Raspberry Bars/Squares – Gluten Free & Vegan

Sometimes in your email you receive something that is useful.  That happened to me when I received CostCo Connection magazine.  I looked through it quickly and came across a Raspberry Bars recipe.  Nothing special I thought, but as I read the recipe I saw that it didn’t contain any wheat flour and, indeed, no animal products.  So that had me thinking that it might be a good recipe to try, as it is has no gluten and should be fine for vegans too.

I love raspberrys and strawberries so when I saw that both were included in the recipe that made up my mind to try it.  The decision was easier since I had all the ingredients already, including agave nectar that a bought a while back with no real recipe in mind.

This is a straightforward recipe to make, and mine turned out very well indeed.  It tasted so good that I am sure to be making it again.  The one change I might make next time is to simmer the fruit for slightly longer to reduce the liquid.  Either that or maybe use slightly less of the filling.  But just as it is it worked well for me.

Ingredients:
For the filling:

• 125ml(1/2 cup +1 tsp)water
• 35g(1/4 cup) corn flour
• 240g(2 cups) raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 150g(1 cup) strawberries, hulled and chopped into small pieces
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 80ml (1/3 cup) agave nectar
• 2 tbsp chia seeds

For the crumble base and top:

• 120g(1 1/2 cups) rolled oats
• 225g(2 cups) ground almonds
• extra 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 115ml(1/2 cup – 1 tsp) agave nectar
• 65g(1/4 cup) almond butter
• 60ml(1/4 cup) almond milk(or other plant based milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Place the water and cornflour into a saucepan and whisk until the cornflour is entirely mixed in without any lumps.
2. Add the raspberries and strawberries and place on a low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture starts to boil.
3. Allow the mixture to simmer for a couple of minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and add the agave nectar, lemon juice and chia seeds.
5. Mix until all is combined.  Then set aside.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F
7. Grease and line a 9 inch/23 cm square cake tin.
8. In a large bowl place the oats, ground almonds and cornflour and mix together.
9. In another bowl place the agave nectar, almond butter, almond milk and vanilla extract and mix until all are combined.
10. Pour that wet mixture into the oats/almond mixture and stir until it creates clumps of a crumble texture.
11. Take 3/4 of the mixture and place in the cake tin, then press down to cover the base entirely, trying to make it level as well.
12. Bake that base in the oven for 20 minutes.
13. Remove the baked base from the oven.
14. Take the remaining crumble dough and add the 2 tbsp ground almonds into it and stir to combine.
15. Pour the raspberry filling onto the baked base and spread to cover entirely, giving it a little shake if that helps.
16. Sprinkle the remaining crumble over the top of the filling.
17. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
18. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes( I let mine cool completely)before removing from the tin.