If you thought easy magic bar days are over when you went on a gluten-free or vegan diet, you're in for a treat! Gluten-free graham crackers? Vegan sweetened condensed milk? No problem with this recipe! Magic bars are a classic, and it's one of the easiest desserts to throw together — in fact, this recipe is quite fool proof, if you ask me :)
You'll need to first prepare a batch of this vegan sweetened condensed milk recipe, but the good news is that it can be prepared days in advance and just stored in the fridge. That way you'll have it on hand whenever you feel like whipping up a batch of vegan gluten-free magic bars.
Also, traditionally you'd use chopped walnuts or pecans in this recipe. I only happened to have almonds on hand this time around, and it tasted great just the same.
Vegan Gluten-Free Magic Bars
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
Base Layer
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5 tbsp coconut oil, melted
Topping Layer
- 1 ½ cups vegan sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)
- 1 cup semi-sweet non-dairy chocolate chips
- 1 cup shredded coconut
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a square 8x8 pan (or one of similar size) with parchment paper.
2. Mix all base ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to the baking pan, spread around evenly and press down firmly and evenly to flatten the base. Place pan in oven and bake for 15 mins until the crust begins to get lightly golden around the edges.
3. Remove pan from oven. Pour half the condensed milk over the base. Sprinkle the nuts down, then the chocolate chips, and finally the shredded coconut over the condensed milk. Pour remaining condensed milk on top. Place back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes more.
4. Remove from oven and cool down to room temperature. Once cool enough you can place the pan in the freezer for about an hour or in the fridge for a few hours to let them set. Cooling the bars makes cutting easier. When ready, cut bars into squares and enjoy!
Karissa says
These remind me of beach cookies from Chloe's Vegan Desserts which are vegan but sadly not gluten free! I need to try your recipe!
Audrey says
Hey Karissa,
Had to look up what those beach cookies are about, and you’re right it’s quite similar to a magic bar. You can actually make her recipe, but just sub the base of this recipe for the graham cracker crust too, which will make it gluten-free. I might try that too sometime just for fun :)