Blueberries & coconut are 2 of my favorite things. Chocolate & wine are #1, but I’ll save that for another post. I was reading Tina’s blog, Carrots ‘N’ Cake, a week or so ago & saw Tina talking about Blueberry Coconut Bars. The recipe was naturally gluten-free!! I decided to give them a try the other day.
I did make some modifications:
- I used Lara’s Gluten-free Oats from Cream Hill Estates
- I used Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze in place of the soy milk
- I used 1/4 cup sweetened coconut & 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
The bars were super easy to mix up & bake. The kitchen smelled awesome while they were baking.
Holy blueberry!!! Do you see the blueberries? Hands down my favorite part! These bars tasted phenomenal!! They were a little crumbly, but who cares! Even Jon, my picky, coconut-hating child, ate these! Of course I didn’t exactly share the ingredients with him before he chowed down! HA! He did detect the coconut, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from inhaling 4 bars when he got home from school. His only complaint? Too many blueberries! He said he loved the flavor.
Thanks Tina for a wonderful recipe!!
My son and me, November 2000. This is before we were gluten-free/diagnosed Celiac.
Hey Kim, these sound and look delicious! Coconut and blueberries are some of my personal favorites in my gluten-free cereal, and we now offer both as organic ingredients.
Just in case you haven't come across it already I wanted to point you to an outstanding guide on gluten-free baking from the Colorado State University Extension. This guide includes an overview of replacement products, gluten-free flour blends, and tips on how to improve texture and structure. Crumbly is the nature of the gluten-free baking beast but the tips they give can mitigate this at least to some degree. Download the guide here: http://www.customchoicecereal.com/gluten_free/adv…
Girl it looks like you know how to eat! I'm adding your website to my blogroll. I like what I see.
Hajo – Thank you!! I appreciate the link. Saved that file.
Kelly – Thank you!
Are you from the Columbus area? I saw that you guys were in the Hilliard area recently.
Kim
If Jon liked them, then I am giving these a go (I am a coconut hater too, but I am hoping it will grow on me!), thanks Kim!
LOL Heidi!! Yeah, he ate a bunch more today – they are almost gone. Coconut flour is very nutritious & I am hoping to use it in more recipes soon. I think it helped that I used 1/2 unsweetened coconut b/c it is in much finer shreds.
Woohoo … naturally gluten free and you and your son love them–wonderful!
Shirley
Okay, so I just made them but they fell apart (the taste is excellent though!). I just double checked the ingredients on Tina's site to make I didn't miss anything and noticed that the last ingredient says 1/2 Vanilla Soy Milk (didn't catch it the first time around but I subconsciously used 1/2 cup), is that how much you used?
I also noticed that you said you used 1/2 cup sweetened coconut and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut but Tina just listed 1/2 cup coconut altogether…??
Pretty much, mine didn't bind together and I'm just trying to figure out why because like I said, the flavor is AWESOME, this would be a great breakfast for the boys!!
Mine were a little crumbly, but didn't fall completely apart. I wonder if I used a whole cup of coconut! LOL! No, I didn't, I used 1/4 cup of each. I need to go change that. I did use a 1/2 cup of almond milk. Did you use coconut flour? I wonder if adding an egg or flax egg would help bind them together?
I did use the coconut flour, that is one very cool GF flour! I used rice milk since that is all I had on hand, but I was wondering the same thing about the flax egg, since the recipe called for the flax meal, I will try again but combine the flax with water to make the "egg." I'll keep you posted.
Thanks Kim!!
Yes, please keep me posted.
[...] fun things to make with blueberries: waffles, pancakes, ice cream topping, jam/jelly/preserves, blueberry coconut bars, and blueberry chia muffins. What is your favorite blueberry recipe? AKPC_IDS += [...]
I'm a brand new vegan and am trying to find this recipe on your site along with a few others and can't. Are they just older?? HELP please~my children are revolting at the thought of began vegan and losing their desserts.
Hope,
Here is the original recipe:
http://carrotsncake.com/2010/03/i-dont-sing.html
I modified it slightly:
I used Lara’s Gluten-free Oats from Cream Hill Estates
I used Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze in place of the soy milk
I used 1/4 cup sweetened coconut & 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
What other recipes can I help you find?
Kim