Lately I've been trying out more gluten-free recipes and I'm slowly edging my way into the gluten-free baking jazz. It's not easy, as gluten-free flours react differently and there's no way to replace them 1-1 with regular wheat or spelt flour. I personally don't digest wheat flour too well, which is why most of the recipes on this blog are made with spelt flour. This type of flour requires less liquid and is generally more fun to work with. It also adds a depth to your cakes, breads and cookies that no other regular flour does.
For this recipe I used almond meal and buckwheat flour. I added vanilla sugar to the dry mix along with a pinch of cinnamon and allspice. This combination works wonderfully with the pumpkin puree in the filling. To keep it refined sugar free I used maple syrup to sweeten it up. Again, this adds even more flavour to the pumpkin puree and the flour.
I honestly can't wait to have these as a snack when I return from my long bikerides. They're perfect as a quick pick-me-up after a workout or as a snack along with a cup of tea or coffee. I have yet to try making this recipe with medjool dates instead of maple syrup, but I ran out of dates. So, if you've got dates on hand, be sure to give it a try and let me know how it worked out!
BAKING TIME: 40 minutes // YIELD: 9 squares // MEAL: snacks
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup almond meal- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1,5tsp baking powder
- 1/2tsp baking soda
- 2tbsp vanilla sugar
- spices: 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp allspice
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
STEP-BY-STEP
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C or 320°F. In a bowl, mix together the almond meal, buckwheat flour, baking powder and soda, spices, and 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar. Then mix in the maple syrup.2. In a smaller bowl, mix together pumpkin puree and the other tablespoon of vanilla sugar.
3. Line a baking tray or grease with oil (preferably coconut or sunflower oil) and cover the bottom with half of the crust mixture.
4. Cover the crust mixture with the pumpkin mix, then cover this again with the crust mixture.
5. Bake the bars for 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Once baked, leave to cool down for at least 15 minutes before transfering the bars to a cooling rack and slicing into 9 squares.
Store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze.
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