Chocolate Sunbutter Cookie Bars

Chocolate Sunbutter Cookie Bars

Gluten Free, Vegan, Corn Free, Soy free, Nut free

Think Reese’s Pieces flavor without the allergens! Makes one batch of cookie bars in a 16×9 glass, rectangle dish.

INGREDIENTS: 1.5 c brown rice flour, 2TBsp sugar, 3/4 c Earth Balance butter (soy free, 1/2 c chilled), 1 Tbsp hemp or coconut milk, 1 c creamy Sunbutter, 1/2 c brown sugar, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 2.5 c powdered sugar (check for tapioca starch instead of corn or wheat starch in the ingredients), 1 bag of Enjoy Life brand semi-sweet chocolate chips

RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 16×9 inch glass baking dish with one strip of parchment paper down the bottom length. This will make the cookie bars easy to lift out and cut after they are made. Butter the dish lightly, plus the top of the parchment paper. The cookie bars consist of three layers: a shortbread cookie crust, a rich Sunbutter layer and a simple chocolate layer.

To make the shortbread layer, mix 1.5 cups of rice flour and 2 TBsp of sugar in a bowl. Cut the chilled 1/2 c of Earth Balance butter into small pieces using a pastry blender or food processor. I place the 1/2 c of butter into the freezer for 10 minutes to chill it before this step. If you use a food processor, pulse carefully and do not over blend. Once the pastry dough resembles medium crumbs, sprinkle the 1 TBsp of hemp milk, pulse or blend once again. The key is for the dough to hold together, but not be wet. Next, firmly press the dough (you will essentially be pressing it together in the pan) until smooth and even. Refrigerate the pressed cookie dough layer for 15 minutes. Then bake the chilled dough at 350 degrees for 10 mins. Set aside to cool.

For the Sunbutter layer, melt 1/4 c Earth Balance butter with the 1 c Sunbutter, the 1/2 c brown sugar and the 1 tsp of vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly. Once the mixture is combined well and bubbly, remove from heat. Add in the 2.5 c of powdered sugar to the Sunbutter mix. Spoon mixture onto shortbread layer and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. In another saucepan, add the bag of Enjoy Life chocolate chips and melt over low-medium heat until melted and smooth. Pour the melted chocolate over the Sunbutter layer. Cover dish and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator, and lift cookie bars in one lift onto cutting surface if possible. Using a dough scraper (or knife), cut rectangles with one swift cut on each side. The layers are somewhat fragile because of the ingredients, so carefully cut them. Once they are cut they hold up nicely stored in the refrigerator. These have to be kept chilled because the Earth Balance butter, is essentially plant oils and will not keep solid at room temperature.

Note: These are the ingredients we normally use for cooking our special diets, so I am not sure how these bars would turn out with another milk, butter or flour, but that would be worth experimenting because this was so good!