If you love peanut butter and chocolate candy, you will love these Healthy Peanut Butter Twix Bars! They taste like a combination of peanut butter cups and a Twix bar. They're dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and vegan, so you can enjoy your favorite chocolate candies with a little less guilt! 😉
This recipe is meant to be a healthier version, so it doesn't taste exactly like a classic Peanut Butter Twix. These have a softer shortbread that's made with almond flour, coconut oil, and pure maple syrup for sweetness. If that's your style, and you want more healthy candy recipes, try these Snicker Dates or 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups!
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❤️Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Easy: These candy bars are made with only 3 easy layers. After mixing the layers, and baking the shortbread for 10 minutes, you just layer and freeze!
- Great for healthy Halloween candy: Healthy can be a relative term. I consider this to be a healthier dessert/snack as opposed to a Twix bar because of the ingredients that are used. These Twix bars may be high in carbs and fat, but they contain simple (and nutritious) ingredients without any preservatives.
- Great for snack prep
🍫How these Peanut Butter Twix Bars are Healthy
These Twix bars contain nutritious ingredients like almond flour, natural peanut butter, and pure maple syrup.
- An article on WebMD shares that almond flour promotes heart health, and digestive health, lowers the risk of cognitive diseases, and is a good source of several important minerals like manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, calcium, and iron.
- Peanut butter has several health benefits including improved heart health, anti-cancer properties, and can aid in weight loss. Many brands add ingredients like sugar and vegetable oils. It's best to use peanut butter that only contains peanuts and salt.
- According to an article from WebMD, pure maple syrup is high in sugar, and low in vitamins, but it does have several minerals that are present in measurable quantities like manganese, zinc, copper, calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium.
While these Peanut Butter Twix Bars do contain nutritious ingredients, they are still high in calories, carbs, sugar, and fats so they should be enjoyed in moderation.
📝Ingredient Notes
- Peanut Butter: I recommend using natural peanut butter (where the only ingredients are peanuts and salt). I like to use the Smuckers brand that I purchase at my local Walmart. You can also use regular peanut butter (like Jiffy) if you can't use the natural kind. You may want to omit any sweetener if you use an already sweetened kind.
- Dairy-free chocolate: I prefer dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can also use dairy-free dark chocolate chips.
- Coconut oil: This thins the chocolate and helps it harden. It also results in a shiny and smooth chocolate layer. I don't think you can taste the coconut oil whatsoever. However, if you don't like coconut and want to ensure a mild coconut flavor, use refined coconut oil. It tastes milder than unrefined coconut oil.
🍯Substitutions
- Peanut Butter: You can also use almond butter, cashew butter, or any other natural seed butter.
- Pure maple syrup: Raw honey or agave syrup also works in place of pure maple syrup.
- Coconut oil: Avocado oil and vegetable oil are neutral tasting oils that can also replicate the hard chocolate shell for this recipe.
🥣Equipment
- 8x8 square pan
- Parchment paper
🥜How to Make Healthy Peanut Butter Twix Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small mixing bowl, mix the ingredients for the shortbread layer.
2. Evenly spread the mixture in the bottom of an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. Then let it cool.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the peanut butter, oil, and salt. Then remove from the heat.
4. Pour and spread evenly on top of the shortbread layer. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
5. Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave for 1 minute and stir until smooth. Pour over the peanut butter layer, and freeze for 1 hour.
Slice into 16 bars, and store in the freezer in a freezer-safe container. Enjoy!
🧊Storing
Store these homemade Twix bars in the freezer for up to 2 months in an airtight container. Let them thaw for a couple of minutes on the counter before enjoying. If they are left out for too long, they won't hold their shape and will melt.
✅Pro Tips
- Don't over-microwave the chocolate: If you microwave the chocolate for too long, it will burn and come out frosting-like. You shouldn't need to microwave it for more than a minute and 15 seconds. Make sure to stir in between!
- Use an 8x8 pan: I wouldn't recommend using a bigger pan like a 9x9 pan. This will make your layers thinner.
- Store in the freezer not the refrigerator: To keep these Twix bars more firm like a real Twix, keep them in the freezer rather than the fridge.
- Impress your guests: You can make these Twix bars look a little more like the real deal by individually dipping each bar in melted chocolate. This will require a little more work (and chocolate chips) but they'll look a little more realistic.
⁉️Frequently Asked Question
You can use avocado oil, vegetable oil, or any other neutral-flavored oil in place of coconut oil. Whatever oil you use in the peanut butter cups, they must be kept refrigerated or frozen or it will melt.
Yes. You can use any other seed butter that you like the taste of.
Peanut butter is not an ingredient in a classic Twix bar. However, they did come out with a Peanut Butter Twix bar in the 1980s but they have been discontinued on and off since then.
⭐️Before you go! If you enjoyed this recipe for Healthy Peanut Butter Twix Bars, leave a review and share it with me! I love to hear from you.
📖 Recipe
Healthy Peanut Butter Twix Bars
Equipment
- 8x8 pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
Shortbread Layer
- 1 ⅓ cup almond flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Peanut Butter Layer
- 1 cup natural peanut butter see notes
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Chocolate Layer
- ¾ cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small mixing bowl, mix the ingredients for the shortbread layer.
- Evenly spread the mixture in the bottom of an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes. Then let it cool.
- In a small saucepan, melt the peanut butter, oil, and salt. Then remove from the heat.
- Pour and spread evenly on top of the shortbread layer. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
- Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave for 1 minute and stir until smooth. Pour over the peanut butter layer.
- Freeze for 1 hour, then slice into 16 bars. Enjoy!
Notes
- Store the Twix bars in the freezer (in a freezer-safe container) for up to 2 months. Let them thaw for a couple of minutes before eating.
- If these bars get to room temperature, they won't hold their shape well and will melt. Keep them in the freezer until ready to eat.
- Use a silicone spatula (not a turner or flipper) to spread the shortbread mixture evenly in the pan.
- I recommend using peanut butter that only contains salt and peanuts in the ingredients. This kind has oils at the top that needs to be mixed well.
- In place of coconut oil, you can use other neutral flavored oils like avocado oil.
- You can also use dairy-free dark chocolate chips in place of semi-sweet.
Nutrition
Note: The nutrition label is only an estimate. Amounts may vary.
Diego Sanchez says
Very good.