Hello Dolly Bars

Today I was missing my grandma. Grannie Grunt has been gone a long time but she helped start my baking addiction. I have dozens of her cookbooks that sometimes I just glance through to see her handwritten notes or find recipes she liked. I remember holiday dinners or birthdays or some other occasion and getting to eat her wonderful meals. My mom apparently inherited her cooking skills because she is a wonderful cook also. Anyway – I found this recipe going through one of her cookbooks. My mom and I made these little cookie bars all of the time. There are also called Magic Cookie Bars (I’m pretty sure a similar recipe is on the back of a sweetened condensed milk can). They are very simple to make but not gluten free. So I decided to accept the challenge of recreating one of my favorite desserts into something I could eat again. Result – success! These were so very similar to the real thing and I cut out the dairy, gluten and some extra sugar.

½ cup sorghum flour

¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup teff flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut oil (or melted butter)
1/3 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)
2 Tbsp brown coconut sugar
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
¼ cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup cocoa nibs (or chocolate chips – I used Enjoy Life! brand)

• In a mixing bowl, combine flours, ¼ cup coconut sugar and coconut oil and mix together until mixture is coarse crumbs.
• Press crust mixture into a 9x9 greased baking pan.
• In a small saucepan, combine almond milk and coconut sugar and bring to boil. Boil for about 2 minutes and then let cool.
• Pour cooled milk mixture over crust. Sprinkle pecans, coconut and chocolate on top of crust.
• Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until coconut starts to brown. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting and serving.