I cannot believe that it is already July! I had so much planned in my mind for this summer I envisioned it going by so slowly, but instead it has already begun to fly by! My days have been filled with trying to create both structure and adventure for my nanny kiddos who are loving being out of school. We do a lot of fun things like going to the pool, going to the library and the book store and going to see the $1 kid movies at the theater but we also spend some fun time at home and one of the things I have been trying to surprise them with is fun snacks. Now this is a bit of a challenge for me some days, because keeping an adventurous schedule in the 90 degree heat at 5 months pregnant usually has me totally worn out by snack time, but I try to come up with something new and fun at least one day a week. There are a couple of picky eaters in the group who don’t love trying new things but for he most part these strawberry crumb bars were well received and enjoyed this past week. The only challenge was trying to find time to take pictures of them before the kids saw them and ate them up! 

Strawberry Crumb Bars (AIP/Paleo)

Ingredients:

Crust:

½ cup coconut flour

2 TBS arrowroot flour

2/3 cup of melted coconut oil

2 TBS honey

½ tsp vanilla extract

4 TBS water

Filling:

3 cups of fresh strawberries, washed and halved

1 TBS Lemon Juice

¼ cup of honey

3 tsp arrowroot powder

Topping:

1/3 cup of cold coconut oil

¼ cup of coconut flour

2 TBS tapioca flour

1 TBS honey

1/8 cup of cold water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl combine your coconut flour and arrow root powder. Add in your honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract and combine. Next, add in your water and stir until the batter begins to thicken. Take a 9×9 baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly across the bottom of the pan and puncture with a fork. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown. As the crust bakes, take a large sauce pan and combine your cut strawberries, lemon juice and honey. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until the strawberries are very soft and some of the liquid has begun to thicken (about 15 mins). Then slowly sprinkle in your arrowroot powder, stirring continuously to keep it from clumping. Stir until it is well incorporated and the sauce has thickened. When the crust is finished, take it out of the oven and pour your strawberries over the crust. To make the topping, combine your cold coconut oil, coconut flour, tapioca flour, honey, cinnamon, sea salt and water in a small mixing bowl and stir until a well mixed crumbly dough forms. Sprinkle it over the top of the dish and then refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight. Cut into bars and serve cold.