Whew! It is already time for another secret recipe club post! This month my assigned blog was Dancing Veggies. Amanda has mostly vegetarian recipes and focuses on simple and quick recipes using easy to find ingredients. When I came across her recipe for blackberry breakfast bars, it really appealed to me since I have a bunch of wild berries in the freezer waiting to be used.
We’ve been trying to cut back on grains and so I thought it would be fun to attempt to make these using a grain free crust and replace the flour in the filling with arrowroot powder (you could also use cornstarch). According to my newest cookbook fascination, The Flavor Bible, blackberries are a perfect pairing with coconut so I decided to experiment with a coconut crust. But, don’t worry if you’re not a fan of coconut. The coconut flavor is subtle.
The filling in these bars was perfectly gooey and delicious and nicely sweetened without being too sweet. We also really enjoyed the coconut pie crust. I thought the ratio was just right, hubby thought there should be more crust, and little guy thought they were “signature” (highest honors!). The flavor possibilities are endless. I really want to try doing a strawberry filling and drizzling the top with dark chocolate.
Ingredients
- Filling:
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup rapadura (or sugar of your choosing)
- 2 tablespoons of arrowroot (or cornstarch) plus 2 tablespoons water)
- 1 1/2 cups berries (I used half blueberries and half blackberries)
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (use a fork to remove any clumps)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup butter, melted or you could use coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Mix berries, sugar and applesauce in a pan and heat over medium.
- Meanwhile, make your crust by mixing shredded coconut, eggs, butter and salt. Then stir in the coconut flour until mixture is well combined. Butter a 5x7 pan and press half of the crust into the pan.
- Mix the water and the arrowroot and stir the mixture into the berries. Bring to a simmer and then remove from heat.
- Pour the berry mixture over the crust and crumble the remaining crust over the berries.
- Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. The top will be lightly golden.
Yum, these bars look totally fantastic – a perfect healthy and delicious breakfast! :)
Thanks, Sara :)
Great looking bars! What a beautiful way to start the day!
Thanks!
I am making this tomorrow for sure!! Looks amazing :) I am going to use a mixed berry medley, Oh Yum!!
Hope you all enjoy them :)
I’m quite certain I wouldn’t leave this dish alone for long.
looks yummy and great photos!
Thanks, Shelby!
Such gorgeous photos!
Thank you, Amber :)
These looks spectacular…I want to dig right in to the picture!
Thanks, Gretchen. We did enjoy them :)
Great SRC post. We have blueberry bushes in the backyard so I’m going to pin for later.
Yum! We put in berry bushes 2 years ago and haven’t had much yield yet, but hopefully we will those year. Have any tips?
These bars look yummy! I’ll have to make it this summer when we go pick blackberries.
Thanks, Annaliese. It seems like berry season will be early this year. Our bushes are already in bloom!
I just returned my copy to the library :( went to reach for it and…dope…mine hasn’t shown up yet. 4 more days before my very own copy arrives…can’t wait. I love the sound of these and they look great. I know my husband would love these breakfast bars. I’m going to make them today!
Bummer that you have to wait a few more days. I am thinking of adding it to my collection as well. Hope you all enjoy the bars, France.
I can’t believe these are grain-free! Delicious looking recipe!
Thanks :)
These look great! I’m glad I found your blog. I see many recipes I need to try!
Thanks, Kara! Hope you enjoy the ones you try :)
I can’t have cornstarch or arrowroot. These are being used for thickening,right?
What else could I use?
Susan, that’s right. I think that you could use 1/4 cup flour in place of the arrowroot or cornstarch. I’d play with the amount until you reach your desired consistency. Please let me know how it turns out so others can make the change if they’d like :)
YUM! I have frozen berries in my freezer from last summers harvest on our bush! I think there is just enough left to make this! My parents are coming for the weekend so this is perfect timing!
Aww. Have a good visit! Hope you all enjoy the bars :)
Hi There Katie,
I featured your awesome recipe this week on Allergy-Free Wednesdays. Your recipe and other highlights can be seen here:
http://www.thetastyalternative.com/2012/04/allergy-free-wednesdays-week-13-april.html
Please join us again this week for more allergy-free fun and inspiration.
Be Well,
–Amber
Thanks, Amber!
Katie, I came across your site through a recipe hop [sorry, can't remember which one now LOL ], but your recipe sounds delicious! I plan to try this for breakfast on one of our weekends off. It should be a delightful change for my daughter who is allergic to eggs and I’m constantly trying to find alternative recipes for breakfast items. I’m assuming I can use Tofu as an egg replacement? I’ll have to give it a try ☺
Also wanted to let you know that I host a recipe hop on Mondays and would love to have you participate if you are interested.
Thanks, Mary. I am not sure about using tofu as an egg replacement. I think I read about using flax seeds with water as a replacement, but you may want to google it. Let me know how it turns out, and thanks for the invitation to your party.
HiKatie,
It’s my first time on your site, and this looks amazing! Question: How long do the left overs keep? Also, would I be able to make this the night before and then have it to go in the morning? Thanks :)
I stored the leftovers in the fridge and they were still good for a few days. I don’t know past that since they were all gone :) I think you could make it the night before for sure. You’d just have to determine whether you want to heat it up before you eat it or have it cold.
thanks katie! Yea im sure ours would be gone too :)..one more question: I have lots of apple butter sittint around..could that be substituted for the applesauce? Thanks.
You could try subbing with the apple butter. I am just wondering if the apple butter is thinner than applesauce and also if you may need to decrease the amount of sweetener as the apple butter is usually already sweetened. I used a no sugar added applesauce when I made them.
Just made this…and I’m wondering how did you get so much crumble in your picture? I used a small pan and had hardly any left after pressing some into the bottom. I even added 1/2 cup of pecan meal to give it more volume. It’s delicious, and I have already devoured half the pan, but I will probably double the crust recipe next time (meaning tomorrow).
I guess I was stingy and didn’t put a whole lot of crust in the bottom. My husband also thought he wanted more crust. I guess its just a personal preference. So glad you enjoyed them :)
Just made these for breakfast, great recipe. I tweaked it to work for my son’s diet (SCD). I used honey instead of the sugar, I pureed the apple with the berries and honey, strained and cooked it down a bit instead of using arrowroot (like SCD jam). I did part coconut oil and and a little sesame oil to make it more like butter. I didn’t have the same size pan so mine ended up a bit thinner. We really liked it and will be adding it to our breakfast recipes.
Looks amazing… can’t wait to try!
Looks wonderful, and something I could actually eat! What’s the secret recipe club?
Its a club where you get assigned a blog (once a month) and you make a recipe from the blog to post on a reveal day and then you find out who made something from your blog and what they made. Here is my post from this month: Baked Apple Chips
Can you make a ” copy cat ” of Whole Foods’ grain sweetened chocolate raisins ?
I’ve actually never had them. Are they chocolate covered raisins?
Yes, they have no sugar and they are grain sweetened we love your lara bars.
Just made these this morning with two parts strawberry and one part raspberry (both frozen) and additional fruit in place of the applesauce. Delish!
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