Glimpse into berry oat bars & a useful recipe book

A few weeks ago, I received a copy of an eye opening recipe book that was so exciting for me to discover! It is called "Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book", and is written by Jennifer Katzinger, who owns a bakery in Seattle. Oh how I would love to live near her bakery!! If anyone wants to take me to Seattle, I will assure you that we will be dining in her bakery daily, possibly multiple times per day! Her recipe book is inspiring; not just for me, as someone who enjoys creating recipes, and dreams of releasing a recipe book one day, but also for those of us who have multiple food intolerances or allergies. Her recipes, like mine, cater for people who are avoiding gluten, wheat, dairy, soy and egg. Some recipes involve fructose, but are easily adapted. I thought I would share with you this book discovery so that you can enjoy it too. I will also show you the first recipe I used from the book recently. I was not feeling too well, so when we both craved sweetness, Mum made it while I directed! It was a delicious success!

Berry Oat Wondie Bars (yep wondie, not wonder!)


5 cups gluten-free oats
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup*
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups mixed berries
1/4 cup corn flour or arrowroot powder

(*to make it lower in fructose, I replaced the maple syrup with brown rice syrup.)

1. Place 2 cups of the oats in a food processor and pulse until the oats resemble fine oats bran. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the reserved oat flour, the remaining 3 cups oats, and the brown rice syrup, 1/4 cup of the maple syrup, olive oil, salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes.
4. Firmly press two-thirds of the dough onto a 9 by 12 inch baking sheet. Bake until light brown, about 15 minutes.
5. While the dough is baking, combine the berries, corn flour, and the remaining 1/4 cup of the maple syrup is a medium bowl.
6. Evenly distribute the berry mixture over the baked oat crust. Crumble the remaining one third of the dough over the berries, pressing it down firmly. Bake until a golden crust forms, about 40 minutes.