Magic Cookie Bars (Gluten-free, vegan)
These Magic Cookie bars are rich, delicious bites of heaven! The marriage of a cookie base, gooey caramel, toasty coconut, and chocolate chips will bring a flavor explosion to your tastebuds! These paleo magic cookie bars are a take on classic 7 Layer Bars, but made gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan, and refined sugar-free.
Ingredients
Base
- 2 cups almond flour
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract & good pinch sea salt
Topping
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (i like pecans, walnuts, or almonds)
Coconut milk condensed milk
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract & good pinch sea salt
Instructions
Coconut milk codensed milk
- Add the coconut milk, maple, coconut sugar, vanilla, and sea salt to a small, deep pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Lower heat to simmer and continue cooking until the mixture has reduced by half, being sure to stir often to prevent burning - this can take around 30 minutes, sometimes longer.
- When it's done, it should resemble sweetened condensed milk/caramel sauce and will have darkened in color. Remove from heat. You should end up with a little over a cup.
Cookie base
- Preheat oven to 350. Combine all of the cookie base ingredients in a large mixing bowl, combining until dough forms. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and spread the dough in the bottom evenly. Bake for 14 minutes until lightly golden around the edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Add the coconut, chopped nuts, and chocolate chips. Then carefully pour the coconut caramel/condensed milk evenly over top (I like to slowly drizzle it all over the top to make sure it's pretty even).
- Return to the oven for 22-25 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two until completely firm, before cutting them into bars.
- *Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for up to two months. I prefer these straight from the freezer!
Video
Notes
They're best from the freezer: When they are frozen, the cookie base never gets rock-hard. They just get chewier, denser, and the texture is just amazing. I prefer them this way!