Black Forest Bars
Gluten free, refined sugar free.
Cookie layer:
2 cups almond meal
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cherry filling:
500g Frozen cherries
1/4 cup water
4 tsp coconut sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cornstarch with 1 tsp water, combined
Chocolate coating:
200g dark chocolate
2 tbsp coconut oil
Sea salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 180’C. Line a silicon mini loaf tray (mine is a 6 loaf silicon tray but you could use a silicon muffin tray instead). Silicon makes it easy to remove however if you only have a metal tray just ensure you line well with baking paper so that you can pull them out.
In a bowl, combine all cookie layer ingredients together. The mix shouldn’t be too wet but holds together when you press it down. Evenly distribute mixture between moulds and press down. You don’t want this layer being too thick, about 1cm. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes or until edges are golden. Leave on bench to cool.
While cookie base is cooling, start on your cherry filling. In a saucepan over low-medium heat, add frozen cherries, water, lemon, vanilla and sugar. Cook down for 15-minutes. When cherries have softened, pushed them down with the back of your spoon or spatula to roughly break them apart.
Once your cherry filling is almost finished, add your corn starch mixture. You want your filling to be reasonably thick but not overdone; it should resemble a loose jam consistency. If your mixture is like a watery syrup, it’s too thin and you need to add some more corn starch and water mixture. This will all depend on how much juice was in your frozen cherries. Remember, it will continue to thicken off the heat too.
Once cherry filling has cooled, spoon it evenly over your cookie layers. Using the back of a spoon, gently push the filling down and smooth it over the top. Place the bars in the freezer until cherry filling has hardened. This makes it easier to work with.
Once cherry filling is semi-frozen, melt down your chocolate and coconut oil. Take bars out of the mould and dip in chocolate. You make like to add a sprinkle of sea salt here. Place on a baking sheet and allow to set in the fridge.
Store your bars in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer until ready to consume. Enjoy!
