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Vegan berry bars

Time1 hour
YieldsMakes 12 to 16 bars
Vegan berry bars
(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times )
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Coconut oil makes a great vegan substitution for butter in these crumbly berry bars made from a sable-inspired cookie base with jam and fresh berries or fruit. More of the cookie mixture is then crumbled on top. The sweet-tart notes of the fruit complement the richness of the cookie, and your guests might never guess the treat is vegan.

From the story: Raising the bar for terrific back-to-school and back-to-the-office snacks

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1

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13- by 9-inch baking dish.

2

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the coconut oil, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

3

By hand, stir in the almond meal, then the baking powder and flour until thoroughly incorporated. The dough will be somewhat crumbly; this is OK.

4

Place three-fourths of the dough mixture into the greased baking dish, pressing to form an even layer across the bottom of the dish.

5

Spoon the jam over the dough, spreading to form an even layer that reaches almost to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle over the berries.

6

Add the sliced almonds to the remaining dough, pressing until the mixture will clump in your hands. Crumble the mixture over the berries and jam.

7

Bake the bars until the topping is firm and lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Remove and cool on a rack before cutting into bars.

Sugar is often processed using animal bone char, which is unacceptable to many vegans. This recipe calls for vegan sugar (animal-free processing), which is generally available at health food markets, as well as online.