Berry Bliss Bars – a refreshing fruit bar combined with the texture of cheesecake in one yummy, clean eats treat! With or without the raspberry “cream” topping, a refreshing gluten-free, plant-based, refined sugar-free pleasure.
Spring Has Sprung
It’s officially spring here in the northern hemisphere, and the warmer days we’ve been blessed with are a reminder that sun soaked days are just around the corner. Thoughts are now turning from big sweaters, cozy pajamas and warm, toasty food to sundresses, flip-flops and fresh, revitalizing produce.
Berry Bliss Bars – Mixing Crust Ingredients
Berry Bliss Bars – Crust Mixture in Pan
Berry Bliss Bars – Crust Mixture Pressed in Pan
Just Can’t Get Enough
One of my favorite things to munch on (pretty much morning, noon and night during this time) is fruit. My very good friend Carolyn recently shared with me that the recipe for my Fresh Cranberry Crumb Bars is one of her favorites! She likes them so much that she wanted to try them with another fruit, such as raspberries or blueberries. Yes, raspberries and blueberries! Yumm! My mind started spinning. Blueberries are a great fruit to use for baking as their water content isn’t as high as some fruit. Blueberries are aplenty at my local grocery so I threw them in the food processor with coconut butter, coconut palm sugar, vanilla and some arrowroot. I was aiming for a bar that would have a firmer fruit layer — one you could pick up and eat with your hand.
Berry Bliss Bars – Blueberry Mixture
Berry Bliss Bars – Ready to Bake
A Firm (and buttery) Foundation
For the crust I wanted something that is firm yet buttery and smooth in texture — one that would hold together (like cheesecake crust). The crust I developed for my Pure Pina Colada Bars was a perfect fit. Together they were a match made in dessert heaven. But to kick it up yet one more notch, I added a raspberry whipped coconut “cream” to the top. Mashing up a few fresh raspberries and stirring them gently into my Easy Coconut Whipped Cream is all that was required. I am head over heels in love with these bars, and the coconut, blueberries, flax and almond flour have so much to offer nutritionally, how can you go wrong? A guilt-free dessert. Give them a try! (and thanks, Carolyn!) 🙂
Berry Bliss Bars – a fruit bar with the texture of cheesecake in one yummy clean eats treat! With or without the raspberry “cream” topping, a refreshing gluten-free, plant-based, refined sugar-free pleasure.
Ingredients
- Crust
- 3 tablespoons golden flax seed meal
- 1/2 cup nut milk (I use cashew)
- 1 cup almond meal flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- Topping
- 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup coconut butter
- 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon arrowroot
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla
- Raspberry Cream
- 1/4 cup raspberries
- 1 can coconut milk full fat 13 ounces (refrigerated overnight)
Instructions
- Crust
- 1) In small bowl, mix together flax seed meal and nut milk. Set aside.
- 2) In medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, coconut palm sugar and salt.
- 3) Add coconut oil and vanilla to flax mixture and mix well (I use a whisk). Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon, pastry blender, or two knives (see picture in post).
- 4) Line a 8"x 8" baking pan with parchment paper and press crust firmly and evenly onto bottom of pan. Set aside.
- Topping
- 1) Place coconut palm sugar and arrowroot in food processor and blend (a blender can be substituted for food processor).
- 2) Add blueberries, coconut butter and vanilla. Pulse a couple of times, then blend until smooth (see picture in post). If using a blender this should probably be done on medium speed.
- 3) Spread topping over crust evenly using a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approx. 30 minutes. Center will start to show some cracking when almost done and toothpick test will yield a little bit of moisture. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Refrigerate until firm (usually a couple of hours). Store in sealed container in refrigerator for up to one week.
- Raspberry Cream
- If applying raspberry cream, refrigerate bars until firm and thoroughly chilled. To make raspberry cream, follow directions in my Easy Coconut Whipped Cream post to make whipped cream. Then mash raspberries in a bowl and gently stir into whipped cream. More or less can be added depending on desired color and thickness of cream topping.
I made these as a dessert, was a bit dubious about how they would taste, but I have to say they were gorgeous! So yummy I ate too much and wasn’t well – serves me right for being a piggy! 🐷🐷
I would highly recommend them. I did tweak the base a few days later and added some melted chocolate and some ground hazelnuts (I melted the [dairy free] chocolate with the coconut oil and added a third of a cup of the mixture). With the ground hazelnuts, I substituted some of the almond flour for the hazelnuts – I can’t remember the exact amounts, but I think I did 1/4 cup of ground hazelnuts and 3/4 cup almond flour. I don’t usually play around with recipes, but this wasn’t bad! I cooked the base and then poured the rest of the coconut oil and melted chocolate mix over the top and let it harden a bit.
Thanks for these recipes – I’m gluten free and dairy free (trying to be refined sugar free too) and I’m impressed with these – I live in the UK and so far could get the ingredients!
Hi Carolyn, I am so happy to hear how much you liked the bars!! Your tweaking sounds delicious! Chocolate and hazelnuts, yuumm. 🙂 It’s also great to hear that all of the ingredients are available to you in the UK. I try to be sensitive to the fact that not all ingredients are available everywhere when I develop recipes. Great feedback, thanks so much!! 🙂
These bars are simply gorgeous! Love that they are gluten-free!
Thanks so much Erin!! 🙂