Raspberry jam bars are a healthy chewy bar studded with chunks of candied ginger and topped with a homemade raspberry jam. One bite and you’ll be in heaven!
Wow! That’s all I have to say about these raspberry jam bars. Well, okay, I have a lot more to say about them, but that’s instantly what comes to mind when I think about these dense, chewy and perfectly sweet raspberry jam bars.
Not all recipes work out on the first try. My first take on the raspberry jam bar was a bit of a flop. As in Burken and my dad said they sort of tasted like Play-Doh.
Not exactly what one is looking to hear when they’ve created a healthy sweet treat.
So I put this recipe on the back-burner for quite a while. I just couldn’t get the Play-Doh comment out of my head. I started to think about how I could change up the recipe, still keep it healthy, but avoid the Play-Doh flavoring.
Sweet treat lovers! I did it this time! This recipe was a calling to my raspberry jam loving soul. I couldn’t stop eating them! {much like these rhubarb cheesecake bars}.
The base for vegan raspberry jam bars
Lately I’ve had an obsession with finding ways to use beans in healthy dessert recipes. Anything from black beans to garbanzo beans. But I had yet to try using white beans.
I think this was the turning point for this recipe. The first time around I used chickpeas. Chickpeas have a very dense texture {except for when they’re used in these chickpea waffles}. Which was kind of what ruined them the first time.
White beans imparted this delicious chewy texture to the bars that I was totally digging. Not only do they have a lot of protein, but they also contain a high amount of fiber, and surprisingly, calcium.
The only change I made was using flax eggs instead of regular eggs to make this recipe vegan. I had never tried using flax eggs before, but they were rather simple to do.
Just mix two tbsp. flaxseed meal with five tbsp. of water and let sit until the flaxseed meal soaks up all of the water. This acts as a great binder and replacement for eggs.
But not to worry, you can totally use regular eggs if you don’t need this recipe to be vegan.
Vegan raspberry jam bars and candied ginger
I felt like these bars were going to be a bit too plain if I just used a plain vanilla base. So I started thinking of different spices that could be added.
Ginger’s powerful flavor actually pairs so nicely with the sweet flavor of raspberries that it seemed like such a great combination.
I decided to also incorporate Paradise Co’s. crystallized ginger to give it an extra pop and sweetness. The bold flavors of the candied ginger in the base of the bar and the fact that you could tell they were real pieces of ginger made these bars come to life.
One bite and you’ll be hooked on vegan raspberry jam bars
But for real. These raspberry jam bars are my new favorite. They utilize the homemade raspberry jam from earlier this week, and are prepped in just 15 minutes.
So if you’re looking for a new take on an old favorite, check out these ginger studded bars for a treat your friends and family are sure to fight over.
Looking for more tasty bar recipes? Check out these:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Copycat Larabars
- 2 flax eggs {2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal + 5 Tbsp. water}*
- 1 {15 oz} can cannellini/white beans drained and rinsed
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup raw cane sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ cup chopped candied ginger
- ½ cup raspberry chia jam {see jam link below}
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Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8”x8” pan with cooking or baking spray.
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In a small bowl, mix together the flaxseed meal and water. Set aside to soak.
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In the jar of a blender, add the beans, coconut oil, pure maple syrup, cane sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger.
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Pour in the bean mixture and add the flax eggs. Stir until combined.
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Stir in the chopped candied ginger.
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Spread about ¾ of the mixture in an even layer in the prepared pan.
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Spread the jam in an even layer, and the drop the remaining ¼ of the batter, in spoonfulls, on top.**
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Bake for 30-32 minutes, until set. Remove and let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.
*Note: the flaxseed meal needs to soak up the water to act as a real egg. But if you don’t need this recipe to be vegan, then just use 2 large eggs.
**Note: the batter on top won’t spread, so feel free to press down on it to flatten right before it comes out of the oven.
I am sharing this post in partnership with Paradise Co. As always, all opinions are my own. Your support of these brands and companies means so much to me and helps to continue to create quality content for you!
