These bars are the best of both worlds! Cookies and brownies mixed together with a touch of coffee flavor.  I brought them to a big family gathering this weekend and they were gone in about 60 seconds. Might I mention..there were tons of other desserts available (and this was not a gluten free crowd). Not only are they showstoppers with their marbled look but they are moist and taste incredible.

Coffee & Cookie Brownie Bars.

 

For the Brownie Layer:

• 1 1/2 packed cups blanched almond flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (ANY variety of granulated.)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 Tablespoons milk ( dairy or non-dairy, any variety)
• 2 Tablespoons finely ground coffee (preferably a dark roast for bolder flavor)

For the cookie layer:

• 2  packed cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (ANY variety of granulated.)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoon oil or melted butter (dairy or nondairy)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoon milk (dairy or nondairy)
• 1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips (regular or dairy free)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a square 8 by 8 (or something close in size) baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In one bowl, mix together the ingredients for the brownies. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the ingredients for the cookies. (For each of these doughs you may need to use your hands to mix- Almond flour is funny in that it seems dry in recipes until its mixed really well)
3. To get a nice marble affect  as I did- roll the brownie batter into heaping tablespoon sized dough balls. Wash your hands and then do the same for the chocolate chip cookie dough. Drop the balls of dough into the pan so that they alternate in color.
4. Once all the dough is in the pan, lightly press down on top with a sheet of parchment paper so that the brownie and cookie dough come together.
5. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned.

 

Recipe Notes: 

• To make this recipe sugar free pick up a bar or two of unsweetened dark chocolate or Simply Lite Chocolate – cut the bar into chunks and use instead of chocolate chips! OR use Cacao Nibs! For the Sugar use Xylitol, Erythritol or Truvia Baking Blend.
  
• Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour. If your bars turn green- then try using less baking powder in the recipe than I have called for.
• To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.)
• Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe.
• To make the recipe Paleo: For the sugar use Coconut Palm Sugar .
• Feel free to use any granulated sugar of choice in these bars- the key is that it must be granulated- liquid sweeteners will make the dough for both the cookies and brownies too wet.
• If you need to avoid coffee- feel free to leave it out of the recipe! The bars will still taste fantastic.

-Brittany-