These healthy chocolate chip peanut butter bars are the very healthy, guilt-free version of my addictive chocolate chip peanut butter bars.
This version is vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free. The other one is full of butter and all sorts of other *evil* things.
Both are delicious, it just depends on what you’re looking for.
Bear in mind, they’re both totally calorific thanks to the peanut butter, so don’t make these if you’re trying to reduce your calorie intake.
There, consider yourself warned. Now, on to more important things!
If you’re looking for a super quick, easy, one-bowl dessert that will totally satisfy your sweet tooth, then this recipe is the one. There are also lots of ways that you can personalize it to suit your taste or diet.
But for me, this recipe is a winner because of how little time it takes to make, how few ingredients it has, and also simply because of how delicious it is. Turns out I’m a simple woman to please!
Tips & tricks
- Make sure that your peanut butter is at room temperature and don’t hesitate to really mix it well so that it softens up. Keep mixing, it will eventually become softer.
- Add a pinch of cinnamon to the batter to bring out the chocolate flavor.
- If you can’t find coconut sugar, feel free to use normal white or brown sugar. You can even substitute with honey or maple syrup!
- If you don’t have almond flour on hand, you can make this with whole-wheat flour, white whole-wheat flour, or even buckwheat flour (farine de sarrasin in French).
- These bars are very gooey. I recommend eating the entire tray straight out of the oven. They’re healthy after all! 😉
- I know this is really hard, but you do need to let them cool (almost) fully before digging in. Otherwise, they’re just too mushy. If you like mushy, then go for it.
Healthy chocolate chip peanut butter bar recipe
Healthy chocolate chip peanut butter bars
Ingredients
- 240 g peanut butter smooth or chunky, it's up to you!
- 100 g coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- 75 g apple sauce or 'compote' in French
- 50 g almond flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 90 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Start by softening the peanut butter in a big bowl using a spatula.
- Add the apple sauce and mix with the spatula.
- Add the vanilla, coconut sugar, baking soda, salt and mix well.
- Add the almond four and mix again.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using the spatula.
- Preheat the oven to 175C (fan oven).
- Line a small baking sheet with baking paper, then press the batter down with your fingers until it's evenly spread out and not too thick. If you don't like seeing the indentations of your fingers, then you can smooth the top out by pressing a piece of baking paper on top and them removing it.
- Bake for 12 minutes, then remove and let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before cutting.
- Note: these bars are very fudgy and fall apart easily. I don't recommend popping them in your bag for an on-the-go snack because they won't handle being transported too well. They are however perfect for devouring fresh out of the oven!
If you’re looking for more healthy (and not-so-healthy) recipes to bake, you can find all of my recipes here!
I hope you enjoy this healthy recipe!