Here come the holidays! And we need some creative treats to prevent our loved ones with dietary restrictions from experiencing those feelings of deprivation that come from missing out on the holiday party foods.
This recipe is very allergy-friendly. It is free of gluten, eggs, and gums such as xanthan and guar gum. I did use butter in this recipe but you could substitute with something casein free if needed. I just really love butter.
These bars are delicious, but they definitely won’t be a daily food for my family. It is rare that we eat a sugary treat such as this. But my freezer is now well-stocked for the season that is upon us, so that this gluten-free, real-food family will be ready to attend any event on short notice!
I made these bars using freshly ground flour from my WonderMill Grain Mill. It is my new toy and I love it! I feel good about serving my family freshly ground flours, and you can’t beat the texture of the flour it makes! Since I have always had a hard time finding organic sweet white rice, which is an important part of many gluten free baked goods due to the texture it creates, I have used my Vitamix to grind down organic sushi rice, since it has very similar properties. This works well enough, but the texture is still a little grainy. With the WonderMill we get a much better texture without the wear and tear on my Vitamix!
We started by making these butterscotch chips from Heavenly Homemakers.
We used those chips to make the bars in the recipe below. You can do the same, or purchase gluten free butterscotch, chocolate, or white chocolate chips. We even made these bars with no chips and loved them!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white rice flour – ground fresh
- 1/3 cup sushi rice flour – ground fresh
- 1/3 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- scant 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- gluten free butterscotch chips (we used the recipe above – you could also use chocolate chips or white chocolate chips for a twist)
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Grease an 8×8-inch square baking dish.
- Throw all ingredients except butterscotch chips in the food processor and blend.
- Add butterscotch chips and stir.
- Pour mix into greased baking dish and bake approximately 30 minutes, until edges start to turn golden brown and an inserted fork comes out clean.
- Allow to cool 20 minutes before slicing into squares.
You could serve this with ice cream or drizzle homemade caramel on top. Or both!
My next experiment is to use my homemade butterscotch chips in an ice cream recipe. 🙂
