These gluten-free Chocolate Almond Joy Bars are crazy good! Who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate, almonds, and coconut in the form of a high-protein paleo dessert?
The dishes I create are far healthier than other gluten-free recipes. Regular gluten-free flours do not compare to almond flour and coconut flour. First, almonds are a superfood that is high in protein, fiber, and good fat. Next, coconut flour has an incredibly high fiber content. That’s why flours like brown rice, tapioca, sorghum, cornmeal, and potato starch don’t even begin to compare to almond and coconut flour. Better yet? Almond and coconut flour are easier to use and taste much better than traditional gluten-free flours.
When I use almond flour and coconut flour for baking, my children think they’re getting an indulgent dessert, yet I know I’m feeding them exceptionally healthy food! With good protein and healthy fat, the boys don’t get cranky from sudden drops in blood sugar when they’re eating almond flour cookies.
In addition to nutritious grain-free flours, these Chocolate Almond Joy Bars contain protein from eggs and extra good fat from coconut milk. They’re lightly sweetened and dairy-free as well.
Chocolate Almond Joy Bars
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, Whisk together eggs, coconut milk, almond extract, and coconut sugar
- In a small bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt, and baking soda
- Mix dry ingredients into wet with a hand blender
- Stir in ½ cup of the chocolate chips
- Transfer batter to a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Sprinkle shredded coconut and remaining chocolate chips on top
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes
- Cool for 1 hour
- Serve
Equipment
This Chocolate Almond Joy Bars recipe was inspired by one from Ginger Lemon Girl. If you can’t eat this because you’re on a nut-free diet, I have some amazing nut-free paleo desserts for you!
Laren Watson says
I made these Almond Joy Bars for dessert tonight and they were great. I kind of want to add some shredded coconut to the body of the bar and not just on top. Wonder if they would have that chewy quality that real Almond Joy’s have? Thanks for the great recipes. Love your blog.
Elana says
Lauren, thanks! I’m glad these bars were great!
kat says
Aloha Elana
This is one of my favorite recipes of yours! I think I just made a version of it that might go well with your recent Paleo style baking. I took out the almond extract, the coconut milk and and the coconut sugar. Reduced the eggs to 3. For sweetening I put half a cup of dates in a food processor with 1 1/4 cups of almond milk, processed until smooth. To the flour mix, I added 1/2 cup shredded coconut (reduced fat – with regular shredded coconut I would reduce the almond milk to 1 cup). Also added 1/3 cup dried cranberries. Instead of the chocolate chips, I finely chopped just 3 pieces of a super dark chocolate and put those in the mix. Makes for a lightly sweetened very coconutty desert or snack, wonderfully moist like all the recipes I’ve tried from your amazing blog and book. Thank you!
Elana says
Kat, I’m so happy this recipe is a favorite!
Kathryn Treat says
Today I made the Chocolate Almond Joy Bars. I substituted carob for chocolate because I am avoiding chocolate in my diet. I also substituted organic cane sugar for the coconut palm sugar because I didn’t realize it called for it and I didn’t have any. I also didn’t want to wait to make this delicious sounding recipe.
These bars are truly amazing. They are light and delicious and you can taste all the flavors in every single bite. If you offered these bars to someone and didn’t tell them they were gluten-free they would never know. I plan on making these again to serve to friends.
Elana says
Kathryn, thanks for letting me know these bars are truly amazing!
Barbara says
This is my all time fave recipe of Elana’s and I make it regularly. In fact I double it. My second most favorite recipe is the paleo banana bread and I make it every time there are bananas ready to cook. But yesterday, I decided to try using the bananas in the Almond Joy bars because I love the mixture of the two flours. Instead of the coconut milk, I used 3 ripe bananas for liquid. Used vanilla instead of almond extract, and added a handful of chopped walnuts. A great success! I would next time cut back somewhat on the palm sugar, as the bananas are so sweet. Thanks Elana!!!
Elana says
Barbara, I’m so happy to hear this recipe is a fave!
Cindy Beeley says
I made these yesterday. I want to tell you that they are delicious! The people who have tasted them would swear that they were made with regular flour–the texture and “crumb” are perfect! Thank you for such a wonderful gluten free recipe :)
Elana says
Cindy, I’m so happy these were perfect!
Aundrea says
I just made this recipe and I LOVE it. I am currently on the anti-candida diet and I am so glad to have such a delicious dessert on hand. Changes I made for the recipe was using Carob chips instead of chocolate and I sweetened it with Xylitol and Stevia :)It has a nice sweet taste. I also sprinkled cinnamon and nutmeg on top along with the coconut shreds. I ended up baking it in a 8 in non-stick pie pan (since I didn’t have a 8 x 8. It turned out to be a fluffy cake like consistency. Not bar like but still good!
Pam says
Be careful with xylitol. It kills bacteria. Probably not a big deal for most people, but if you have candida you don’t want to get rid of any bacteria and really flow your flora out of balance.
Donna says
I would love to make some of these recipes but I’m allergic to almonds. Will another flour work in place of the almond flour??
Zanne says
I used buckwheat flour. It was excellent!
Simone says
I just made these for the second time in oh, 2 weeks. I used the mini chips from Enjoy Life, and love the little bits of chocolate in each bite. These bars are so delicious, and also satiating, thanks to the almond and coconut flours. No sugar crash, which I greatly appreciate. And of course, gluten & grain eaters happily gobble them up! Once again Elana, you rock! I am always happier when I have some of your treats in the house. And being a chef, not a baker, I appreciate knowing that you’ve got me covered in the baking department! (me baking = not pretty!)
Nicole says
These “bars” are a favourite around here. I grew up having a simple cake and sauce for dessert on Sundays, this evening we’ll be having squares of this with a caramel sauce made from honey and coconut milk. So delicious! Thanks for all your hard work. Our family isn’t celiac, but I have cut most grains from our diet since October and I love how my body feels eating this way.
Anna, Fitscally Responsible says
I just learned about your blog last night through my friend who brought this dessert. I loved it! I wrote a post about gluten today and included a picture of the Almond Joy bars as an example of how delicious gluten-free eating can be!
Thanks for sharing all of your recipes. I am not gluten-free but I will definitely be making this one for a family gathering at some point.