Lately I have been absolutely loving peanut butter and chocolate. I’ve been making my own peanut butter cups, which are amazing, but I wanted to play around more with chocolate and peanut butter. I came up with these easy, no bake chocolate peanut butter bars. These bars are absolutely delicious, and so fun to make. I love that they aren’t full of sugar, but they still give you the satisfaction that you get from eating a peanut butter cup. Another awesome thing is that these chocolate peanut butter bars are vegan and gluten-free, which is something that is important to me because I can’t eat wheat and I try to stay away from dairy.
Once my counters were clean and all of my ingredients were set out, I started by mixing together my peanut butter, maple syrup and coconut flour together in a large bowl. This process is somewhat messy, so using a large bowl is important. Once my ingredients were completely mixed together, and there were no lumps, I put parchment paper in my pan. Then I poured the peanut butter layer into the pan and smoothed the top. Once I was done with that, I set it aside and started working on my chocolate layer. I poured my chocolate chips and coconut oil into my small saucepan. Then I put it on my burner on low heat, and began melting it. It is extremely important that you stir this constantly, because the chocolate will burn very easily. Once my chocolate was melted, I poured it over the top of the peanut butter layer, and smoothed the top, making sure it was spread evenly. I gently tapped the pan on the counter, because this helps the chocolate to spread even more evenly. Then I placed the chocolate peanut bars in the freezer, and left them in there an hour until they had hardened completely. Once they were hardened, I let them sit on the counter to thaw a little bit. I only left them to thaw for about five minutes because I was impatient, but I would suggest you leave them for 10-15 minutes. I took a very sharp knife, and cut them into bars. Once again, I would suggest you let them thaw for longer than I did, because cutting them was not an easy task, and some of my bars were very uneven. They were still delicious though, and they were all eaten within the day. To store, I would suggest putting them in a glass container and leave them in the refrigerator so the chocolate doesn’t melt.
Tips
Peanut Butter Layer- make sure to mix all the ingredients together until everything is completely combined, and there are absolutely no lumps. Lumps of flour will ruin the texture of the peanut butter layer.
Chocolate Layer- When melting down the chocolate, keep it on low heat, and stir constantly so you don’t risk burning the chocolate.
Cutting the bars- Let the mixture thaw for about 10-15 minutes before cutting into bars so that you can cut through smoothly.
Peanut Butter Layer
16 oz. peanut butter
½ cup maple syrup
1 cup coconut flour
Chocolate Layer
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1 tbsp coconut oil
Directions
Line an 8 by 8 pan with parchment paper.
In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut flour for the peanut butter layer. Fold it together until there are no flour patches left.
Pour the peanut butter layer into the pan, and smooth the top.
Add the chocolate chips and coconut oil to a small saucepan, and turn the stove to low heat. Stir the chocolate chips and coconut oil frequently until the chocolate is completely melted.
Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter layer, and smooth the top.
Freeze for an hour, until the layers are completely hardened, then cut into bars.
Store the remaining bars in a glass container, and leave in the refrigerator.