Like I Promised...

I did say I was thinking about making blueberry chocolate bars and I did just that. I did a little research for other recipes I could play off of, but did not find many- any really, so I did the next best thing...used my own little brain to figure one out! I found a chocolate crumb recipe and decided to use that as a reference point. I did my usually twist and tweaks and made a batch. The chocolate crumb recipe came from My Sweet Vegan- Passionate About Desserts by Hannah Kaminsky. Her recipe used both brown sugar and granulated sugar, me being me had to play with that part of the recipe. I liked that she used oats in the recipe, so I kept that in and to make them into bars I added water, vanilla extract, and baking soda to the recipe. I had blueberry jam on hand, but hey chocolate and just about any fruit jam/spread would do, especially raspberry or strawberry, not so sure how grape would be though (maybe good because I do love chocolate covered grapes, hum).

Chocolate Blueberry Jam Bars

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/3 cup date sugar
1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon coffee granules (optional)
1/2 cup fruit jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Mix margarine with the sugar until creamy.

Add in the flour, cocoa, oats, salt, baking soda, and vanilla, and mix until it comes together. It will be crumbly though.

Take 3/4 cup of the batter aside to be the topping of the bars.

Add the water to the remaining batter (if you want add the coffee granules to the water and dissolve, this will enhance the chocolaty-ness of the bars) and mix until it becomes a sticky dough.

Press the batter into the prepared pan (this was a little messy but fun) and

top with the blueberry jam.

Then top the jam with the remaining crumb batter and press it lightly into the jam.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (I baked them for 40 to try and crisp up the crumb topping).

Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove the parchment paper and allow them to cool completely before cutting them into bars.

They smell divine as they bake! I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder because I find that it makes whatever you use it in taste like ice cream, ok well it gives a deeper chocolate taste.

What's For Dinner?
Tuesday, February 22nd

I had rosemary hummus on jicama and cucumbers topped with tomatoes also with green and yellow peppers.

Wednesday, February 23rd
Mushroom, roasted beet and asparagus with fennel seeds and parsley.

Thursday, February 24th
Sweet potato platskis with toasted hazelnuts and cinnamon applesauce.

I have to post a new savory recipe, that will be my next challenge!

(just an fyi I have reached a problem with posting pictures on my blog. I do not have any more space in my folder here on blogspot and the only way to add more pictures is to purchase more space. I will see what I am going to do.)