How To Make Gluten-Free PSL Bars

SO MANY OF YOU ASKED, and I have heard your voices! And thanks for making me explore gluten-free baking; it’s a brave new world for me. So here we go: Gluten-Free PSL Bars!! If you’re looking for that PSL flavor that just makes you want to grab a warm blanket and curl up on the couch while you gaze out of the window wrapping your hands around a hot cup of coffee thinking about how the leaves changing colors makes you forget about all the chaos happening in the world around you — but you don’t want all the gluten of my regular PSL Bars — then you have come to the right place.

Looking for the regular version of my PSL Bars? Click here for the recipe!

We’re going to need to get a little creative here, but I’m willing to bet that if you or a friend of family member is gluten-free than you’re used to being a bit adventurous with your baking. And we’re not going to do anything so out of the ordinary that you’ll need to special order anything from Guam to make these bars work. A trip to Whole-Foods (or whichever supermarket you prefer) should do the trick.

Grab your coffee. Grab a book. Grab your blanket. Grab your Gluten-Free PSL Bars. Let’s go.

😀👍🏻

Gluten-Free PSL Bars

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 24 bars 1x
• Category: Gluten-Free
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Looking for all the delicious yumminess of my PSL Bars just without all the gluten? You’ve come to the right place.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 12 tablespoons butter (168 grams)
• 1/4 cup neutral oil (60 milliliters)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (15 milliliters)
• 2 tablespoons rum (30 milliliters)
• 2 tablespoons milk* (30 milliliters)
• 1 can pumpkin puree (425 grams)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cup white rice flour (185 grams)
• 1/4 cup potato starch (40 grams)
• 3 tablespoons tapioca starch (21 grams)
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (320 grams)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups whole walnuts (200 grams)
• a handful of white chocolate chips

*Some people with gluten sensitivities also have a sensitivity to casein, the protein found in milk. If this is the case simply leave the milk out. The milk helps with both browning and structure (due to its protein) but the pumpkin itself is pretty dark in color, and if your bars turn out super soft well… there are worse things that could happen.

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (160°C + Fan)
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and set aside to cool.
3. While the butter cools, toast your walnuts by placing them in a skillet over medium heat and cooking for about 5 minutes. They should smell warm and nutty and their color should darken just a bit (if you haven’t toasted nuts before think of it like making popcorn: toasted is great, burned is terrible — so pay attention). Let cool.
4. In a large bowl, combine white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.
5. Make a parchment sling and place it into a 13×9″ pan (roughly 33x23cm pan). Spray the parchment with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Chop your walnuts into bite-sized pieces. FYI: the butter is still cooling down. That’s GREAT news.
7. Add the oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla, rum, milk and eggs to the butter. Mix well. Your liquid ingredients might look a bit like curdled pumpkin mess at this point. That’s OK.
8. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined. Add the walnuts and mix in. At this point you should absolutely not sneak a taste of the batter due to food safety issues with raw eggs.
9. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 22-25 minutes. The top should be just a little shiny, and some small cracks should have appeared at the edges. The bars will also pull away from the sides of the pan just a bit. An instant read thermometer inserted in the center will register 190°F (88°C). You can gently press the center with your finger and it will “push back” just a bit. If you’re in doubt, it’s better to under-bake these bars a bit than to over-bake them.
10. Let cool completely in the pan (about 1 hour). Remove by lifting the parchment sling, and cut into 24 pieces.
11. Melt a handful of white chocolate chips in the microwave by placing them into a small bowl and microwaving them for an initial 30 seconds, followed by 10 second intervals, stirring each time, until the chocolate runs smooth.
12. Drizzle the white chocolate across the top of the bars. Let set and serve.

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