Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Bars

Hello lovelies! I’ve been MIA lately. Life has gotten in the way but I certainly have NOT forgotten about you

I have a fun little treat to share with you today! This recipe morphed from a magic cookie bar into what I am calling a chocolate covered strawberry bar – sounds fancy, and tastes divine…and that’s a winning combo, right?

Most everything I am baking these days seems to involve chocolate and be in bar form, I must really be into the square shape this summer…I will have to analyze what that means later (haha). No matter what shape these are, they are heavenly, decadent and deeeeelicious! The base is a crumbly shortbread and the topping is dark chocolate with a gooey strawberry filling…and it’s all topped off with one of my favorite ingredients — coconut

You can always substitute your favorite fruit preserve to change the flavor but strawberry is what I had on hand and it worked beautifully. The shredded coconut on top can be omitted, but I find it adds nice visual appeal and helps absorbs a bit of the preserves below. If you do choose to omit the coconut, consider adding 1 to 2 more ounces of chopped chocolate for good measure and coverage

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Bars (Vegan) 

Ingredients

For crust:
1 1/4 cups almond flour
4 Tbsp coconut palm sugar, powdered (or any granulated sugar)
1/8 tsp sea salt
4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (butter or ghee can be subbed)
splash of pure vanilla extract

For Topping:
2/3 cup fruit-sweetened strawberry preserves
2 ounces of your favorite dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line with parchment paper a 8×8 pan or large loaf pan (this is what I used) and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour through salt). Stir in coconut oil and vanilla until mixture comes holds together when pressed. If not coming together, add a touch more of oil (will depend on what flours are used, I used flours from Nuts.com).
3. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.
4. Remove from oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. While crust is still warm, spread preserves over crust then sprinkle with chopped chocolate and coconut.
5. Let cool for 15 minute and then refrigerate until hardened, about 1 hour. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Chocolate-Dipped Walnut and Currant Cookies

Sweet, Miss Erin over at TexanErin Baking brought up the fact that I am lacking cookie recipes on this blog. This must be remedied! It’s funny because I’ve actually made quite a few batches of cookies but they somehow they don’t end up in my posts. I do apologize, dear readers, as cookies are critical in a baking repertoire and I do not intend on depriving you

While I did turn on the oven last week in the heat of the summer, these were worth it! I kept them in the fridge to keep the chocolate hard as I do not have air conditioning and these simply wouldn’t firm up at room temperature. It probably shouldn’t have been a recipe I tried on a 99F day but I was craving cookies and these hit the spot!

These little nutty bites have a slight crunch and are grain-free, easy and delicious! Any chopped dried fruit would be a great substitute for the currants if you prefer – I am thinking dried cherries and/or apricots would be a delightful add-in. The chocolate coating might be optional for some of you, but I thought they added that extra “oomph” to the cookie, though carob chips or white chocolate or a coconut butter coating would be lovely as well.

Chocolate-Dipped Walnut and Currant Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup pecans (or more walnuts)
1/2 cup almond flour (hazelnut flour might work here too)
6 Tbsp coconut palm sugar or other granulated sweetener
1/16 tsp pure stevia extract (or several more tablespoons of sugar)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup currants (or your favorite chopped dried fruit)
2 eggs, whisked
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For dipping: 4 oz of your favorite dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 tsp coconut oil

Optional: 4 Tbsp powdered xylitol or powdered sugar (I tried to dust my cookies with this and it barely showed up, this is only for looks)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse the walnuts and pecans until it resembles a meal. Keep pulsing until the mixture sticks together in clumps.
3. Add walnut-pecan “dough” to a medium mixing bowl along with the almond flour, sweetener, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.
4. Stir in the whisked egg, currants and vanilla and combine until a dough forms.
5. Divide mixture into 40 round balls. Flatten each dough ball slightly (these cookies will not spread much) and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden on the edges and slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool.
6. Heat chocolate and coconut oil in a double broiler until melted. Dip one side of cooled cookies into chocolate and placed on parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle with powdered xylitol/sugar if desired. Let firm at room temperature or put in refrigerator to harden. Enjoy!

Makes about 40 cookies

Summer Lovin’ Fresh Berry Tart

Fresh juicy berries scream summer. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries – I love them all! I also love spotting a huge container of blueberries at Costco for $5.99…that makes me happy

I made this tart for Fourth of July. You can see I was going for the red, white and blue theme. Better late than never, right? While it’s a little late for the holiday, it is still a worthy summer dessert and a delicious addition to a BBQ or get together.

I came across a photo of Fresh Blackberry Tart over at The LowCarbist and couldn’t wait to make my own version! The crust is grain-free and the fruity filling is no-bake, dairy-free, simple and fresh. Yummmmm. Summer berry tart, yes please!

The burst of fresh raspberries and blueberries complemented the nutty almond crust well, which is crumbly like a graham cracker version but with the added bonus of staying-power from protein and good fats  To top it off (no pun intended, ha), this tart would be extra scrumptious with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt…just saying

Care to join me for a slice?

Summer Lovin’ Fresh Berry Tart

Ingredients

For Crust:

1 1/2 cups almond flour (or meal)
3 Tbsp coconut flour
3-4 Tbsp powdered sweetener (palm sugar, xylitol, sucanat, etc)
pinch of pure stevia to taste
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
4 Tbsp coconut oil, butter or Earth Balance, melted

For Berry Filling:
20 oz fresh blueberries
1/3 cup palm sugar, sucanat, xylitol or other granulated sweetener (or more for sweeter filling, depends on ripeness of berries and your taste)
1/8 tsp pure stevia or to taste
1/8 tsp sea salt
6 Tbsp almond milk (or other non-dairy milk or water)
3 tsp lemon juice (lime juice might be good too)
1 tbsp unflavored gelatin powder
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest (lime might be good too)
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Prepare crust: In a mixing bowl, combine almond flour/meal, coconut flour,sweetener, stevia and salt and stir to combine. Stir in vanilla and coconut oil until mixture starts to hold together when pressed between your fingers. Add more coconut oil if necessary.
3.. Press into a 9-inch pie pan, covering the sides and the bottom evenly. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
4. Prepare filling: Wash the berries. Place half of the blueberries in a medium sauce pan on medium heat with milk/water, lemon juice, sweetener, stevia and salt. Let simmer for 5 or so minutes, until berries start to turn red and juice darkens.
5. Add gelatin while stirring mixture and continue stirring until powder is completely dissolved. Add zest, remaining blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries and stir to coat evenly with juice, then pour into pie crust.
Tip: To avoid clumps, add gelatin a small amount at a time, stirring in each addition in fully before proceeding.
6. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or until berries set and pie is cool throughout. Slice and enjoy!

Note: I made a 6 inch tart (pictured) and had leftover filling, so I adjusted the recipe for a standard 9-inch tart pan since that’s what most people have on hand.

I’d love to try this with agar agar for a vegetarian/vegan version…I’ll have to work on that!

Cinnamon Cappuccino Sour Cream Muffins

I think a little morning pick-me-up is in order! These grain-free, high-protein treats are a great way to start your day.

I am not a routine coffee drinker but I do enjoy the flavor in certain treats (ie. Coffee ice cream with chocolate chips = love) so I thought I would make a muffin version. I was very pleased with the results! The coffee flavor, in my opinion, is not overwhelming and the cinnamon complements the other ingredients and flavors nicely. These muffins are springy and light in texture while at the same time filling and hearty.

Cinnamon Cappuccino Sour Cream Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour (or other nut meal – I wanted to try hazelnut flour but didn’t have enough!)
3 Tbsp vanilla whey protein powder (use chocolate whey for a lightly flavored mocha version)
2 Tbsp granulated sweetener (coconut palm sugar, sucanat or xylitol)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp Himalayan pink sea salt
1/8 tsp pure stevia powder or more or less to taste (or another 2-3 Tbsp sweetener)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup non-dairy milk (coconut, soy or almond)
1 Tbsp espresso powder
6 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (ghee, Earth Balance or butter can also be subbed)
1 egg, room temperature and whisked
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Optional: 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips or cacao nibs for “mocha” version

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a muffin tin with 6 muffin liners or grease well with oil or butter.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour through xanthan gum and set aside.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine non-dairy milk and coffee granules, stir for one minute and let sit for 5-10 until well incorporated and mixture comes to room temperature (this will avoid coconut oil hardening in next step)
4. Add eggs, coconut oil and vanilla to the coffee-milk mixture and stir to combine well.
5. Mix wet into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Divide into prepared muffin cups and bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and cooked through completely. Remove from oven and let cool in pan. Enjoy!

Makes 6 muffins
Store leftover muffins in the refrigerator.