Its January 2nd. I suppose you might expect me to post a salad recipe.
The truth is, I don’t believe in those extremely silly short term healthy eating plans. They annoy me to be perfectly honest. I believe in healthy eating year round. That can include dessert. You see, following the paleo diet I don’t have to count calories, nor do I have to worry about how much I eat. I enjoy what I eat and wake up the next morning fitting into my skinny jeans just the same as I did the day before.
Its all about choosing the foods that make you feel best. A high protein low carb, sugar free diet is what makes me feel light, clear minded and energetic. No bloated belly, slow digestion nonsense. Once you feel the difference in how you can feel, any desire for old food habits will disappear.
The other day I was working on a recipe for grain and sugar free Swiss Rolls. During this process I accidently made Grain and Egg Free Brownies. I did a quick search online and discovered there were limited recipes like this. I held on to my notes thinking at some point I might use them. Last night at midnight the idea for these bars popped into my head. So.. here they are.
* If you are looking for just a everything free Brownie or Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe- feel free to snag half of this recipe and bake it alone. If you want to make brownies I suggest doubling the recipe, otherwise you will end up with some super thin brownie bites. *
To make this recipe sugar free use xylitol in place of the granulated sugar. All chocolate chips, even the allergy free brands contain sugar. Feel free to leave them out or try using some raw cacao nibs instead. Xylitol sometimes acts a little different than sugar and I am still learning the ins and outs of it. A reader tried this recipe today using it and she gave great feedback. She said the bars were very moist and that she loved them that way. If you are concerned about this and would prefer a dryer bar you might want to try using 1/2 -1 Tbs less of milk in each recipe.
Please note that Hain’s Featherlight Baking Powder is corn free. Other brands may not be. It was also brought to my attention that Vanilla Extract often contains corn. In the case of this recipe feel free to omit it and use extra milk instead. You might also consider adding some fresh Vanilla Bean instead. Also, I wanted to mention that I like to use a small 6 x 6 pan for my almond flour recipes. I do this as I know Almond Flour is not the cheapest. I’d like for you all to be able to make my recipes for a reasonable price. In the case of this recipe, if you do not have a small pan, that’s ok. Just fill a portion of a larger pan. (This cookie dough will not spread- it should hold its shape during the baking process).
For those sensitive or allergic to almonds- I suspect that most of the other nut/seed flours should work in this recipe. This is just an educated guess as I have not tested it out myself.
One more thing worth mentioning. If you just want to use regular inexpensive white sugar.. that’s fine. But, if you do this I would suggest removing 1/2-1 Tbs of milk from both the brownie and chocolate chip cookie recipe. Highly refined white sugar contains a ton of moisture and it ground finer than any of the natural sugars. It may make your bars come out a little undercooked. Lowering the liquid amount should help balance the moisture content.
These bars are extremely good. One of my best creations to date. Hope you love them as much as we do!
Layered Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Brownie Layer
1 1/2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour
1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder or Carob Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Cup of Granulated Sugar. (any variety should work refined or unrefined)
1 Tbs Vanilla Extract
3 Tbs Nondairy Milk or Water.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
(Any variety of sugar, though keep in mind that Palm or Sucanat sugar will darken the dough)
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
2 Tbs Oil (or melted butter, melted coconut oil etc) (I love Garden of Life!)
1 Tbs Vanilla Extract
1/8 Tsp Salt
3 Tbs Nondairy Milk or Water
1/2- 3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips (Such as Enjoy Life )
- Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees. Line a 6 x 6 inch Baking Pan with Parchment, leaving a bit of an overhang to aid in removing the bars after baking.
- Make the Brownie Dough. Combine all the ingredients and use your hands to mix. The dough will be thick and may not come together just using a spoon. Press this dough evently into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Using a clean bowl make the Chocolate Chip cookie dough. Combine all the ingredients. Like the Brownie dough this will need to be mixed together by hand. Adding in the Chocolate Chips last. Press the cookie dough on top of the brownie layer in the pan.
- Place in the oven and bake 26-29 minutes. Around the 18 minute mark you may want to cover the top of the pan with a sheet of tinfoil as at this point it will start to become golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing. (I like to throw mine into the freezer to speed up this process).
*All recipes and text on this site are the original creations and property of Brittany Angell. If you make a recipe from this website and would like to share it, this may be done by sharing photo’s and including a direct link to this website. Duplication of recipe text, or “adaptions” containing less than 4 major changes to the recipe is strictly forbidden *
{ 96 comments… read them below or add one }
Can’t wait to make these! I so agree with you about eating healthy year around. I have lost 60 pounds this last year while eating goodies – just timing them well. I make things and freeze them to enjoy over a period of time. Thanks for this – destined to become a favorite, I am sure! I have missed having a good brownie that is gf/df/ef. Thanks!
O.M.G. my mouth is watering…..I cannot wait to try these!
CORN ALLERGY note – (I’m allergic to corn..)
Enjoy Life chocolate chips are no longer safe. There have been reported reactions that must be from cross contamination, as the company states there have been no changes to their formula. Now it may still be okay for some who are not very sensitive but if you are very allergic I wouldn’t risk it.
To make this safe for me to eat, I would use homemade almond flour made from raw almonds from the gluten free section on nutsonline.com (Bob’s Red Mill has bad corn cross contamination issues), Hain Featherweight baking powder, kosher salt (not iodized), homemade vanilla extract*, coconut oil from Tropical Traditions, Droste cocoa, and Rapunzel 55% semisweet chocolate bar chopped into pieces for the chips.
*To make your own vanilla extract, you just need some vanilla beans, safe alcohol (like Luksusowa potato vodka or Ciroc grape vodka) and about 90 days in the dark. Slit the beans down the length of them but don’t cut through or in half, put them in some vodka, and put the jar/bottle in a dark place for 60-90 days, shaking every few days. Voila!
Hope that helps the corn allergic readers!
You are awesome for sharing all that! Thank you so much Susan, really! xo
You’re welcome!! Food allergies can be a pain, but as long as you know how to substitute for safe ingredients, you don’t ever have to feel like you’re missing out or deprived!
Hi Susan,
My name is Joel Warady and I am the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for Enjoy Life Foods. Thanks for your comments, and for warning people about corn allergies. We take all food allergies very seriously, and that includes those allergens that are not considered one of the Big 8 by the FDA. I can tell you emphatically that there is NO cross-contamination with our Chocolate Mini Chips nor our Chocolate Mega Chunks. We monitor ALL consumer complaints and concerns when it comes to food allergy reactions, and we have not received any increase in complaints on these two products. We can assure you that there is NO corn in the facility where this product is produced. So to say that our Chocolate Chips are no longer safe are doing a disservice to the product, and to our brand.
That said, if you have experienced a reaction to the product, we certainly don’t discount that and we would like to talk to you further to better understand what happened. However you would certainly be in the minority as this product continues to be enjoyed by most people who have Dairy, Nut, Soy and Corn allergies.
If you’d like to discuss further, please contact me directly at . I’d be happy to hear any and all issues that you might have with our product(s). To the rest of the readers, thanks for the great support you provide Enjoy Life as we continue to provide great-tasting, safe products to people who live with food allergies.
Thanks,
Joel Warady
Thank you Joel! As you know Rich Angell my husband has been in the facility for the filming of the PBS special coming out soon. He was very impressed with the way Enjoy Life runs things! We all are very appreciative of your wonderful products. I appreciate you personally stopping by to clear this “rumor”. -Brittany-
Hi Joel!
I think the corn-allergic community noticed the mini chips ingredients change to “brown sugar” after some time, and those of us reacting to it (about 30 of us on one web page), stopped eating the particular brand, and all of us stopped having reactions. Many of us were able to notice a particular “corn” reaction to the chips, rather than cane sugar or nut allergies, and while we loved the Enjoy Life chips while they lasted…for some reason they are no longer safe for us. Whether it is cross-contamination or not is a theory, we do try to give every company the benefit of the doubt- but sometimes when we do, we get hurt. I’m sorry you didn’t get any calls… I’m sure you mentioning that will prompt some.
Thank you so much for responding…now we can give better feedback
Hi! I’d like to second Susan’s comments about the Enjoy Life chocolate chips not being safe for the CORN allergic. I have a severe corn allergy, products that are considered “corn free” by Enjoy Life are not safe for me. This is my personal experience and I am only allergic to corn. But this is not a “rumor” this is a real issue for people with a corn allergy.
Recently there has been another set of reports of allergic reactions to Enjoy Life chocolate chips reported on various corn allergy forums. Unfortunately, corn hides under many names and the people at Enjoy Life assessing this may not be aware of the many forms and derivatives of corn. As always, use caution and your own judgement to carefully test what is safe for you!
Unfortunately, many of us are also reporting past experiences with Enjoy Life customer service like the note above — Marketing/Customer Service telling us that a product is corn free, despite the fact that we reporting a reaction. So many corn allergic people have stopped using any Enjoy Life product based on their poor customer service interactions and our attitude is beginning to influence the Celiac community too, since we share information. Some of the latest reactions were reported, but many people don’t want to deal w unpleasant customer service (again).
In terms of why we are reacting despite PR telling us the product is corn free — I think I can clear up this issue — the Enjoy Life concept of what is corn free actually contains enough corn to cause a serious allergic reaction for me and others with a serious corn allergy.
I’ve pasted excerpts from their corn containing ingredients list below:
http://enjoylifefoods.com/talk_to_us/ingredient_glossary.php#42
Both their citric acid and xanthan gum are grown on corn mediums. :
“Citric Acid
Like xanthan gum, it is produced when a specific bacteria is allowed to ferment on a corn sugar medium. Although it does not contain corn, it is derived from corn.”
~ I am one among many with a corn allergy who reacts to citric acid and xanthan gum grown on corn. If it is a bacteria grown on a corn medium, it contains corn. BTW, it is possible to grow this bacteria on a beet sugar medium. We have the same problem w yeast.
“Natural flavors
We use only all natural flavors that are free of gluten and all common allergens (no: wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish). They are also free of other common triggers including sesame and sulfites. Our flavors are also free of ingredients derived from petrochemicals, like propylene glycol”
~~Most (but not all) natural flavors contain a corn derivative
“Vanilla
We buy our vanilla from Nielsen-Massey, one of the finest producers of vanilla extract in the United States… While the vanilla is distilled with corn alcohol, all corn protein is removed in the distillation process. Thus, our vanilla contains no corn protein and is tolerated by most corn-free people. However, we certainly recognize the seriousness of food allergies and encourage you to make your own decision (or consult your doctor) regarding whether or not you feel comfortable eating this ingredient. –
~~All corn protein is not removed in the distillation process or I would be having a G&T right now — this attitude is irresponsible in claiming corn free status
Xanthan gum
Gums help to prevent our goodies from crumbling, a job normally performed by gluten in mainstream foods. It is a necessity in gluten-free baking. Xanthan comes from the dried cell coat of a microorganism called Zanthomonas campestris. Though it sounds chemical, it is actually an all-natural ingredient. Xanthan gum is derived from the fermentation of corn sugars; however, all corn sugars are removed in the processing of xanthan gum. Xanthan gum contains no corn protein and is tolerated by most corn-free people. However, we certainly recognize the seriousness of food allergies and encourage you to make your own decision (or consult your doctor) regarding whether or not you feel comfortable eating this ingredient. –
–again– contains enough corn to cause a reaction
Just as a note as to where corn hides — This “Corn Free” recipe would put me in the hospital if I used the listed ingredients
1/4 Tsp Salt — table salt contains corn as a flowing agent
2 Tsp. Baking Powder — contains corn starch
1/2 Cup of Granulated Sugar. (any variety should work refined or unrefined) — pure cane or beet only, some brands have cross contamination w/ corn sugar
1 Tbs Vanilla Extract — generally in corn alcohol
1/2- 3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips (Such as Enjoy Life ) — repeated problems w/ this brand
Here’s the scoop on the chocolate chips:
“Chocolate chips
Our chocolate chips are produced for us in a dedicated gluten-free and nut-free facility. These chips are also dairy-free and soy-free, although they are produced in a plant that contains dairy. For this reason, we test down to 2.5 parts per million for dairy before the chips arrive in our bakery to ensure the highest levels of safety and quality”
To restore Enjoy Life as a reputable provider for people with corn allergies and corn sensitivities will require sharing information on how the chocolate chips are made and taking steps to make them safe again. Since they are processed in a different facility, perhaps they are safe from contamination from these corn containing ingredients. Where is the current problem coming from? What else is produced in that facility? You test for dairy, do you test for corn? How are the ingredients are processed? How the line is cleaned? What is used in the packaging? This is where corn can sneak in — just because it doesn’t have to be labeled doesn’t mean it wont kill one of us.
That’s a long comment — I just wanted to clear up this “rumor” that Enjoy Life is corn free. It may be safe for people who want to avoid corn syrup, but since I avoid all corn proteins in order to keep breathing, I currently avoid all Enjoy Life products.
I just happen to have some homemade vanilla and Rapunzel cocoa and chocolate chips. I suspect that just as soon as I finish off my not Raspberry bars my husband will be sending you love letters.
You are so awesome.
These sound delicious. I saved the recipe to try next month. We are relatively new to the paleo diet. After the craziness of the holidays, I’m looking forward to not making any sweets for a while. These will be a welcome treat for Valentines Day though! THANKS!
Do you think I could substitute the granulated sugar for honey?
Hi Pamela- no. That will make the bars much to wet!
Oh my, these look dangerously delicious!
These look awesome!! I try to stay away from almonds… any suggestions for a different flour to use?? Thanks!
I mentioned this in the post
Incredible. LOVE.
xo,
Shirley
Would coconut flour work? I dont do well w almond flour and it also gives me a metallic taste :/
Hi Donna- no. Coconut flour works very different. Other nut/seed flours may work.
A 6×6 pan? Do you mean a 9×9 pan?
No. I have a small cute square 6×6. But I do know a 9×9 will work as I had another reader make them in that size with great results!
I made this with Ideal Sweetener (half white/half brown, and it came out great!!! My very picky 7 year old son LOVES it! Thank you so much Brittany!
I also used a regular size loaf pan – it was perfect.
I’m disappointed & don’t understand – you love to eat sugar free etc but have submitted a recipe with sugar in it & admit you haven’t tested it with a sugar substitute??!!
I work daily testing out the the varying sugars across the board on a regular basis. Through this experimentation I have learned a ton and 9/10 can predict if a specific ingredient will work or not. When I feel confident enough that it will work in a recipe I will suggest it.
I eat sugar free to keep control of my autoimmune disease. However I still bake with both the “sugar free” sugars and the real sugars as I like to be able to offer suggestions for varying diets. I do all of this work- just to be helpful. This is a personal website, I do not work for some big company. I develop recipes in my own home and spend my own money to do so. I am merely trying to be helpful and offer the knowledge I have worked so hard to gain. I am offering a free recipe here- what is there to be disappointed about? If you do not like this feel free to go find another recipe on another website.
You said it all!!!!! Let Cowardly Lion go to another site. We all avoid different ingredients and most of us have taken the time to search alternatives when there is a recipe containing an offending ingredient.
But look at all of the WONDERFUL comments you have. You are a rockstar to most of us who avoid certain foods. <3
Thank you SO much!!
I guess this shows that you can’t please everyone! Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes that you share with us! 99.9% of us are grateful beyond words!
I couldn’t agree with AnnMarie and Jessica more… Brit- you’re amazing in everything you do for those of us who can’t do this for ourselves. (I personally think you are a genius.)
You are really sweet! I am most def. NOT a genius. Just a risk taker maybe
xo
xoxoxoxox
As someone with major allergies, I TRULY appreciate all of your efforts to make my world a better place. Recipes are one big science experiment. You have to test all different medias to figure out what works.
Thanks Jenna!
I know you used regular sugar just for me
You always impress me with your creative use of flours and sugars.
And for the person who is mad that you didn’t test it with natural sugar/xylitol, well just poop. Writing recipes is hard work. At least you didn’t forget to type in the amount of flour you need in a recipe and then get hounded by one person 8 times in 4 hours for not fixing it fast enough. Sorry you got a crab today!
Really? Really? Next time that happens alert me right away please. I’ll be right over to share some kind words
You know you impress me too- such talented friends I have! xo
Thank you so much I can’t wait to try this. The two flours I get to eat are almond and coconut and am thrilled when I find a recipe with one of them.
There is so much that can be done with those two flours! I love working with them together
Hope you enjoy these bars!
Love you Brittany!!! Keep up the great work. There are a lot of us who LOVE what you do! I have Hoshies too and I am thinking of following a stricter diet like you do. I was gluten, soy and refined sugar free for a long time and felt great. Then I got prego and could only get white bread and potatoes for soooo long. Any thing GF made me sick. Now my little one is 6 weeks old. She is having some GI issues and rashes so I am going to start to take things out of my diet to see if it helps her as well. I already avoid gassy foods which is hard when your a vegetarian. I may start to eat some meat so I can get some more protein. She can’t handle it when I eat beans or legumes. And oh how I miss quinoa and lentils.
Hi Kristina! Im so sorry to hear that, I know that feeling well. I was pregnant and had a miscarriage several years ago.. thats when all my health problems really started. All I wanted to eat (or could eat) was white bread , potatoes and dairy products. Ironically, thats exactly when I developed my food sensitivities (not sure if I have celiac- though its very possible). At any rate- take the time to try different foods and see what makes you feel best and your sweet baby best too. Your body might have very different need now then it did even a year ago. As I’m sure you know the initial changes are the hardest.. once you get over that hump and start to feel a difference it becomes easy. I miss lentils!! But not the way they made me feel. Good luck to you!! xo
I absolutely LOVE how forthrightly you responded to creepo above. As others have said most of us have food issues and know how to substitute for our individual ones. You said the very thing I always think. You are not on anyone’s payroll, you do this with a caring, loving heart in an attempt to help. Personally no one gets to talk to me like that unless they pay me and they’d better be paying me to experiment. You are the BEST. Also, my husband ate all my Naan. Now he thinks he’s getting brownie cookies.
These are soooo good! I used coconut sugar, coconut oil and almond milk. I pressed them into part of an 8×8 and by the time I pressed the cookie dough on top they almost filled up the pan. After baking it was basically an 8x 8 pan and I think a perfect thickness. Gotta get them cut up and in the freezer before I polish off the whole pan
thank you for posting!
Thank you so so much for sharing this here!!!
Did you use the granulated coconut sugar or the carmel consistency kind?
This is a great question. Typically when I use palm or sucanat I like to throw them in my blender or coffee grinder briefly! It takes them awhile because they are so course in the oven to break down and ” melt” as a unified part of the baked good! In this case especially I think powdering either would make a very big positive difference.
I’m clogging up your blog. OK, so I’m greedy. So what? These lovely cookies/brownies er.. bars are in my oven right now. In an 8X8 pan. I’m going to bake them 25 minutes I think because they’re thinner than in a 6X6 pan. I did make one alteration, I added about 1/2C of finely shredded coconut. Now I am going to juice some greens!!! xox
You make my days so bright with your sweet comments! Your a gem of a friend. Totally inspired to keep up the egg free routine for you! Xo
Coconut in these would be fantastic.
I so agree!!
Alright Brittany, these are in my oven right now! I have so much faith in you that I am making them (with out trying them beforehand) to take to my Daughters school for a birthday celebration in a little bit. The dough tasted fantastic and I just know these will be amazing. Thank you again!!
Melanie
The pressures on!!
hope they met all your expectations!!
Made just the brownie portion yesterday. Doubled all the ingredients and used palm sugar and rice milk, plus I added a Tbsp of ground chia seeds (just because I seem to all them to everything these days). The only thing I had a bit of difficulty with was blending it all well enough that none of the beige flecks of the almond flour showed.
The recipe turned out great. Holds together really well. Cuts beautifully. Tastes devine.
The whole family enjoyed them.
A big thanks.
Thank you SO much for sharing this! I was hoping someone might give that a try!! Glad they turned out great.
I made these tonight and they are incredible!! My entire family loves them. You would swear you were eating something not so good for you.
These are delicious and satisfying! Thank you for an awesome treat 
Wow; that looks amazing. I LOVE the way you began the post, with no apologies for a dessert recipe for the New Year instead of a salad! Very clever writing style, got my attention right away, so perfectly worded! (I appreciate good writing). I just made your raspberry streusel bars tonight (insanely delicious!!) so this will have to wait…but OMG. You are one of the few folks out there doing real, true alternatives for those of us who cannot eat ANY sugars in most of your recipes, and you give the xylitol alternative in this one, so I cannot imagine why Possum had such negativity. S/he must need more chocolate in her/his diet!
I made these tonight and used xylitol instead of sugar. They have cooled about half an hour and they are quite moist. I am just now remembering you said to use less milk or something if using xylitol. They are still fantastic with great flavor. I used trader joes almond meal for the brownie portion and it worked fine. I forgot to add the chocolate chips and it’s great without them. I have never used xylitol so I’m not sure how I feel about it. Thanks for a great recipe. If they don’t harden up a bit more I will freeze them and eat them frozen. You don’t disappoint!!
Xylitol is interesting. I’m still trying to figure it out. What I do know is that many times the day after baking cookies etc with it it firms up” and gives similar results to the other sugars. But this takes a spell of just sitting.
Hopefully by day 2 these did that for you! And yes, when in doubt frozen cookies are amazing. ( I like them better that way always!!)
Oh yummy… I ran out of granulated sugar and used maple syrup instead for the cookie layer, which turned it into kind of a crumbly pie instead of bars. But it’s a yummy pie! This celiac’s hypoglycemic nursing mom thanks you!
I made this recipe while my kids were at school today so they came home to a wonderful treat. My 10 year old daughter asked me to write to you to tell you she said thank you for the recipe and to tell you how yummy they are:0) Thanks for all of your hard work…it is truly appreciated by my whole family!!!
What a sweet daughter you have!! That really made my night. Thank you so much for sharing.. Makes it all very worth it!
I just made these again yesterday but only made the chocolate chip cookie part to experiment with. I used a cookie “mold” tin to make some wonderful shaped cookies and also used it to make plain round chocolate chip cookies. They all turned out great so this will be our new chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on too!! I can’t wait to try just the brownie next:0)
I’m so excited that they turned out great for you!! I had been hoping someone would try then alone.
I baked these in an 8×8 pan last night using sucanat (non powdered), unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and coconut oil. They are really good warm and gooey AND frozen too! It’s a great recipe. Thank you so much!
I used the Enjoy Life chocolate chips without a problem – I have a corn allergy too.
Question: do you pack your almond flour in cups when measuring?
Can’t wait for your cookbook!!!
Yes! I do pack my cups. A habbit I’m not willing to break! I’m considering posting my recipes in cups and grams on here. Would that be helpful for you??
I don’t own a kitchen scale yet so rely on the cup measurements. I just often wondered if I should be scooping almond flour into cups and leveling off or if packing it into the cup straight from the container was okay. Coconut flour is another one I’ve wondered about.
Ah yes! And that question right there is why a kitchen scale is a valuable to to have! Everyone fills their cups differently which is why it’s easy to screw up a recipe.. Or have it not turn out right! The best advice I can give is to pick up a scale and look for recipes that use gram measurements as then you will be making exactly what the recipe developer is asking for. Also to complicate everything- different brands perform pretty different. So many elements go into good gluten free baking.
I fill my cups heavily.. So you can count on that for my recipes. I think I’ll start posting my recipes with both cups and grams like we did in our cookbooks.
Thank you for this answer! Now to do some online shopping…
After practically going to heaven with the raspberry streusel bars, I tried these and I must have done something wrong. Dismal results. Hard, boring, DRY, seem overcooked, and not good. I used erythritol, just as I did for the raspberry bars, as it is my preference over xylitol. My oil was walnut oil. I didn’t even reduce the liquid and they were so dry even before cooking that I could barely mix the ingredients. Oh gosh, that is a LOT of money down the drain…besides the erythritol & pricey almond flour, I used SunFood cocoa powder (not cheap!) as I need a mold-free brand, and chopped up Lucienne’s stevia-sweetened chocolate bars for the chocolate chips (also expensive!). I wonder what happened! I’m sad. ;-(
I have never used or tested that type of sugar. ( which is why I did not mention it as an alternative). It sounds like it doesn’t add much moisture to recipes ( which is why it worked with the raspberry bars as that’s a dry shortbread type crust) xylitol and the others add moisture which these bars need.
Recipe experimention is expensive.. As you can imagine I waste hundreds of dollars every month on flops to teach myself how all these alternative ingredients work and to develop these recipes. It’s part of the territory. Every time you change a recipe you are taking a chance that it may not work.
Thank you for the feedback! Now someone else will know not to take their experimentation that route.
Thanks Brittany. It’s folks like you that are the food geniuses~knowing exactly why it worked on the streusel but not these. I gave some to a pal who said it was very good indeed if I just thought of it as a choc chip cookie though. I am sure you spend a LOT of money on this!! Thanks so much for putting the money part in perspective; that helped a lot. Now I see it as the cost of the experimenting. I’m sad more because I just really wanted the taste experience. No biggie though.
I am beyond grateful for your recipes and all that you do! In the low carb/paleo world, I have found it difficult to find dessert and bread alternative recipes that don’t use ingredients I avoid (dairy, glycemic sweeteners). I have my own other needs with chronic lyme and gut issues etc. too, so I have to experiment a lot. But your recipes, having just discovered how great they are, make a wonderful starting place! Thanks again!
You are sweet! I wish there was an easy way to gurantee that all experimentation worked. Really though thank you for this comment. I’m prompted now to pick up a bag of this “sugar” as I think it could be really useful in some applications. Plus, I noticed it’s a little cheaper than xylitol.
happy Monday!
I was stumped trying to figures out how to make the raspberry bars without xylitol- so you solved that little dilemma for me! Please- continue to share your experiences
Wow! These look amazing!
I love making REAL treats that taste so much better than anything processed ever could!
I would love to make these , but I have trouble finding Almond Flour. I am a huge fan of peanut flour, and have a stockpile of it around. Do you think I could sub Peanut Flour ? I know it would end up having a peanutty taste.. but I’m not sure if I’m opposed to that.
I have never worked with Peanut Flour! So it’s hard for me to say- generally though it seems like the nut flours work well in place of each other. If you try- would you let us know what happens??I’m very curious myself.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for creating recipes that use almond flour!! I personally only like to use Almond and Coconut flour in my baking and am able to find some useful recipes here!
Hi again dear Brittany, Queen of the Perfect Recipes,
Just a bit of a response to your last note to me. First off, let me just say: I appreciate SO much that you are doing more with alternatives to glycemic sweeteners!
It seems to me~~I’m not certain but I think~~that all erythritol is derived from corn. I do not eat a lick of any corn at all; however I have wound up using erythritol quite a bit since I love my sweets and do not like xylitol. Erythritol has the lowest glycemic response of any sweetener that I know of. This is quite critical for me~more so than the possible corn derived substance. Stevia is sketchy for me with allergies and the research that it can cause hypoglycemia (sometimes I have noticed this, and was so glad to see supporting research online for my personal experience). I use it a little bit, like in some of your recipes as you suggest. Coconut nectar or crystals give me the worst blood sugar issues, so I am sure that it’s not good (I’m a canary; my body knows things before the research catches up!). I am always looking for the best sweeteners that are truly non/low-glycemic! Lately I am thinking yacon might be the best one yet, but it is pricey. That is the whole inulin family: yacon powder or syrup, straight inulin (such as the Just Like Sugar products), & jerusalem artichoke powder. All very pricey stuff though. I hope they will become more popular & the prices will drop. I am soooo glad you are smart enough to not use much agave!
If you do look into erythritol, make sure to get a non-GMO brand. The two I know of are: NOW foods, which is GMO; Wholesome Sweeteners brand which is not (Whole Foods carries that one, not that I like WF). The Truvia stuff I don’t trust~big company; they don’t tell you all of what is in it for fillers, and why support a big corporation for our food, anyway?
I love what you do, your integrity, your generosity and spirit of adventure here. Your recipes are beyond amazing, and I wish I had time and energy to try them ALL this week! (want to come over and cook for me?). There are too many good ones! I do wish you (or someone!) would come up with a true healthy low carb “bar” like the Atkins ones that uses low-carb sweetener, is truly portable (needs no refrigeration), and uses no whey, milk or soy powders in it. The Paleo & low-carb recipes I’ve seen for those either do have those kinds of powders to make them bar-like, or need refrigeration. I wind up taking the Atkins with me in the car for emergencies, as I need something I can leave there indefinitely with no little icebox, or put in my purse, but it’s truly a Frankenfood. I haven’t figured out a substitute. (if either of us did, we could rake in the big bux).
Thanks again for all that you do and your lovely blog & responsiveness!
All the best to you! ~Elizabeth
I’m dying to make these but I don’t have a 6×6″ pan. Would an 8×8″ or 9×9″ pan work, or would the bars be too thin? Maybe I should increase the ingredients by a third?
Hi! Read through the comments and my post again
many tried making the bars in a larger pan..
These are phenomenal! Your best creation to date for sure! I made an extra one-third batch of each top and bottom layers and it fit my 8×8-inch pan perfectly. This may be my favorite recipe ever.
I made these and I love them. Tweaked the recipe a bit. Added a bit of rice bran, ground flax and my dried almond pulp ground and dried from my almond milk I make trying to get the fat content down a bit and the fiber up. Also added 1 whole vanilla bean scraped to the top AND bottom layer. I bake it in a bread pan and cut a slice then into 4 chinks per slice. I really love this recipe and I’m super picky. I used a coconut oil/ghee mixture by green pastures and toasted walnuts along with cut up 80% dark chocolate bar. Super, Super , Super yummy. thank you so very much for sharing.
Oh wow do your changes sound wonderful!! So creative! So glad the bars turned out great
Bless you!! I have found it darn near impossible to find a gf almond flour recipe that does not call for eggs. I’m so thrilled! Now, I do need to experiment with alternative sweeteners– I think I’ll give palm sugar a go, and cross my fingers I do ok with it. (I know i can have date syrup and rice syrup, but those are liquid.) I’m so glad I found your site! Thanks!
so it sounds like the xylitol version works if you just let it cool for awhile? otherwise perhaps too soft? really want brownies!
Yeah! I think xylitol would work well in this recipe
made the egg free brownie layer with xylitol and it turned out great! i was glad you mentioned xylitol can be moist. i waited a few hours to cut them until they were dry and it worked great. hope this helps anyone in the future.
These are in the oven right now- my mom is pretty stressed out right now, and I wanted to do a girls night for her (face masks, chick flicks, CHOCOLATE!!!!) We are both Paleo/low carb, so I made these with stevia! Thank you so much for your creativity- I’m sure she will love them!
I made these for my office holiday potluck and they were a hit! I didn’t tell anyone they were gluten, egg, dairy, etc. free, and I don’t think anyone noticed – they were too busy scarfing them down. Thanks for a great recipe, Brittany!
What a fabulous community you have developed here. I now have to take time to bake your fabulous recipes and to read all the comments. Baking binge today to prepare for bake to school. Our daughter is back to college soon where it is so difficult to eat so sending frozen baked goods is ideal. The brownie/choc chip bars are fabulous. I always use 50/50 xylitol and coconut palm sugar. Just a bit more glycemic but the good minerals are a bonus and coconut oil cuts down on the impact giving us a win win. Also made the cranberry orange buttermilk breakfast cake (wow) and by popular demand another monkey bread. My New Year’s resolution is to work my way through every recipe on the site! Thanks for the great job. It’s hard to keep teenagers on the plan and you certainly help with that.
Thanks for posting an egg-free brownie recipe! These were great.
Sure thing! I have several other egg free brownie recipes as well
- espresso brownies
- bourbon brownies
They can be found in my recipe list!
Made these today….OMG r they good!!! But deadly… I could eat the whole pan. I also needed a cheesecake crust so I made the cookie portion of the recipe and used it as my crust …..it was a huge hit…all the non GF guests loved the cheesecake
I just found your blog from this recipe on Pinterest. I am so excited to try a bunch of your recipes! I just made this one. Although I didn’t have all the specific ingrediants, they still turned out great! We don’t have extreme allergies here…but we try to be as sugar free, grain free and low carb as possible. Some of the changes I made were: In the brownie layer I used 1.25 c raw almond meal (ie ground almonds) + 2T ground flax; for the sugar I used 3T coconut sugar + 1/2 T stevia powder + 1 T unsweetened apple sauce; for the ‘milk’ I used 1/2c coconut milk (increased because of the flax). In the cookie layer I used 1.25c almond meal + 1/3c coconut flour; same sub for the sugar as the brownie layer; 1/3c coconut milk (increased because of the coconut flour). So far I have only eaten them warm and they are great! The almond meal obviously changes the texture but still tastes fine (I need to get more almond flour…). They have just a hint of sweetness…..which is what I was going for since my family is ‘de-sugared’.
Thanks for a great blog! I am going to be around here a lot!
THANK YOU! I just made these for Easter, and they are delicious! I have been gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and wheat free for about 4 months now. I love to bake and was so sad that I wouldn’t be able to bake. That is until I found your blog! I am so excited to try more. Thank you
If I wanted to use raw cacao powder instead of cocoa powder would I use the same amount?
I believe so
I decided to try just the cookie layer with what I had on hand…Bob’s blanched almond flour (even though I know it doesn’t work half the time in your recipes!), xylitol, canola oil, and raw cacao nibs. It turned out okay…the nibs negated a lot of the sweetness from the xylitol and it ended up having almost a sesame seed taste. It did spread somewhat in my 8×8 pan but that didn’t affect the time I baked it for. I might try this again with a chopped up bar of sugarfree chocolate and a little more xylitol and see how that goes!
I really like the oxo scale! I have an escali and it drives me bonkers sometimes.. My co-author Iris brought her oxo when she was here a few weeks ago and I liked hers much more than mine!
Hi again! Is this the same scale you recommend? http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2012/01/my-kitchen-baking-scale/