Chocolate Coconut Bars (Vegan & Gluten-free)

My mother-in-law makes these Black and White Bars, also known as Mound Bars. They rule, but are filled with dairy and gluten that I can’t have. So, I successfully transformed them into a vegan gluten-free treat. There are three parts to this recipe: the crust, coconut filling, and dark chocolate topping.

Crust

  • 3.5 cups almond meal (I used Just Almond Meal Great for Baking & Breading from Trader Joe’s)
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • 8 tablespoons vegan butter  (I used Earth Balance)
  • ½ cup xylitol (you can use regular sugar, I just try to reduce it when possible)

I talk about my use of xylitol in my Vegan Broccoli Carrot Slaw recipe. I bought the XyloBurst brand made of birch sugar at Swansonvitamins.com.

Coconut Filling

  • 2 cans coconut sweetened condensed milk (I used Nature’s Charm Evaporated Coconut Milk; I got it from Fresh Thyme, but you can get it on Amazon too)
  • 2 – 4 cups shredded coconut (depending how much you like the taste and texture of coconut. My husband doesn’t like a lot of coconut, so I used only 2 cups)IMG_0737.JPG

FYI – This sweetened condensed coconut milk, has changed my baking world. I also use it when I make a vegan dulce de leche and vegan chocolate sauce. Everyone else agrees apparently, because it is constantly out of stock at Fresh Thyme.

Chocolate topping

  • 2 tablespoon vegan butter  (I used Earth Balance)
  • 3 packages dark chocolate vegan chips (I used Lily’s Baking Chips)
  • 2 bars unsweetened baking chocolate (I used Lily’s)

Lily’s is sweetened with stevia. The sweetened condensed coconut milk has enough sugar, I’m sure. Also, Enjoy Life also makes a yummy vegan chocolate chip.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Melt 8 tablespoons of vegan butter in microwave or stove
  3. Prepare crust by combining almond meal, xylitol or sugar, flour, and melted butter in a bowl.
  4. In a large baking dish 12 x 13 spread the almond meal crust.IMG_0750.JPG
  5. Bake crust at 350 for 15 minutes.
  6. Prepare coconut filling while crust is in the oven. Combine coconut sweetened condensed milk and shredded coconut in a bowlIMG_0754.JPG
  7. When the crust is done, spread the coconut over the crust, and bake again for 15 minutes.IMG_0757.JPG
  8. Set aside and let it cool.
  9. Prepare your topping. I tried melting the chocolate chips in a pot with the butter on the stove. However it was very thick. I had trouble spreading it on the coconut. Round two – heat the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments until smoothly melted. Then spread evenly.
  10. Then, heat the 2 bricks of baking chocolate in the microwave. Pour it evenly over the top of the chocolate chips to make it look smooth.IMG_0762
  11. Put the dish in the fridge for 2 hours.
  12. Pull it out of the fridge and make lines on it with a knife so that it is easy to cut.
  13. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  14. Pull it out and cut your squares. You can put them on wax paper and store them in a plastic container so that they are easy to pull out one at a time, and eat! They aren’t the prettiest looking. I should have cut them with a sharper knife. Regardless, it didn’t take away from the taste!IMG_0768.jpgcover chocolate coconut bars.jpg

What are your favorite treats?

  1. susanellenlogoweb

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: