Blueberry Crumb Bars

It’s gluten-free! I usually don’t care if it’s gluten-free or not, but I had a gigantic bag of almond flour (purchased, of course, at Costco. Where else would we get big bags of anything and everything?) so I decided to try and experiment with it. I know a few people who have problems with gluten and they literally cannot eat anything with flour, or only in small amounts, which I definitely would hate because I love baked goods!!! There are oats in this, but they do not contain the protein gluten which is found in wheat, barley and rye grain, instead, they contain a protein called avenins so oats are still gluten-free.

Did I forget to mention that these taste incredibly delicious and it’s only sweetened with maple syrup?

I never knew these bars even existed until this summer, when I went camping and someone brought these for dessert. I still can’t believe I never ate these! Like what have I been doing with the first fifteen years of my life?

The recipe for these healthy bars is based on ifoodreal‘s awesome recipe, which I just adjusted some quantities to fit my bigger pan and changed a few things to accommodate the almond flour substitution. So without further ado, here’s the recipe.

• Servings: 12
• Time: 2 hr (Prep 30 mins)
• Difficulty: Easy
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The new healthy twist made with coconut oil, maple syrup and almond flour! It’s also gluten-free for those gluten-free people out there. This works with frozen blueberries too, just make sure to defrost them by leaving them at room temperature for a couple hours.
Adapted from: Blueberry Crumb Bars-ifoodreal

Ingredients:
Crumb:
3 cups oats
1  3/4 cups almond flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
3/4 cup coconut oil, not melted
1/2 cup applesauce
Blueberry Filling:
3  1/2 cups blueberries (thaw frozen blueberries, if using)
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 orange, juice and zest
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Crumb: In a large bowl, mix together oats, almond flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add maple syrup, eggs, coconut oil, and applesauce. Mix until the dough comes into a ball (it will be quite moist) and make sure the coconut oil has been mixed in well.
2. Blueberry Filling: In a medium bowl, mix together all blueberry filling ingredients and preheat oven to 175 °C (350 °F).
3. Assembly: Line a 9 x 5 inch baking dish with parchment paper. Put 2/3 of the crumb dough in the bottom of the pan, using your hands to press it down firmly. At this point, my crumb dough was very moist, so I placed it in the oven for 5 minutes to make it a bit crusty. Then I put the blueberry filling on top and covered it all with the rest of the crumb dough. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the blueberry filling is bubbling and the top is golden. Let it cool down completely before removing from the pan and cutting into squares. Can be stored in airtight containers for a few days at room temperature or in the refrigerator for a week or two.