Healthy Crumbs Week: Guest Blogger Wednesday: Gluten Free Chocolate Raspberry Bars!

Healthy Crumb: Guest Blogger Wednesday

A very good friend of mine makes these delicious Chocolate Raspberry Bars. She has made them on several occasions and they are always so yummy I end up eating almost the entire pan myself!  The best part is they are gluten, dairy, and egg free! I asked her if she would be willing to share her recipe and be my guest blogger this month. She happily accepted, but wanted to remain anonymous so we will just call her Claire. She is shy like that, but it's one of the reasons why I love her so much! Not to mention she made an entire recipe just for me! Claire lives with her husband and three very cute dogs. I hope you enjoy! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Raspberry Bars

I first started making these bars when Elizabeth found out she was gluten, dairy, and egg intolerant.  She and her husband were coming over for dinner and I didn't want her to feel left out when the rest of us had my very non allergy friendly cherry cheesecake. So I came up with this little recipe and decided to try it out on her. To my utter surprise, she loved it! I was a bit skeptical and hadn't even tried it myself, but to my surprise it ended up getting eaten faster than my cheesecake and has fast become a favorite even among all of my non allergic friends. So thank you Elizabeth for getting us all to try what has become one of our absolute favorite desserts. :)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer mix together:

  2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend* (I use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix)
  1 cup almond flour
  1 cup sugar

  *3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (if not already included in GF flour blend)

In a separate bowl whisk together with a fork:

  8 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Spread (or similar butter substitute)
  4 ounces applesauce
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients slowly mixing on low speed until thoroughly combined.

Remove about one cup of the dough and set aside.

Add to the remaining dough that is still in the mixing bowl:

  1/3 cup cocoa powder
  1/4 cup allergen free chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips)

Mix on low, scraping the sides frequently until the cocoa and chips are blended in. (You could also do this by hand but I am lazy :))

Line a 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper or grease lightly with a little oil. Press the chocolate dough into the bottom of the pan and spread evenly. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool a few minutes. Spread out over the cake to about 1/4 inch from the sides:

  1 cup raspberry (or any favorite berry) jam

Dot the whole thing with the remaining vanilla dough, dropping in small chunks over the raspberry jam.

Put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Cool thoroughly. Remove from the pan and cut into bars.

Elizabeth's thoughts; I hope you guys enjoy this recipe, you really must try them they are absolutely delicious!  I must confess I have never actually made them myself because, well frankly, she makes them so well I don't want to ruin a good thing! But she says they are super easy to make and after reading the recipe, I agree, so I will have to give them a try very soon! Enjoy!

posted by Allergy Free and Cheap Like Me! at 10:00 AM