"Maple Walnut" Bars (I made them Gluten-Free)

Well, in a Pillsbury cookbook there is a recipe titled "Maple Walnut Bars", So, I thought I'd try it.

This is the original recipe:

BASE
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 c margarine or butter

FILLING
3/4 c sugar
2 T flour
3/4 c maple flavored syrup
2 T margarine or butter
1 t maple ex.
3 eggs
1 1/2 c chopped walnuts

GLAZE
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 t maple ex.
1 to 2 T milk

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease 13 x 9-inch pan. In large bowl, combine all base ingredients; beat at low speed until crumbly. Press mixture in bottom of greased pan. Bake at 350 F. for 12 to 14 minutes or until light brown.
2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine all filling ingredients except walnuts; beat until well combined. Stir in walnuts.
3. Remove pan from oven; pour filling evenly over warm base. Return to oven; bake at 350 F. for an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until filling is set. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.
4. In small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients; blend until smooth, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle evenly over bars. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

This is what I substituted:
For the base: white sugar & some molasses instead of the brown sugar, & oil instead of margarine or butter.

Filling:
I filled a little less than half of the 3/4 cup with honey, added 1/2 tsp maple extract then filled the rest of the cup with molasses for the the maple-flavored syrup. 1 TBS oil & 1 TBS lard for the marg. or butter, & chopped pecans instead of walnuts (I chopped hole, shelled pecans in the food processor).

And of course, I used gluten-free flour (in the base and filling). I also put in a small amount of xanthan gum - I usually put in about 1/2 a tsp. per cup. That's only 1 TBS per 6 cups! And in the filling, since it only has 2 TBS of flour, I just put in a very small amount of the xanthan gum.

These were good, but not very much of a maple flavor, they tasted more like molasses. This made about 30.

The base. (I think it's baked in this picture)

The filling in now (unbaked)

Almost done!

with the glaze (you wouldn't have to put it on if you didn't want to)