This is a first. The recipe I’m about to show you is something I came up with, inspired by a dozen other recipes and bakers, drawing upon my successes in trying their recipes and what I’ve learned from reading their (far superior) blogs. I’m super excited to bring you this recipe, so let’s get to it!
Why, hello there…
Last November I featured the recipe for Orange Spice Cookies from “The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Cakes and Cookies“, by Laurie Sadowski, which still holds the reigning position in my recipe collection for my favorite vegan recipe. Recently I tried another of her recipes, intrigued by the concept of using tahini, a sesame paste, as the substitute for eggs and butter. Tahini on its own is remarkably strong stuff, but when baked with a significant quantity of maple syrup the end result is delightfully flavorful with a noticeable, but not unpleasant, kick from the tahini complemented well by the rich sweetness of the maple syrup. After faithfully following Laurie’s recipe for the first batch that I made, I decided to test out a theory of mine:
There is no recipe that cannot be improved by the addition of cocoa powder.
The first recipe for 2014 comes to you courtesy of Leslie Hammond and Betsy Laakso’s book, “Gluten-Free Desserts“. I have a couple other recipes earmarked in their book on account of the great pictures and the convenience of the recipes being explicitly gluten-free to begin with. I chose this one on the appealing thought of making something heavily involving apples. That makes for three fruit-centric recipes in a row after December’s Blueberry Honey Oatmeal Squares and November’s Orange Spice Cookies, all notably lacking chocolate. Don’t worry though, we’ll soon be back to something that makes appropriate use of unhealthy amounts of chocolate.
First things first, many thanks to Leanne at Healthful Pursuit for this recipe, which I followed in substance if not exactly to the letter. Before moving to Canada I’d never heard of nanaimo bars but I wish I’d encountered them a long time ago. I put them somewhere between a chocolate bar and a brownie, with great potential for versatility on flavor, and I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to take a shot at making my own.
The other thing they have great potential for is hitting various points for allergic or otherwise preferential dietary choices. The original recipe hit raw, vegan (and thus dairy-free), gluten-free, and no refined sugar, which is a remarkable feat, but I decided to take a swing at going for five points and added nut-free to the list.
The end result needs some work, but hey, that’s why I’m calling this one experimental!
Regarding Recipes 