The Secret GF

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Millionaire's Shortbread Bars (vegan + gf)

Monette Carli

Have you ever heard of millionaire’s shortbread bars? I had no idea what they were until two summers ago, when I was working in London. I was browsing the Whole Foods in Piccadilly Circus when I came upon gluten free millionaire’s shortbread bars. Have I mentioned I absolutely love browsing grocery stores? Weird, I know. Anyway, the bars looked delish and I was hankering for something sweet, so I decided to buy them. They were TO DIE FOR. Seriously. When I got home after that summer and had access to a normal kitchen again, I knew I had to recreate those bars. So here we are with this recipe that is vegan and gluten free!

Millionaire’s shortbread bars traditionally have a bottom layer of shortbread cookie, a middle caramel layer, and a top chocolate layer. For my recipe, I made the cookie layer with almond flour to get a delicious nutty flavor. The middle layer is a caramel made mostly out of dates. Finally, I made the top chocolate out of cacao, coconut oil and agave.Honestly, I think these bars might be my best dessert recipe. They don’t have a lot of ingredients or added sugar. They are simple and easy to make. Plus, they taste so decadent even though they are made with natural, wholesome ingredients.

xoxo, The Secret GF

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 ½ cups almond flour

¼ cup grapeseed oil

3 tbsp agave

1 tsp vanilla extract

⅛ tsp salt 

Caramel layer:

11 medjool dates

¼ cup almond butter

¼ cup hot water 

Chocolate layer:

⅓ cup coconut oil, melted

6 ½ tbsp raw cacao powder

2 tbsp agave 

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

  2. Mix together all crust ingredients and press the mixture evenly on the bottom of the loaf pan.

  3. Bake crust for 20 minutes and let cool.

  4. Place the dates in a food processor and process until a paste forms.

  5. Add almond butter and water to the date paste and process until very smooth.

  6. Spread the date mixture evenly on the crust and place in the refrigerator while making chocolate.

  7. Whisk together chocolate ingredients and pour on top of the date layer.

  8. Refrigerate overnight or until the chocolate layer has hardened.

  9. Cut into squares to serve and keep leftovers in the refrigerator.