Crème de Menthe Bar Cookies

Posted Dec 23, 2011 | By Nancy Gregory |

Baking … it’s one of my favorite activities, much to the detriment of my waistline. One of the fun aspects of being a part of the editorial team here at FAAN is testing recipes for our member newsletter, Food Allergy News. I had never done much baking without milk or eggs before I joined the staff in 2008, but I quickly learned that you can get delicious results without ingredients that you would have thought were key to baking.

My son Evan, who is allergic to peanuts, and my mom, who doesn’t have food allergies, are always willing to be my number one taste testers. They’re pretty honest, too. I’ve chucked more than one batch of cookies into the trash after getting a thumbs-down from Evan or Mom.

Last year, I tested these sublime Crème de Menthe Bar Cookies for the December 2010-January 2011 newsletter. They were not only a big hit at home, but my coworkers devoured these pretty quickly, too. These are free of milk, egg, peanuts, and tree nuts.

Crème de Menthe Bar Cookies

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup milk-free margarine, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Middle Layer:

1/3 cup crème de menthe
1/2 cup milk-free margarine, melted and cooled
3 cups confectioners sugar 

Top Layer:

1 1/2 cups milk-free chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk-free margarine

To assemble the bottom layer, in a large bowl, whisk together confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, and graham cracker crumbs. Add margarine and vanilla extract, stir until well combined. Press mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan; set aside.

To assemble the middle layer, in medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat crème de menthe, margarine, and confectioners sugar until well blended. Spread mixture evenly over crumb crust. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Prepare the top layer by combining chocolate chips and margarine in microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave about 1 minute and 30 seconds, stirring after each 30-second interval, until chocolate chips melt. Pour on the top of chilled middle layer. Refrigerate 10 minutes, then score into squares; return to refrigerator for 1 hour.