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)
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
- Preheat oven to 350
- Melt 8 tablespoons of vegan butter in microwave or stove
- Prepare crust by combining almond meal, xylitol or sugar, flour, and melted butter in a bowl.
- In a large baking dish 12 x 13 spread the almond meal crust.
- Bake crust at 350 for 15 minutes.
- Prepare coconut filling while crust is in the oven. Combine coconut sweetened condensed milk and shredded coconut in a bowl
- When the crust is done, spread the coconut over the crust, and bake again for 15 minutes.
- Set aside and let it cool.
- 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.
- 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.
- Put the dish in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Pull it out of the fridge and make lines on it with a knife so that it is easy to cut.
- Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- 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!
What are your favorite treats?
