Ohh yes!
Everybody knows peanut butter.
Everybody knows chocolate.
And of course everybody loves a no bake recipe.
Am I right or am I right?
These bars are what you call a healthy sweet treat. They come to play whenever you have those sweet cravings and are torn between grabbing a piece of chocolate cake with chocolate topping or a bar of this peanut butter chocolate goodness.
Why do I say these are healthier? Because these bars have no refined sugars or trans fat, they are also gluten free, dairy free and eggless. The calories might be the same but these bars are the healthier option whenever you feel you want to take care.
Yes, healthier is the key word.
Now let's go ahead and see what's so good with these no bake chocolate peanut butter bars.
The Base
I used my energy balls recipe and modify it as the base for the bars. Talking about my energy balls, I give out the recipe with instructions and beautiful photos (can I say it like that?) as an exclusive recipe for my wonderful website email subscribers. Just to show appreciation from our side.
Ok back to the energy balls. I've been making them for some time already as we often grab a few in the middle of filming before we could sit down to eat properly. I simply love the taste and thought wouldn't it be great if it could be turned into bars also. With chocolate on top.
Ohh la la!
I love the texture. The chia seeds give it that bits of crunch here and there. The base holds itself very good after a good 2 hours of chilling in the fridge.
It's rich with peanut butter and coconut flavours! It has walnuts but of course you can easily substitute it with your favourite nuts.
I'm using honey as the sweetener and again, you can substitute it and use a sweetener of your choice like maple syrup for example. You can also adjust the sweetness to your liking.
Last but not least, it has quick rolled oats. Loads of them.
As you can already see, the base has a lot of wonderful delicious ingredients in it which makes these bars rich in both flavour and nutrition department. So it's not something that you would eat more than one bar at one sitting.
It's very filling that I bet you, though as delicious as it tastes.. you would be content and satisfy with just one.
The Chocolate
To compensate (at least I'm trying, right?) the richness of the base, I thought instead of using chocolate bar and melt it with some cream into a ganache (ohh that sounds nice), I would use a healthier chocolate topping.
Using chocolate powder. You know the one that you use for baking? Yes, that one.
I'm using honey again as the sweetener and coconut oil for the fat and of course, to bring it all together.
It's even simpler to prepare as what you need to do is simply whisk everything and then spread it on the base. It could not be easier than that, right?
The other day we went to grab a few things in Aldi and Marco saw these beautiful coconut flakes and told me I should use that whenever we make the no bake chocolate peanut butter bars. And as you can see, I did use them.
They give the bars a beautiful look and they also reinforce the coconut flakes that are used in the base. Perfect!
I hope you'd give this a try. Let me know what you think.
More Healthy Sweets
- Eggless zucchini brownies
- Peach upside down cake (4 ingredients)
- Carrot cake muffins
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Strawberry cheesecake shots
Video
Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
The Base
- 2 cup quick rolled oats (180 gr)
- 1 cup walnuts (100 gr)
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup coconut flakes (110 gr)
- ¼ cup chia seeds (45 gr)
- ⅔ cup honey (220 gr)
- 1 cup peanut butter (260 gr)
The Chocolate
- 1 cup cocoa powder (120 gr)
- ½ cup coconut oil (125 ml)
- ½ cup honey (165 gr)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- some coarse coconut flakes , to sprinkle on top
Instructions
The Base
- Using a food processor, blend the oats, walnuts, cinnamon powder and salt into a smooth mixture. Pour it into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix everything well.
- Pour the mixture into a 9 inch (23 cm) square pan that has been greased and lined with baking sheet that overhangs on the side. This will make it easier to lift up and remove the bar from the pan. Using a spoon, press the mixture evenly to the base. Set aside.
The Chocolate
- Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour onto the base and spread evenly. Sprinkle some coarse coconut flakes on top. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours to set.
- Remove the bar by grabbing the sides of the baking sheet and lift it up. Cut into 25 pieces. Serve and enjoy!
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