Engineering Dessert: Nut Butterfingers

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One of the best things about being an adult involved in Girl Scouts is that you meet some wonderful women! And, they span the decades in age and all bring various backgrounds and interests to the group. Amazing!

There's one woman in particular who is such a sweetheart and bleeds Girl Scout green! She used to volunteer as a Service Unit Manager, which is a person who oversees anywhere from 20 to 35 troops. She now is a paid Girl Scout employee. Anyway, we were at a meeting planning events for multiple service units and she brought the most amazing snack I had ever had (okay so I was pregnant at the time!) They were a peanut butter and oatmeal bar cookie base with chocolate and peanut butter on top. I immediately asked her for the recipe. The next time I saw her, not only did she have the recipe, but she had made a batch just for me! And, she was sharing a recipe that had been her mother's. The woman was probably around 60, so this is definitely a well-loved, tried-and-true recipe!

I've made them many times but have only dreamt about them since becoming gluten free. But in my desire to create another dessert for the blog I decided to try tackling them based on my current food philosophy. I was pretty close on the first try, the second try was even better, and now I'm declaring them just as amazing as the gluten-full, grain-full, refined-sugar-full, dairy-full version! (And, just for kicks, I omitted the egg.) I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!


Nut Butterfingers
The original recipe was called Peanut Butterfingers. My son is allergic to peanuts, and while he doesn't care for sweets, he does like to help me bake, so I use almond butter if he's helping. My husband actually prefers the almond version to the peanut version, but he's not a peanut butter and chocolate fiend. By the way, this makes a lovely half recipe in an 8"x8" pan.

Cookie Bar Base

• 1/4 c Earth Balance
• 1/2 c coconut palm sugar
• 5 drops stevia (I used vanilla flavored)
• 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp boiling water, let sit for 15 minutes)
• 1/3 c nut butter (I've tried almond and peanut so far)
• 1/4 c applesauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (watch out for corn starch if avoiding grains!)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c almond flour
• 1/2 c chickpea flour
• 1 c quinoa flakes

Topping

• 6 oz chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
• 1/2 c powdered sugar (can make your own using unrefined sugar)
• 1/4 c nut butter
• 2-4 Tbsp milk (I used almond)

1. Preheat the over to 350°F. Grease a 13"x9" baking pan (I used glass.)
2. In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and stevia.
3. Blend in the egg, nut butter, applesauce, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.
4. Stir in the almond flour, chickpea flour, and quinoa flakes.
5. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top as soon as it comes out of the oven. Let stand for 5 minutes to melt.
7. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, nut butter, and milk until smooth.
8. Spread the melted chocolate chips evenly over cookie bar base.
9. Drizzle the nut butter over the melted chocolate and pull a spatula through to mix the two toppings.

This recipe has been shared on Diet, Dessert and Dogs' Wellness Weekend, Vegetarian Mamma's Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Free Alaska's Whole Food Fridays, and Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.