
1 stick butter, soften
1/3 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon, more if you like
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon aluminum baking powder

FILLING

3-4 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar, unrefined, I actually do 1/4 cup but you may want to stick with the 1/2 cup
3 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder, or corn starch

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a 8.5×8.5 inch square pan (this is what I used but you can use any other larger size you may have). In a large mixing bowl mix the filling ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl mix together sugar, oats, flours, cinnamon and baking powder. Add the butter, vanilla and oil and mix until the texture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Dough will come together just like in the picture.

Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. Place reserved half aside. Sprinkle the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough in the pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until top is a light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack then transfer to the refrigerator to chill before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Inspired by: Good life eats

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