Grated Crumb Bars

These Grated Crumb Bars are delicious. Cheese recipes are perfect for spring and summer days. The ricotta cheese is refreshing and smooth, which makes a delicious dessert. It is the perfect combination of not overly sweet cocoa dough and smooth cheese filling inside. Perfect softness inside with crunchy top. It is a dreamy Gluten-Free dessert that will leave you craving more after the first bite.

Why do Czech people like desserts?

Prague’s (Czech’s) pastries are delicious and come in many shapes and flavors. If you are not a fan of overly sweet American desserts, you will enjoy little sweet cakes in the Czech Republic.

Czechs do enjoy making desserts to go with afternoon coffee or tea. Coffee for a Czech person is no fuel in the morning but a delicious cup of strong coffee in the afternoon. In addition, you can find an abundance of pastries, dumplings, pancakes, and other delicacies no sweet tooth would dare to resist.

I have always enjoyed baking. However, since my daughter got diagnosed with Celiac, I had to learn new ways of baking. Nothing worked, and it was very frustrating for me. I feel like I have tried every flour on the market and finally settled on one, which works for my baking, and I am back in the kitchen again, experimenting and exploring.

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Let’s get baking

This dessert is so easy and quick. My daughter and her friend are baking these bars in this recipe. You do not need any special ingredients. Except for the cheese part, which I will explain below, you probably will have everything on hand already. You do not have to be a skilled baker, and these bars will come out from the oven perfectly every time.

The dough

The best way is to use a stand mixer. I am using a Kitchen aid mixer with a paddle attachment to make it easy for me. You can, of course, make dough with your hands, if you prefer this method.

I would recommend using room temperature butter. It is easier to create nice soft dough when you use room-temperature butter. However, some recipes are calling for cold butter, and this one is not one of them.

After trying all kinds of Gluten-Free flours, I settled on Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.  I use this flour for all my baking and cooking.

• 400g of Gluten-Free Flour
• 200g of granulated sugar
• 2 sticks of unsalted room temperature butter
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp of dark cocoa
• 2tsp of baking powder

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It will take about 10-15 minutes to create dough from all your ingredients. If your dough is too crumbly, you can add 1 tbsp of butter, which will help, or to tweet add 1 tbsp of GF flour.

It does happen due to thirsty flours. Some need more moisture than others. It is not a bad measurement. You need to be careful not to add too much!

Once you have your dough finished, take it out and separate it into one bigger half than the other. Wrap in foil and store in a freezer to cool down.

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The Cheese filling

While your dough is in the freezer, get cheese filling ready. I will go into details for cheese below, but meanwhile, you can use whole milk ricotta. It works beautifully in this recipe.

You can use your stand mixer or handheld mixer. Even a fork or whisk will work. Put all ingredients together and mix well. I do use unsweetened vanilla pudding. If you do not have pudding on hand, use corn starch as a substitute. (Pudding -> is actually cornstarch.) If you are using corn starch, add 1tsp of vanilla to bring the flavor.

I buy my vanilla pudding on amazon.

• 16 oz or (400g) of ricotta cheese
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 pudding (or 3 tbsp of corn starch)
• 1 tsp of vanilla if using corn starch)

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How to assemble Grated Crumb Bars

Prep the baking dish

You can grease your pan with butter. However, I prefer parchment paper as that method is less messy. Cut your parchment paper to fit your pan, fold corners, and cut excess paper. I am using a 9×9 inch ceramic pan, but pyrex will work as well.

Take the bigger half of your dough from the freezer. It should be nice and cold, making it easier to grade into your baking pan. Grade all of this dough and spread it on the bottom. There is no need to flatten it out. Just spread evenly. That is all.

Pour ricotta cheese over the grated layer and again spread evenly on the bottom.

On separate plate or cutting board grate the other half of dough and sprinkle over the ricotta cheese.

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Baking the Grated Crumb Bars

Bake the Gluten-Free Grated Crumb Bars in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until the crumb topping is a light brown.

Rule of thumb

Keep an eye on your oven and bars!!!! Every oven bakes a different way. Your oven could bake it faster or slower. It also depends on what pan you are using.

Once you take the Grated Crumb Bars out of the oven, allow the bars to cool completely before cutting your first piece. The cheese filling gets too runny otherwise.

What cocoa to use

Cacao vs. Cocoa

Cacao refers to cacao beans that have not been roasted. It is the raw bean and is often packaged as vegan chocolate that has been minimally processed with no additives. However, cocoa is made of beans that have been roasted.

Difference between Natural and Dutch-Prossed cocoa

Natural cocoa is the regular cocoa powder derived from fermented, then roasted beans processed at high temperatures.

Dutch-processed cocoa is made in a similar process as natural cocoa, but its cacao beans are treated with an alkalizing agent.

Due to the difference in processing, natural cocoa has a higher acid level, a lighter color, a bitter taste, and a sharper chocolate taste. On the other hand, dutch-processed cocoa has a neutral PH, a darker color, a mild taste, and paradoxically, a richer chocolate flavor.

HERSHEY’S Special dark baking cocoa

Hershey’s Dutch cocoa is formulated as a sugar-free and fat-free powder specifically for baking. This dark cocoa is derived from cacao and has a rich chocolatey taste. It is versatile and can be used on a wide range of recipes, including baking and beverages.

I prefer this cocoa for all of my cooking. I love the dark color this cocoa gives to my desserts and its rich flavor.

What cheese to use

What is “Tvaroh” cheese?

Tvaroh is a fat cheese ( 40% fat), Czechs love to use for baking or cooking. Tvaroh is in every grocery store as a staple cheese of Czech households. However, it is more difficult to find abroad. I buy the famous tvaroh in the local farmers market near my home. Some say that Tvaroh is similar to cottage cheese, which I would disagree with. Tvaroh is much denser and more compact than cottage cheese. Sometimes I use ricotta instead of Amish cheese if I cannot make it to the farmers market.

Also, when using farmer’s cheese/Amish cheese/ Tvaroh, make sure to check for sodium. Some cheeses contain sodium, and that would not work in sweet desserts. On the other hand, Tvarog with sodium can be used for savory dishes. In Czech, we Tvaroh does not contain sodium. I learn in the USA the hard way about sodium in Tvaroh.

And lastly, there are two types of Tvaroh in Czech. Hard Tvaroh can be grated because it contains less water. That type is used for sprinkling over pancakes or potatoes and other meals. Soft Tvaroh (soft curd) contains more liquid mixed with an egg and corn starch and baked into the recipe.

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Can you make tvaroh at home?

Yes, you surely can and taste delicious. I buy whole milk – buttermilk and boil to 105F (40C). Then pour through cheesecloth to a bowl and let sit in a fridge overnight. If you want hard Tvaroh, let sit longer for soft tvaroh, let sit shorter. From 0.5L of Buttermilk, I can make about 180g of Tvaroh.

Who inspired me?

Suppose you wonder who inspired this delicious Grated Crumb Bars – Strouhany Kolac? My childhood did! Growing up with my mom making any cheese-related dessert was always my happy day!

Did you enjoy this Gluten-Free recipe? If you try this Czech Grated Crumb bars recipe, let me know if you liked it.

Other dessert bar recipes to try

If you like these Strawberry Crumb Bars, be sure to try these other dessert bar recipes.

• Lemon Bars, which were the inspiration for the Strawberry Crumb Bars. They truly started the Fruit bars taste!
• Orange bars, very similar to Lemon bars.
• Delicious Strawberry Crumb bars

Until next time…!

DOBROU CHUT!

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