Monday, August 29, 2011

A gluten free and dairy free Almond Joy Cake by the people, and for the people.

Dear Friends. stop

I made something weird, and it was good.  stop

I would share it with you but it is all gone.  stop

Make some today.  stop

Invite me over my batch is gone.  stop

Peace out homes stop


Okay folks, here is the DL.  I go through phases where I try to be gluten free, low gluten, dairy free, refined sugar free in my diet.  If I am not on one of these kicks I am guaranteed to have at least one friend who is...and sometimes I am moved by the spirit to bake for them.  For this reason our cupboard is filled with random flours, grains, and sugars...I swear it looks like we robbed a health food store up in here.

I keep hearing about and reading about coconut palm sugar.  So I did the natural thing that any self respecting baker would do, I asked my Mom to buy me a bag. : )  Thanks Mom : )  The information online is kind of vague about this illusive coconut palm sugar.  Some say it has a low Glycemic index of 35, others say that is bogus.  As you all well know by know I am an avid lover of all things coconut, so irregardless of what the actual truth is about this product I wanted to try it out anyways.

I found this recipe over at Elana's pantry blog, she does the whole gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free lifestyle while raising a family, writing about it, and selling cookbooks.  Good for her. : )  You go girl.  I have tried quite a few recipes from her blog, and have liked about 1/2 of them and disliked the other 1/2.  Sorry, guess it is just the glass 1/2 empty in me expressing myself.

I realize that most of you won't have these ingredients on hand, so if you don't have them...don't go out and buy them just for this...they are waaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive.  If you are however gluten free or dairy free you might already have these on hand, and if you don't it might be worth the investment.  These bars/cake things are amazingly light, but dense...a complete contradiction in your mouth.  They are gluten free, and dairy free.  They almost have the consistency of being soaked in some kind of wonderful sauce, but they aren't!  The flavor is sweet, but not too sweet, and a nice crunchy aspect lingers in the background.  I made these for dessert on Sunday, and am currently starring at the last piece contemplating if it is worth the extra time at the gym I will have to put in to make up for it.  In the end the heart wants what the heart wants.  What the heck does that mean exactly?  You make these bars and tell me. : )

Open the windows, wave goodbye to Irene, pray for Fall to be here already, listen to this song, and make this cake.



Chocolate Almond Joy Bars
adapted slightly from Elana's Pantry

In large bowl whisk together the following until smooth:

4 eggs
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar

In smaller bowl combine the following and mix until smooth:

1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips 
(dairy free gluten free kind...or regular if you want, you can also use carob chips raisins, or just omit if you want it to be completely refined sugar free)

Mix the dry into the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Grease an 8x8 baking dish or a 9 inch pie pan.  Pour batter into pan.  

Sprinkle with the following:
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, cool for 1 hour.

I roughly did the nutrition calculations on this.  It makes 12 servings, each serving is 162 calories, 10g fat, 4g protein, 2g fiber.  Please keep in mind the fat is high because it is made with almond flour and coconut flour.

 If you make these bars, let me know how they turn out!

3 comments:

  1. Hi! I made your Almond Joy Bars last weekend. The recipe turned out quite well, but I did make some adjustments -- mostly because I used ingredients I had on hand. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9 x 13in. glass pan. I did not have any coconut milk and knowing that coconut flour needs extra moisture, I tried the package of ricotta cheese (15 oz.?) I had in fridge. The bars were quite moist and yummy so this must have been fine, but since I did not make it your way first I can't compare. I also just used regular cane sugar -- about 1 1/4 cups for the double recipe. Next time, I will cut it down to 1 cup and it will probably still be sweet enough. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diane! Thank you so much for your feedback! I never would have considered swapping ricotta for the coconut milk, but it sounds delicious! Glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to say the idea of swapping the ricotta for the coconut milk was not original with me. I saw a note on a recipe that suggested the opposite -- it called for ricotta, but suggested coconut milk to make the recipe dairy free. I enjoy your blog! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

COMMENT HERE!!!