Healthier-For-You Dessert: Gluten-Free Chocolate Peppermint Bars

|Updated Dec 15, 2020

@the_bananadiaries

These chocolate peppermint bars are full of holiday flavor. With a deliciously oaty chocolate crust and a super smooth dairy-free chocolate peppermint filling, these easy and gluten-free bars are a crowd-pleaser for even the non-vegan folks!

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Chocolate Peppermint Bars (Baked With Love)

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Serves: 16

Ingredients

For the Oat Crust

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup raw cacao powder
½ cup coconut oil, softened
⅓ cup maple syrup

For the Chocolate Peppermint Filling

2 large ripe avocados, pitted
1 cup raw cacao powder
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup cassava flour
1 tablespoon peppermint extract

Raw cacao powder, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

To make the crust

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9 by a 6-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
In a food processor, pulse together the oats and cacao powder until the oats are ground into a rustic flour.
Add the coconut oil and maple syrup and pulse together again until a sticky dough has formed.
Evenly press the dough into the baking pan, pushing it to the edges of the pan.
Place the pan in the freezer to firm up the crust as you prepare the filling.

To make the filling

In a food processor, pulse the avocados until smooth.
Add the cacao powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, flour, and peppermint extract and blend until smooth.
Remove the crust from the freezer and spoon the batter on top of the crust, smoothing it out to the edges of the pan.
Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges and almost all of the filling has set. (The center of the bars will slightly jiggly.)
Remove the bars from the oven and allow them to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. If desired, dust the top of the bars with cacao powder before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.