{Easy} Gluten and Dairy Free Seven Layer Bars

Seven Layer Bars are one of my very favorite Christmas goodies. We spent Christmas this year at my Grandparents in Florida. With all holiday craziness and travel no one really found time to make many holiday treats. After a whole day of vacation without a single, safe Christmas cookie I had to do something.

The small town in Florida that my Grandparents live in have very little gluten or dairy free options so I had to get creative. I had seen this recipes for Seven Layer Bars and although they look absolutely delicious, I didn't have enough patience or appropriate ingredients to make them. Target was my only shopping option so I took to the aisles with the classic Eagle Brand Milk recipe to see what substitutions I could find.

For the crust, I found these Annie's Gluten and Dairy Free, Snickerdoodle bunnies. They were a bit sweeter than normal graham crackers so I when I mixed in the butter I added a some more cinnaman hoping to dull it down.

Luckily they had Enjoy Life chocolate chips! I honestly like these better than regular chocolate chips any way. I used the whole bag at various stages of layering so they bars were extra chocolatey!

The condensed milk was the hardest to step by far. I found this recipe for Vegan sweetened condensed milk. I used 1 can of  coconut milk and 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup. I simmered it at a low heat for about 30 minutes, I think it definitely could have cooked a bit longer but I was antsy. 

Full Recipe: 

1 1/2 cups (about 1 bag) of Annie's Snickerdoodle Cinnamon and Sugar, Gluten Free Bunny Cookies (crumbled)
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 package of Enjoy Life, Dairy Free Chocolate Chips
1 1/3 cups of flaked coconut
1 cup of chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups of Vegan Sweetened Condensed Milk

Pre-Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x9 baking pan.

Mix together crumbled cookies, cinnamon and melted butter. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle in half the bag of chocolate chips and half the coconut.


Pour condensed milk over the bars. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips, coconut and nuts evenly over the top.


Bake for 25 minutes. Let bars cool completely before cutting or refrigerate for firmer bars.

They went so fast (eaten by my non-Paleo/food allergy family) I almost didn't get a picture of the final product!

                                         

Blueberry-Lemon Bars {Paleo}

My friend E is not so much a sweets girl. When she asked me to make a dessert for her  Going Away party a few weekends ago I found an amazing sounding, paleo friendly, recipe for Bacon Chocolate chip cookies. As I was standing in the aisle at Whole Foods trying to decide how much more coconut flour I needed I realized the recipe I had found only made 8 cookies. After some panicked googling and found these delicious Blueberry-Lemon bars on The Spunky Coconut.

They weren't as sweet as I was expecting, but as E pointed out, they would be PERFECT for a breakfast. I added twice as many blueberries and probably would have done the same for lemon juice in addition to some zest. This also all came together nicely in my new blender so clean up was very easy! My adapted recipe:

Blueberry Lemon Bars {Paleo Friendly}

3/4 cup of Coconut Flour 

1/2 cup of Tapioca Starch

 1/2 cup of Shortening + 1 tbsp

 1/2 cup of Granulated Sugar

 1/2 cup of  Fresh Lemon Juice

1 tbsp of  Fresh Lemon Zest

 1 tbsp Baking Powder

 1/4 tsp  of Salt 

3/4 cup of Applesauce 

2 cups of Blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a square baking pan with parchment paper
2. In a blender, mixer or food processor, mix together the coconut flour, tapioca starch, shortening, sugar, salt, baking powder, lemon juice, lemon zest and applesauce until it forms a thick dough
3. Pour dough into a mixing bowl & fold in the blueberries
4. Place dough into the baking pan and press evenly into the pan
5. Bake for 43-45 minutes
6. After the bars cool, sprinkle the top with a pinch of granulated or powered sugar

Banana Bread

I've been craving banana-y things in the recent months. Specifically chocolate and bananas. Took a trip to Mexico earlier this summer and had the most amazing chocolate dipped frozen banana!

My "substitute" for not having the patience to dip my own bananas has been Chocolate Chip Banana muffins. Definitely not paleo, but fine in moderation ;) I've brought them to work to win people over and everyone loves them!

Paula Deen's Banana Bread {in muffin form}

1 cup of softened Butter

1 1/2 cups of Sugar

4 Eggs

3 cups of All purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 teaspoon of Salt

2 cups of Mashed Bananas

1 cup of Chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and fill 2 muffin tins with muffin holders
2. In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring well. Add bananas and pecans, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 30ish minutes, or until a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans, and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

What the Heck is Coconut Flour?

If you remember about a month ago I started the Whole Living 'Cleanse'. It basically focused on eating a lot of, easily digestible fresh fruits and veggies and thats about it. No dairy. No carbs. Nothing processed.

After spending a day in the kitchen preparing my meals for the week, it was fairly easy to maintain and very filling! I felt great, still had energy, was full and felt a whole lot 'cleaner' than I had been.  My cleanse week was immediately followed by the Denver Girls Weekend which, although I gave it my best shot, wasn't exactly cleanse approved.

The 'cleanse' was great, but is very limited in food choices and recipes. After some chatting with friends and further internet investigation I've decided to give Paleo a whole hearted shot. Being dairy free really helped my digestive system, and avoiding carbs is always a good thing right?
I ordered Practically Paleo on a recommendation, but to get a head start I went to the website for the book and found a recipe for a great, paleo friendly, grab and go breakfast. Breakfast is the hardest for me, because I don't want to get up 15 minutes earlier to make a smoothie or an omelet. I want to sleep that extra 15 :) These Apple Streusal Muffins looked like a delicious and convenient option.

ingredients:

• 3 large green apples, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (approximately 2 cups) – peeled if you like
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil (to make it dairy-free), melted
• 9 eggs
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

preparation:

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• Preheat oven to 350F.

• In a medium skillet, sautée the apples, water,  1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and butter or coconut oil until the apples are the consistency of chunky applesauce or apple pie filling. Allow the mixture to cool before combining with the egg mixture.

• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk the eggs,coconut milk, coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Add the cooled apples, reserving 1/4 cup for a garnish.
                                           
• Spoon egg and apple mixture into parchment cup lined muffin tins—1/4 cup each. Gently spoon about one teaspoon of the remaining apple mixture onto the top of each muffin.
• Bake for 40 minutes.

                                             

Whole Living

I spent the wonderful Christmas holiday back in the midwest for a week! It was beautiful, but freezing white Christmas. The only real complaints I had were a gross, flaky, dry face and no appropriate product to help  and all the heavy cream/egg/sugar/carb based foods that were consumed. I even spent 2 days sick on the couch from richness, and probably dairy overload.  In an effort to get back on track I did some investigating and  have decided to try the 2013 version of the Whole Living Action Plan to Kick off the year.

A few years ago I found the 2011(?) version on Pinterest.  Back then it required a juicer and I wasn't about to go out an buy one. It also had new recipes every day for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. A single, working gal on a budget just cannot swing that much shopping and cooking. I tried doing it with smoothies and rotating recipes, but it was still expensive and time consuming.

They've updated and cut down their meal plans and really focused on making them user friendly/make-ahead-able. Per their website:

How This Cleanse Works
1. Go Step By StepWe built this plan around a simple base diet of lentils, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds; these (plus oils and seasonings) are the only ingredients allowed for the first week. The subsequent weeks introduce variety, including fish and gluten-free grains in Week 2 and eggs in Week 3.  

2. Devise a StrategyWe realize that making all of the plan’s recipes is no easy feat. So we’ve streamlined things this year with weekly meal-by-meal plans. To ease prep, some recipes have a make-ahead component, and most recipes make big batches, so you’ll always have a selection of leftovers in the fridge. 

3. Make It Your OwnWhile there are 45 recipes in the cleanse, you can certainly improvise meals; simply follow the ingredient guidelines for each week. You can also carry over your favorite dishes as you enter a new week. Do keep in mind that while you should keep portions modest, counting calories is not part of the program. “This is not a calorie-restricted diet,” Blum says. “This is about food choices.” 

 I took a trip to Whole Foods (in an effort to go completely 'clean') and only spent $45 on everything for the first week! I couldn't believe it. I'm starting today so I'll keep you updated on how it's going and how I'm feeling a long the way.