gluten-free raspberry nut breakfast bars
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GLUTEN-FREE RASPBERRY NUT BREAKFAST BARS
I actually might like breakfast more than I like dessert. GASP! But, hold on, hear me out. Breakfast can be salty & savory (bacon), rich (creamy, cheesy eggs), AND sweet (pancakes, muffins, waffles, ebelskivers, crepes, dutch baby, etc, etc, etc)! And, at the same time, it is common knowledge that breakfast is The Most Important Meal of the day. You can't feel guilty about eating breakfast. Even if your breakfast is indulgent, you have all day to burn it off. Eating ice cream for breakfast is actually a thing... because you can go run a marathon afterwards and so who cares what you eat?! But, indulge in a pint of ice cream for dessert??? That's a guilty pleasure, certainly not as ok as having a dollop of whipped cream on top of your waffles at breakfast.
Sooooo.... with all that in mind, I highly recommend these breakfast bars. I've adapted them from my favorite gluten-free baker Silvana Nardone. Definitely check her out-- especially if you have to be dairy-free, too.
But, back to the bars. They are sweet, semi-healthy, and go great with a warm cup of coffee. They're totally hygge. They'd also be great for a holiday breakfast and come together really quickly in your food processor-- no stand mixer required.. If you don't like raspberries (some people have issues with the seeds), this recipe would be delicious with your favorite strawberry or even apricot jam. You know what would be good? Rhubarb! Let me know your favorite flavor combo!
Gluten-Free Raspberry Nut Breakfast Bars (makes 12-16)
- 1.25 cups gluten-free flour blend (be sure it includes xantham gum)
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup raspberry jam (or your favorite jam)
- slivered pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds (or any nut of your choice)
Place oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a 8" square baking dish with a parchment paper sling. This will make it easy to remove the bars neatly when they are finished baking.
Combine all dry ingredients-- flour, almonds, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt-- in your food processor. Blend until the almonds are a fully ground up. Add cubed cold butter to the food processor and pulse until mixture begins to clump together.
Whisk egg and vanilla in a small bowl. Pour these wet ingredients into the food processor and pulse until mixture becomes dough-like.
Spoon a little more than half of the dough into your prepared baking pan, pressing it evenly across the bottom of the pan... almost like you're making a graham craker-crumb pie crust. Spread jam evenly across the top. You've now got a dough layer completely covered by a jam layer. Now, create a second dough layer by dropping clumps of dough all over the top of the jam. Don't try spreading... it will make a mess. Just scatter the dough across the top of the jam. Sprinkle with nuts of your choice. I ran out of almonds and used roughly chopped pecans instead.
Bake bars until the top is golden brown, approx 40-45 minutes. Let bars cool at least one hour in the baking dish before removing the parchment paper sling and cutting into squares to serve.