Three indulgent layers make up these no-bake bars: a crumbly shortbread base, a smooth coconut cream, and a fresh, tangy blueberry and chia jam. A light dessert that sits easily, perfect to close a summer meal or to go with coffee.
No-bake blueberry coconut bars
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Ingredients
For the blueberry chia jam
- 3 cups frozen blueberries, thawed (do not use unfrozen fresh blueberries)
- The juice of one small lemon
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp chia seeds
- 3 tbsp ground chia
For the shortbread
- 3/4 cup gluten-free oats
- 12 medjool dates, pitted and soaked for 10 minutes in hot water
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- A pinch of sea salt (equivalent to 1 tablespoon - 15 ml - of seawater)
For the coconut cream
- 1 tin of full-fat coconut milk, chilled overnight
- 1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 2 tbsp honey
- A dash of vanilla extract
Preparation
- Mix all the jam ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Cover and chill for several hours or overnight, until the chia seeds have swollen and the texture is like jam.
- Partly mash the fruit with a potato masher, keeping some pieces whole.
- Blend the oats in the food processor until you have a flour.
- Drain the dates and add them to the processor with the rest of the shortbread ingredients.
- Blend until you have an even dough that holds together between your fingers.
- Line a 20 cm square tin with baking paper, letting it hang over the sides, then press the shortbread evenly into the bottom.
- Scoop off the solidified fatty part on top of the chilled coconut milk (keep the coconut water for your smoothies).
- Blend this coconut cream with the desiccated coconut, the honey and the vanilla until even, without overworking it so it does not split.
- Spread the coconut cream over the shortbread in a thin, regular layer.
- Then spread the blueberry jam on top, in an equally thin layer.
- Chill for several hours or overnight, then lift out using the baking paper and cut into 16 squares.
Tip
You absolutely must use blueberries that have been frozen and then thawed: they release the juice the jam needs to set properly, which fresh blueberries will not do.
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FAQ: your questions about blueberry coconut bars
How do you make jam without cooking?
The principle is simple: you replace setting by cooking and pectin with a gelling agent that works cold. Chia seeds, as here, absorb up to ten times their weight in water and form a gel within a few hours in the fridge. You simply mash the fruit roughly, add the chia (one to three tablespoons per 250 g of fruit), a squeeze of lemon juice and a sweetener if needed, then leave it to rest. No cooking, so no loss of vitamin C or volatile aromas - and a texture that stays frankly fruity.
Which jam can you make with no cooking and no sugar?
Almost any, provided you choose fruit that is juicy and fragrant enough. Red and blue berries - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries - are the easiest: they mash well and their natural acidity makes up for the absence of sugar. Ripe mango, peach and apricot also work very well. With no sweetener at all, the result will be tarter and keep less long: allow five to seven days in the fridge instead of several months for a classic jam. Here, sugar is no longer a preservative but simply a matter of taste.
Does sugar-free jam keep?
Far less long than a traditional jam, and that is normal: in a classic jam, it is the sugar concentration - often 60% or more - that blocks microbial growth, not just the cooking. A raw chia jam keeps five to seven days in the fridge, in a clean, tightly closed jar. To go further, freeze it in small portions: it then keeps for several months and thaws in the fridge without losing its texture.
Do chia seeds need soaking?
For a jam or a pudding, yes: that is the whole point, since the swelling is what creates the texture. Allow four hours minimum, ideally overnight, in a liquid (fruit juice, plant drink, or the juice released by the fruit as here). Sprinkled as they are on a salad or into a yoghurt, they pose no particular problem - their coating fills with water on contact with moist food. Swallowing a large quantity of dry chia with little liquid, on the other hand, is best avoided: they then swell inside the digestive tract.
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