I'm a terrible daughter. My dad's birthday falls on or around Thanksgiving every year, and even though walnut desserts (namely walnut pie and Walnettos) are his favorite, I always bake him a pecan pie instead. The sole reason being that my namesake passed her award-winning pecan pie recipe down to me and the recipe calls for pecans, not walnuts. This is a pitiful excuse, I know. Not this year. Nope - this is the year I turn things around. I've got walnuts on the docket and I'm mixing things up with these easy-to-eat maple walnut bars.
Partially because my dad deserves it, but mostly because my kitchen is overflowing with walnuts. A couple of weeks ago, Diamond of California invited me and ten other bloggers to tour their walnut orchards during the peak of harvest and see their processing plant, where they sent us home with a holiday-supply of nuts.
As a girl who learned how to hunt for Easter eggs in the branches, tree roots, and tractors of my Great-Granny's 20-acre almond orchard, I was so there.
I grew up in a town that greets visitors with miles of nut orchards lining both sides of the highway on their way in. There's a row of almond trees (that's pronounced "Am-und" in my family) across the street from my childhood home and up until this past year, a walnut grove kissed the back of the property with a branch of stray nuts dropping over the fence.
Yet, surprisingly, I knew very little about the process of nut harvest. You know those pick-up claw tools people use when they're too lazy to bend over and pick their socks up off the floor? (That's their primary use, I'm sure of it). Well imagine one of those - except monster-sized and manned by a tractor - grabbing on to a tree trunk to shake the walnuts right out of the branches. Makin' it rain on the family farm!
Another tractor sweeps the walnuts into tidy rows, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. The final tractor sucks up the nuts and loads them onto a truck for their way to the huller where they'll be stripped of their green jackets and sit in a 105°F sauna to dry before heading over to Diamond for processing.
After a nut-filled lunch, we got to taste-test walnuts (belly = so fulllllll). Fun fact: There are more than 10 varieties of walnuts (probably way more, but that's how many I tried) that range in size, shape, color, and taste. Because certain varieties do better than others some years, farmers grow multiple varieties in a single orchard, but by the time they get to your bag in the store they're all mixed up together. Let's just say: There are lasers involved.
About a week after I got home from the trip, my aunt shipped me a large priority mail box filled with shell-on organic chandler walnuts from her boyfriend's orchard. So now I've got a shelf in my cabinet dedicated only to nuts and there are no complaints.
You've been patiently waiting to hear about these maple walnut bars.
Picture pecan pie but sub in walnuts, and instead of pie, imagine cut and serve easy-to-eat bars. Pecan pie meets lemon bars, but with maple walnut flavors. There's a flakey tender all-butter shortbread crust on the bottom coupled with a sweet maple pie topping with crunchy chopped walnuts.
Raise your hand if you've ever made a pie (or two or three) for Thanksgiving and the sad leftovers sat on the counter for a few days waiting to be eaten?
Yeah, that doesn't really happen at my house either - I love pie.
BUT, I'd love it even more if I could just walk by and grab it on my way to the living room to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade. Pre-cut, no plates involved (napkins necessary). My dad will surely eat no less than 6 of these grab-n-go treats during the Thanksgiving football games.
Also, don't wait until Thanksgiving to try these - that's WAY too far away. Better make a test-batch first.
For more nut inspiration, check out the group of nutty bloggers I got to hang out with in the orchards (from L to R):
- Lynda of TasteFood
- Amy from Amy’s Healthy Baking
- Tiffany from Creme de la Crumb
- Trish from Mom on Timeout
- Karen of The Food Charlatan
- Hayley from The Domestic Rebel
- Liz from The Lemon Bowl
- Annalise from Completely Delicious
- Melissa from Fit n’ Well Mommy
- Not pictured: Alex of Delish Knowledge
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Maple Walnut Bars {gluten-free}
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- ¼ cup millet flour *For non gluten-free, replace the millet flour, oat flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum with 1 cup all-purpose flour.
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons oat flour (I make my own by grinding oats in my food processor)
- ¼ cup sweet rice flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Maple Walnut Filling
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use Rodelle vanilla
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 8x6 glass baking dish with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the millet flour, oat flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, and brown sugar.
- Add the vanilla and unsalted butter and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour, until it becomes a crumbly dough.
- Press the dough into the parchment paper and bake until set and begins to turn golden brown, about 14-17 minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat egg in a bowl. Whisk in the tapioca starch until completely combined.
- Add the maple syrup, dark brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla to the eggs and mix thoroughly.
- Sprinkle the chopped walnuts in the par-baked shortbread-lined baking dish.
- Evenly pour egg mixture over walnuts.
- Bake until the filling is completely set, about 20-25 minutes. If the center of the filling still jiggles a bit when the pan is moved, then return to the oven until set, about 5 minutes longer.
- Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
*I was not compensated to write this post. Diamond of California gifted me some nuts and hosted me on the tour, but as always, the opinions expressed here are solely my own.
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert -
How fun to visit the walnut orchards! These bars look delish! And a perfect way to use up all of those walnuts. Pinned!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! I GUESS I'll have to make a few more batches. You know, for the sake of the walnuts ;)
Becky | The Cookie Rookie -
What an amazing post! Your photography makes me melt every time, and the trip looks so fun! Some of the best bloggers around in that group! Thanks so much for sharing :)
Sarah Menanix -
Oh my goodness - you are so sweet! Thank you!
I was in some amazing company, right?! It was so inspirational to be surrounded by so many lovely ladies!
Allie | Baking a Moment -
What a cool experience! And I love your bars too, so great that they are GF! I bet your dad will love them ;)
Sarah Menanix -
I loved learning about the whole process - the parts you don't normally get to see about where your food comes from! Thanks, Allie!
Min -
Haha you're not a terrible daughter at all! But I have no doubt you'll be getting some bonus points from your dad this year ;). Boy is he in for a treat hehe. How awesome is it that you grew up near nut orchards!! Love getting a glimpse into your childhood. More than 10 varieties of walnuts? Crazy! I'd like to taste them all although I wonder if I'll be able to pick out the differences..Pies def do not stick around for long at my house and neither will these bars! Mmm..pinning!! Hope you have a wonderful Monday, Sarah!
Sarah Menanix -
They gave us a sheet to write down the differences and although I could take some MINUTE differences, I didn't have the vocabulary to describe what I was tasting besides: buttery, bitter, dry, smooth. Haha. I have the same problem when trying to think about the subtle differences in wine!
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West -
Okay, that's really neat you learned about nut farming and picking. Did it smell really good there? Another great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Sarah Menanix -
The processing plant smelled like cinnamon and cocoa powder for the seasoned nuts they were making! It was heavenly!
Françoise La Prune -
Wow! They look amazing!!! Great pictures! :-)
Karen @ The Food Charlatan -
These look freaking fabulous Sarah! I am ALWAYS okay with portable pie. Your pictures are gorgeous, as usual! So glad we got to do this together!
Sarah Menanix -
I know - I saw you put that hand pie in your purse. ;)
Sarah Kat -
Wow! My grandparents own 25+ acres of pecan trees. It's not really an orchard since they don't really run it as one, but it has a lot of pecan trees. The trees are so old that it would take three of me hand-in-hand to circle one of the trunks!
I know they have a guy who harvests for them in exchange for half of the nuts, it's a pretty efficient system for both parties. They always send us home with bags of pecans, so it works out for us too!
Sarah Menanix -
Woah! That sounds like a great deal! (For you AND the harvest guy!). I tried to get someone to use my backyard to grow their wildflowers for their business once just so I could enjoy the beauty of the flowers - ha! I wasn't so successful at selling my FREE land space.
Carla (@charliesue) -
1. Your poor poppa.
2. No bunnies on your farm? (Ah-munds.)
3. I'm just gonna eat all these bars now.
4. Pe-CAN or Pe-KAHN?
Sarah Menanix -
Pe-KAHN. Duh. But sometimes I go between PE-kahn and pe-KAHN. I'm literally talking to myself now. Thank you.
Thalia @ butter and brioche -
These maple walnut bars look so delicious Sarah. I can definitely see myself devouring a couple - just need to get my hands on the ingredients so I can make the recipe. Great pics too!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks, Thalia! Please let me know if you end up trying them!
Andrea -
It it 1/4 tsp of tapioca starch? The recipe just says 1/4
I'm going to add these to my Thanksgiving menu - thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
Oh my goodness! Good catch! It's 1/4 cup. Just updated the recipe. I hope you enjoy them! THANK YOU!
ellie | fit for the soul -
You're still so sweet for even baking your dad SOMETHING! I bet you're way ahead of the game on that one that most people, heh! And omgness a nut trip would be kind of amazing. That sentence sounds strange. Errmm okay I was saying, I can't believe you got to see this process! I honestly never have seen a nut tree and if I did I probably just zoomed past it. And what a beautiful recipe--sounds soooo comforting!
Sarah Menanix -
Haha - the nut trip involved a bunch of NUTTY bloggers CRACKING so many nut jokes. ;) I grew up with nut trees, but I still hardly paid attention to the process - I learned so much on the trip! And thank you:)
Mira -
It looks like you really had a wonderful experience there! The bars look amazing and gluten free is even better! They are just great for fall and can easily be added to a Thanksgiving menu!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you, Mira! I'm looking forward to switching things up on our Thanksgiving dessert menu this year!
Lisa / Good on Paper -
this looks amazing sarah! and you're not a bad daughter at all! the fact that you even bake him something from scratch is awesome already. love the pics and seeing the process. i had no idea! would be so good with some allegro coffee ;)
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! Um - yes! Except I have something else special in mind for our coffee date;)
kelly - a side of sweet -
This looks like such a fun adventure! Maple walnut bars sound amazing!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks, Kelly!
Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen -
Oh my gosh Sarah - these are amazing! I would love to have a few of these bars right now. Pinned!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks, Kristi!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet -
I love love walnuts! These bars look so tempting!
Love the photos from walnut farm! How cool!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks Anna! I had such a great time on the walnut tour. Hopefully soon, we'll cross paths on an adventure too:)
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom -
these maple walnut bars look fabulous!!! your trip with Diamond Nuts to tour their walnut orchards and their processing plant looks really fun!!! good times! Happy early birthday to your father and hope he enjoys these maple walnut bars!!!
Sarah Menanix -
Aw - I'll pass along the birthday love! The walnut tour was so much fun to see!
Sheri -
These look amazing! Your dad is going to love them!
Sarah Menanix -
:) Thanks mama!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely -
Well your dad is in for a real treat this year when he gets a dessert with his favorite nut! These maple walnut bars sound delicious! Especially since you got walnuts right from the source. Your tour of the walnut groves sounds so fun! And guess what? My grandpa calls them "ah-munds" too, and I love it.
Sarah Menanix -
Haha - nice! You've got country folk in your family too:) Thanks so much, Natalie!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter -
Aaw, your dad will love these bars, they look amazing! Portable bars beats pie any day to me :) Yay, the Diamond tour looked like so much fun!
Sarah Menanix -
I mean, why spend the time cutting pie when you can just grab and go, right? I'm all for convenience! Thanks, Kelly!
Chris @ Shared Appetite -
Wow so cool! I never knew anything about nut harvesting either... loved all your photos of the process... that's the coolest thing I've seen in awhile! I know, apparently my life is kinda lame hahaha
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks so much Chris! Dude, I grew up in nut country and it still was one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile!
Christie -
Oh my goodness, these sound and look AMAZZZING!! Definitely serving these for Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing!
xxChristie
http://www.KiKiMac.me
Sarah Menanix -
Yay! I hope you like them - please let me know how they turn out!
Rachel -
Getting to see the walnut orchard was so interesting. It shows much more depth into the recipe and how everything comes together. So excited to read this.
Also adding this one to my must-make-list. They look so yummy! Maybe they can be my contribution to Thanksgiving dessert?!
Rachel
http://rachelinflight.com
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much, Rachel. I'm definitely making these again for Thanksgiving too! Would love to hear if you end up making them!
Alyssa @ My Sequined Life -
Your trip sounds amazing, Sarah! What an awesome way to learn about foods we regularly eat. These bars are calling my name big time. I'd have a hard time containing myself with a pan of these around! :)
Sarah Menanix -
I loved learning about where my food ACTUALLY comes from and to see it all first hand. Also - Thank you! This is EXACTLY the reason I had to give some of these bars away:) Haha.
test -
lookie here
Jill Roberts @ WellnessGeeky -
Wow..maple walnut bars looked soooo good, I had to try and make them. I used your suggestion and used ½ teaspoon vanilla. Thanks for sharing
Julia Stearns @ Healthirony -
This maple walnut bars recipe looks so amazing and yummy at the same time. Found your post so easy to follow along when preparing them yesterday. So mesmerized by this. Thanks for sharing!