Chocolately Magic Bars- "GF" Style (Gluten-Free)

I've been meaning to post this recipe for over a month! It's a crime that I haven't been posting more lately- maybe not a crime to you readers, but it feels like a crime to me because the blog has become such a place of solitude and stress relief for me that I have NOT been utilizing during the past couple of rough weeks. Sometimes things get away from you because of one reason or another- but you just do what you can to pick up where you left off!
Anyways, no more excuses- Here is a wonderful Gluten-Free dessert bar recipe that I feel like is better than the "regular" recipe and is definitely more nutritious, AND you can feel good serving it to an array of people (with or without food allergies) at a party or BBQ! It uses healthy almonds instead of cookies for the crust to give you added nutrition & awesome texture! I'll give you some added suggestions at the bottom of the page, but you can totally play around with this recipe by adding dried fruit, other candies, etc., to personalize these bars! You'll need a mini-chopper or a food processor for this one too.

Go ahead, make the full batch, you'd be crazy not to:)

Ingredients & Recipe
Printable Recipe

• 2 cups whole, raw almonds
• about 3/4 cups of unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• about 1/4 tsp. (or "a pinch") of ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2- 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer the mini chips, but regular will work just fine!)
• 1 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, whatever you prefer)
• 1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Start by creating the crust for the Magic Bars by simply toasting the almonds; Toss the whole almonds onto a dry skillet and toast them over medium-high heat on the stove for about 3-4 minutes- be sure to shake the pan frequently so the nuts don't burn but are lightly browned.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and spray a 13 X 9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Place the toasted nuts into your food processor or mini chopper and process until finely ground, like the consistency a little thicker than sand. Add in the sugar, cloves & salt, and give everything a pulse to mix well, followed by adding the butter- again, mix well. Press the moist, sandy mix into the bottom of the prepared pan to form the crust, using the back of a flat spatula to keep the crust even across the bottom.

Now the easy part (and creative part depending on your tastes!)- Begin to layer the chocolate chips all over the crust, followed by the chopped nuts. At this point you could also add a cup of dried cherries or another dried fruit, or go with a whole different variety of candy/chips like caramel, white chocolate, etc. Now, pour the can of condensed milk as evenly as possibly across the whole deal and top with the flaked coconut. Use the spatula from earlier to lightly pat down the coconut- this just kind of packs everything together.

You are now ready to bake the bars- bake them for about 30 minutes or until they are getting a little bit golden on the edges and somewhat bubbly. Be sure to allow the bars to cool completely so that they "set" before cutting them into squares or triangles.

Enjoy at room temperature or keep them cool in the refrigerator for a cooler magic bar!

Pics to come soon...