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Could I eat these bars every day? Absolutely. Which is why the two times I’ve made them, I’ve gotten them out of my house immediately. First time, I took them to a girls potluck night, then to a Super Bowl party. And so far, they were loved by all females involved. And my husband chowed down on them too! But the females appreciated them more. Why do women appreciate dessert more than men? Not all women. My sister-in-law could care less about desserts. Which is why I hate her sometimes. Ok, only 0.5% of the time. Oh guess what?! My favorite spot in town, Just Be Kitchen, made these bars for their restaurant so if you’re in the Denver area anytime soon, you can pick one up there! How rad is that!?
As I type this, it’s 6:30 in the morning and I’m sitting in Snooze waiting for my best friend to get here. Since we are both so damn busy all the time now and no longer live with each other, we try to meet up every Thursday for coffee or breakfast to catch up while we work. As I get older, that seems to be the only way to hang out – to multitask. I keep watching all the episodes of New Girl and it reminds me of the days I lived with my girlfriends and all we worried about was if we would get a text back from the guys we liked. Well luckily now we don’t have to play that bullsh*t game. My husband is forced to text me back because I’m the one who cooks him dinner.
Speaking of husband, I’m in a bit of a dilemma. A relationship dilemma. Decorating. My husband doesn’t say much about decorating because it’s not like he would ever go to a store or go online to figure out home decor on his own. So I do it instead. And at the moment, I’m feeling the urge to redecorate our bedroom. Someone once told me you’re suppose to redecorate every 2-3 years to keep it fresh and we are almost at the 3 year mark and I’m feeling that urge. And I want to get our guest bedroom actually feeling like a comfortable space to stay. Which is why I want to take our current bedroom setup and put it in the basement. So I found all the new bedding, bed side tables, and lamps to go in our bedroom…then made the mistake of showing my husband before purchasing. He doesn’t like the bedding. But he’s not going to spend hours on Overstock looking for the right color bedding and the best thread count or when things go on sale. That’s not going to happen. But I already did that. And I like the bedding. So what do I did? Spend more hours looking for bedding he won’t like? Or do I just purchase it because he doesn’t actually care that much? Marriage dilemmas right here. But if our biggest dilemma is the bedding I want, I think our marriage is doing ok.
I’m on this big redecorating kick. At the moment, I’m redoing my office. Then pantry. Then bedroom. Then guest bedroom. Maybe it’s because my taxes are done. As a small business owner, I like getting all that done ASAP so I hand over everything to my account once January hits so I can feel like I have a fresh start to the New Year. Do you think schools will ever implement classes on money management or taxes? Because all I really learned in school was algebraic equations and was how to write a check and I NEVER WRITE CHECKS ANYMORE. Or do math. I have app for that. I remember the first year I started PaleOMG and my mom asked how much I saved since I was going to owe the government. And I quickly asked, “Why would I owe the government? I’ve always gotten money back.” I literally had no clue about how taxes worked (and still don’t to some degree). My school system failed my in many ways. I mean, I write for a living and I still don’t fully understand grammar or punctuation. But I do understand that the faster I get my taxes done, the quicker I can organize a pantry. And an organized pantry with labels is one of the most satisfying feelings ever. Ughhhhhh I can’t wait.
But enough about taxes and hell, LET’S EAT ALMOND JOY BARS!
PaleOMG Almond Joy Bars
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup melted ghee or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- pinch of salt
For the coconut layer:
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the chocolate layer:
- 2 cups mini chocolate chips
- 1 heaping tablespoon coconut oil
- 16 almonds (or more depending on how many squares you’d like to make)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish and line with parchment paper (this will help with removal to cut the squares later). Add all ingredients for the crust into a food processor and pulse until completely combine. The dough should mix into a slight ball once combined. Put dough in a pan and use your fingers to press dough around evenly throughout the pan. Poke holes with a fork in the dough to keep it from rising in the oven. Bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove then let crust cool.
- Place all the ingredients for the coconut layer in a food processor and pulse until coconut becomes fine and completely combined. Spread coconut layer on top of crust and spread evenly throughout. Place in freezer for 5 minutes.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler or microwave. Pour melted chocolate over coconut layer and use a spoon to smooth throughout. Place the almonds throughout the chocolate layer then place in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.
- Once hardened, bring to room temperature before cutting into squares then serve up. They are definitely better at room temperature when the chocolate has softened up a bit!
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More Cookie Bar Recipes:
Chocolate Chip Raspberry Shortbread Cookie Bars
Caramel Apple Pie Cookies Bars (video!)
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Not that you particularly care what I think, but I say buy bedding your husband likes. Especially if he doesn’t normally have an opinion. It IS the bedroom, after all. 😉
Those bars look delicious! Thank you.
These look AMAZING! I’m in need of a good treat for Valentines Day to give to my girlfriends. Thanks for coming through!
Do you think these would freeze well? I am catering a backcountry ski trip and looking for some make ahead squares. Trying to cater the entire trip gf/df and mostly paleo. I wanna see if anyone notices, ha ha. These look awesome!
yes
Julie, you may have answered this somewhere before, and if so I’m sorry! But what is the reason for the different types of flour? Is it texture or taste or nutrition? Some combination? Just wondered if I’m missing one do I need it to make the recipe turn out right or can I substitute. Thanks! Love your stuff!
the texture, and taste honestly! and yes, if you leave out an ingredient, the recipe will not be the same.
Husbands and bedding are funny! I showed my husband at least 20 different duvets and sheet sets for our new bigger bed (again, on sale, good quality, etc. etc. etc.) and he suddenly formed a huge opinion and started throwing out random colors/prints to consider that he all of a sudden liked?
Finally, I just purchased 2 pretty neutral color sets of sheets for our new bed (literally couldn’t pass up the Black Friday prices) and he was fine/indifferent about them! Then I brought home a duvet I had been eyeing that went on clearance and he was hesitant on the print it but didn’t hate it…until a few weeks ago he goes “I really really like the duvet cover” (after 2 months on the bed?) I may never know how his brain works with decor.
Okay, 1) these almond joy bars look so damn good and I cannot wait to make them! 2) any chance you have a couple favorite bedding options you could give him and make him pick one? That could me more searching for you though :/ 3) I don’t understand taxes either. Does anybody really? 4) on a completely unrelated note, I remember a while back you talking about your husband doing allergy testing or something of the sort. I can’t seem to find the post where you talked about it and I’m curious how comprehensive the test was and if it was worth the money. I’ve contemplating doing one for a while.
he did the dunwoody test
Hi. I have had allergies most of my life. It got really bad one year about 4 years ago. I went to see an ENT who said I need to see an allergist. I did this. I was tested and gratefully, I have no food allergies, but I have a very bad dust mite and mold allergy along with the fall and spring allergies, dogs and cats. I have been doing allergy shots for about 3 years now. I am so glad I did. I am not as reactive. I had a mold infection and polyps in my nose and nasal vault. All of this cleared up. I am sorry that I waited so long. As an interesting side, I do not react to mosquito bites as badly as I used to. As for bedding, I do recommend allergy bed bags for both the mattress, box springs and pillows. I thought this was nonsense, but the reviews said the people noticed a difference in 24 hours. So I sprung for it. I swear I noticed a difference in 24 hours. Now I am working at getting rid of the carpet in our bedroom. Good sleep is so important for our health that it is worth the research and effort. Good luck to you and to Juli.
Do you by chance know the calories per serving? These look delicious.
no idea, but you can always figure that out for yourself through a nutritional calculator online!
my husband and i have ‘hard lines’ when it comes to bedding colors. shit is serious business. no red (which makes me sad bc i loooooove deep reds) bright/neon colors, no white (that one is me, hate white) and no floral (both of us) then we go from there. we tend to stay in black/gray/dark blue colors but we go based on what’s available bc my husband refuses to sleep on less than 1000 count thread sheets.
i would try to find some common ground based on what he specifically doesnt like about what you picked out already. i no longer allow the ‘i just don’t like it’ response. i need a reason so i can compromise. but to be fair, when we first moved in together we used my bedding which was this ugly pink set my mother bought me for college and he loved that damn pink sheet. he didnt care it was hideous, he loved how soft it was. he was actually pissed at me when i threw it away and throwing that ratty thing in the trash after him using it for years gave me such joy lol 😀
Dude. I’ve been married for 15 years, and as long as it’s not the bedroom he sleeps in, he probably won’t care too much what the guest bedding looks like. Like you said, it’s not like he’s gonna shop for something different, lol! I look at it in this way: It’s something that sort of needs to be done, he’s not gonna do it, but it won’t make a huge difference if you make the decision. If it were the master bedroom I’d definitely say make him shop with you, that way it doesn’t feel like you’re dismissing his opinion. And honestly, most guys don’t give it another thought.
Good luck! And these Almond joy bars look amazing!!!
My Great Grandmother once said “husbands aren’t supposed to stay in the bedroom, they’re just there ‘to visit’’” Who am I to argue with that woman, she’s a saint. Do you girl, he’ll end up liking it one way or another. Also, can’t wait to try these bars!