by The Culinistas
Everything in moderation means treating yourself to ALL of the good stuff, from leafy greens to chocolate cake. We are giving you an open invitation to indulge in one of our favorite sweet treats: Billionaire Bars.
Chock full of sweetness & carefully prepared with brown sugar, medjool dates, almond butter, and, our favorite, chocolate chips, these are both vegan & gluten-free. All boxes ticked!
Billionaire Bars
Prep Time 25 mins, plus 40 mins chilling time
Cook Time 22 mins
Serves 12 to 16
CHEF TIPS
Technique:
– If an 8×8 baking dish is not available, make the bars in the most appropriate vessel you have.
– Use the bottom of a glass to firmly press shortbread dough into the pan before baking. The more compact, the better.
Taste:
– Swap almond butter with tahini for a toasted sesame taste. Garnish with black & white sesame seeds.
– For a quick tea cookie, bake this almond shortbread with added spices. Our solstice blend pairs perfectly.
1½ cups almond flour
2 TB brown sugar
¼ cup + 1 tsp coconut oil, softened, divided
10 medjool dates, pitted
3 TB almond milk
¼ cup + 2 TB almond butter, divided
¼ cup vegan chocolate chips
Coarse salt, for garnish
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Prepare shortbread: In a large bowl, combine, by hand, almond flour, sugar & ¼ cup coconut oil until a sandy mixture forms. Press dough into a parchment-lined 8×8 baking dish. Bake, 15 mins. Cool, at least 10 mins.
3. While shortbread bakes, prepare date caramel: Add medjool dates to 1 cup hot water; let sit, 10 mins. Strain dates & add to the base of a food processor; add almond milk & 2 TB almond butter, blend until smooth.
4. Evenly spread caramel onto shortbread; cool until firm, at least 10 mins.
5. While layers chill, prepare ganache: In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips, remaining almond butter & remaining coconut oil, 5-7 mins; cool slightly. Evenly spread ganache onto caramel & garnish with coarse salt. Cool, at least 20 mins & cut.