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Vegan Magic Cookie Bars

June 5, 2017 · Natalie 139 Comments

These easy Vegan Magic Cookie Bars are twice as enchanted, made without sweetened condensed but still all the same delicious sweet layers!

There are many recipes I consider magical…

Cake with just TWO ingredients and no baking? Magic.

Breakfast food turned dreamy ice cream base? Magic.

Crave-worthy cupcakes without flour/sugar/oil/nuts/gluten? Magic.

Color changing pancakes? Magic.

And there was undeniably magic involved here.

But this time I’m not just making it up, the word magic is actually part of the official title of these bars. Although my version might as well be called Magical Magic Cookie Bars because they have a fruity secret ingredient that makes them easier and healthier and sweetened condensed milk free.

If you are not familiar with Magic Cookie Bars, allow me to play google for a moment and get you up to speed.

It starts with a buttery crust (usually graham cracker). The crust is topped with chocolate chips + chopped nuts + shredded coconut. Then all of that goodness is drowned with sweetened condensed milk and baked so everything mixes and melts and then sets in an almost cream-cheese-brownie-like top layer. Oh and let’s not forget about the browning/caramelization that happens on top thanks to the sweetened part of condensed milk.

They are meant to be really rich and gooey–the magic part perhaps referring to how easy but decadent they are? I’m not actually sure. They go by other names too, like 7 Layer Bars (beats me, I only count 5) or Hello Dolly Bars.

So taking that delicious concept I put a healthier vegan spin on it with a few minor ingredient swaps and one big fruity twist!

Graham cracker crust → oil-free oat OR almond crust.

Tracking down a box of gluten-free and vegan graham crackers is quite the treasure hunt, so I skipped them completely and came up with two homemade crust options 1) oat based and 2) grain-free made with almond flour. Both are really easy and oil-free, using maple syrup as the binder.

The almond flour version is my personal favorite because it browns and tastes so buttery-rich like a shortbread crust. Plus it’s grain-free. But the oat version has wonderful texture and flavor too, and makes for a good low-fat nut-free option.

Vegan Magic Cookie Bars — with the oat crust

Chocolate chips + shredded coconut + nuts.

Nothing much to change here, I just swapped in my favorite brands/varieties. For the chocolate chips I used Enjoy Life minis (or full-size works too). For the coconut I used Let’s Do Organic unsweetened coconut shreds, although looking back the toasted kind might have been even yummier. And for the nuts I opted for pecans, but feel free to use any kind you like.

Sweetened condensed milk → BANANA!

The biggest swap surprise of the entire recipe, and it worked even better than I expected even. Same texture, same color, and the sugars even caramelize as the bars bake making that top layer extra sweet as it should be.

There are many vegan recipes out there for Magic Cookie Bars that call for boiling coconut milk and coconut sugar for 15+ minutes to create homemade dairy-free sweetened condensed milk. But that sounds like a lot of work for what is supposed to be an easy dessert. Blending up 3 ripe bananas is much faster and naturally sweetened too.

The pan may seem like a banana soup mess of mix-ins when you slide it into the oven, but after 40 minutes of baking and chilling overnight, the banana sets perfectly making for a sturdy slice-able bar.

Important tip! Be sure to pour your banana puree on top of the crust and then add the chips and nuts and coconut, not the other way around. Been there, done that, big mess. Because getting the mix-ins to sink into the banana is a messy mission, while getting the banana puree to rise to the top of the mix-ins by gently pressing is much easier.

Happy Magic Magic Cookie Bar making!

Vegan Magic Cookie Bars

★★★★★ 4.8 from 16 reviews

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 70 minutes
Yield: 8 bars 1x

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Description

These easy Vegan Magic Cookie Bars are twice as enchanted, made without sweetened condensed but still all the same delicious sweet layers!

Ingredients

Scale

Oat Crust Option

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup maple syrup

Almond Crust Option (grain-free)

1 1/2 cups almond flour
2–3 tbsp maple syrup

Top Layer

3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup chopped nuts ((I used pecans, but any will work))

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
For the oat crust, blend the oats on low speed to break into small pieces. Slowly pour in the maple syrup with the blender on until it clumps to form a sticky chunky texture.
For the almond crust, combine the almond flour and maple syrup in a bowl. Mix to create a sticky and clumpy dough that holds together when pressed. Add 1 tbsp water if it seems too dry.
Press the crust into a baking dish lined with parchment paper (mine was 8×4″). Bake for 15 minutes at 350F. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 15 minutes.
While the crust is cooling, blend the bananas until smooth.
Pour the banana puree on top of the crust.
Sprinkle on the chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut. Gently press down until the banana puree rises up covering everything.
Bake for 40 minutes at 350F.
Cool then chill overnight.
The next day, slice and enjoy! Keep leftovers in the fridge.

[nutrifox id=”10995″]

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Strawberry Tahini Ice Cream Pops

June 2, 2017 · Natalie 17 Comments

Creamy tahini ice cream swirled with chunks of sweet summer strawberries and flecked with real vanilla bean–these healthy pops are a chilly vegan treat!

You know how I feel about tahini.

Or maybe you don’t, I actually haven’t talked about it in a while.

Long story short–I think it’s weird. Why must it taste so much like dirt?

I mean I know it’s supposed to be sorta bitter, but when I taste it straight from the jar all I can think about is planting flowers. There is a reason sesame seeds themselves are used mostly as a sparsely sprinkled-on garnish that no one actually tastes. I truly think burger buns have it right.

But since I believe it is possible to acquire a taste for just about anything (except spicy food–just no), I bought a jar of this stuff. Because I knew I wanted the last pop of Popsicle Week to be berries + something, and tahini felt right for filling the something spot.

The only non-hummus occasion I can remember eating and actually enjoying tahini was when I made this toffee sauce–the sweetness and salt balance its seedy weirdness perfectly. Which gave me hope that with enough sweet fruity flavors to counter, I could actually make a tahini-inclusive pop for the tahini-skeptical like myself.

So to play it safe and not push the bounds of my tahini tolerance too far, I used a 1 to A LOT ratio of tahini to frozen banana Which turned out to be about 2 not-heaping tablespoons for the entire blender of banana ice cream.

Baby steps. Baby steps.

If you adore tahini like 93% of the world seems to–double, triple, dump the whole jar. Okay maybe just half the jar. Or if you are even more tahini-averse than I am, cashew butter = AMAZE-ing instead. I may have a minor cashew butter obsession though, so actually any nut or seed butter will do. Oooh if you go with peanut butter it would be like a PB&J pop!

Berries. I used fresh strawberries because they were staring me down and drawing me in with their sweet scent the moment I walked into the produce section. In season and on sale–yes please! If the strawberries hadn’t been so persuasive, I probably would’ve opted for blueberries because they are my go-to berry.

Fresh or frozen will work, just defrost and then blend/pulse until you have a chunky berry sauce. You can sweeten with a little bit of maple syrup if your berries are too tart.

Ice cream. Just like the previous pops, these start with a banana ice cream base. To that creaminess I added the tahini (or whatever nut/seed butter you are using) and vanilla bean powder because it felt like a perfect addition to these flavors.

Layering. I started with a few spoonfuls of berry in the bottom of my popsicle molds. Next was the vanilla tahini ice cream and some subtle swirling. At about 3/4 of the way full I added a small dollop of tahini to each pop, because hey I’m trying to embrace the stuff. And then fill them to the tippy top with more ice cream.

Sticks. Freeze. Wiggle out. Devour!

I can’t say I am crazy about tahini by itself yet, but I can tell you I am crazy about these pops.

So Tahini–disgust moving towards acceptance. Maybe.

Creamy vanilla bean tahini ice cream pops with chunks of the sweetest in-season organic strawberries–love em!

And shoutout to Banoffee and Chocolate Almond Sea Salt in case you missed either of those pretty ice cream pops earlier in the week. Or watch all 3 in the making HERE