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Chocolate. Peanut butter. Easy. No Bake. Do these words make you as happy as they make me? If so, these Low Carb Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are for you, my friend. Delicious and healthy and ready in 15 minutes!
Technically, I have this recipe on the blog already. Only I have it as these fun footballs that are great for party food and show you how to make these into fun shapes.
But I decided these really need their own post because what if you come here looking for something that isn’t football related? You may never click on the recipe and you need these in your life! I couldn’t let you miss out or I’d never forgive myself.
Low Carb Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
These chocolate peanut butter bars are so stupid easy to make, you guys.
Growing up, we used to make these peanut butter bars that had peanut butter and powdered sugar and crushed graham crackers in them. They were really tasty, but definitely not good for you.
Not only are these much healthier, they’re easier to make because you don’t have to crush any blasted graham crackers.
I always used to try to crush them in the package, but inevitably I’d break open a seam and spill graham cracker crumbs everywhere. Anyone else this lazy? No? Ok.
For this recipe, we need butter, natural peanut butter
, unflavored whey protein isolate
, and coconut flour
.
I do not add any sweetener to this. I find the natural sweetness of the peanut butter and chocolate is enough for me. However, if you have a bigger sweet tooth, you can add a few drops of stevia or 1-2 tablespoons of a powdered 1:1 low carb sweetener (like my blend) if you like.
It’s important to line your pan with parchment paper
going both directions– this will allow you to remove it from the pan to cut into squares and keep anything from getting stuck in the pan.
Once you’ve poured the peanut butter mixture into the pan, throw it in the freezer for a bit while you melt the chocolate.
You want to make sure it’s completely firm (about 5-10 minutes) before moving onto the next step, but you can leave it in the freezer longer if that works for you.
For the chocolate topping, I use 85% dark chocolate chips
melted with a little bit of coconut oil
. You could also use sugar-free chocolate chips if you prefer.
Chocolate Melting tips: Melt chocolate together with coconut oil in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Reheat for 20 seconds, stir again. If additional melting is needed, heat at 10 second intervals, stirring between until fully melted. Alternatively, place chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler set over simmering water, stirring until melted.
Ok, I’m going to tell you the secret for cutting these things perfectly.
If you throw these in the freezer for a while, the chocolate will harden. You can pull them out of the pan and cut them, but the chocolate will probably crack and want to separate from the peanut butter layer.
So here’s what you do to get perfect sharp-edged squares: After spreading the chocolate layer evenly over the chilled peanut butter layer, place it back in the freezer. But only leave it in as long as it takes to just barely set. This will only take 2-5 minutes depending on your freezer and how long you left the peanut butter layer. Check on it after 2 minutes and every minute after that and take it out as soon as the chocolate isn’t liquid.
Then pull out the whole thing by the parchment and transfer to a cutting board. Then you can cut it into squares.
I do not have any advice for how to cut the lines perfectly, though. I’m abysmal at that part.
After that, you can throw them back in the freezer to fully harden, or store them in the fridge. Just make sure they’re in an airtight container.
Betcha can’t eat just one.
Low Carb Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Low carb, high protein, no bake peanut butter bars! No sweetener needed!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Line a 9x9 square pan with two pieces of parchment paper, overhanging on all sides.
- Melt butter and peanut butter together in the microwave or in a medium saucepan over low heat.
- Add whey protein and coconut flour, stir until combined.
- Pour into prepared pan and place in the freezer until firm.
- Melt together chocolate and coconut oil.
- Spread over the chilled peanut butter layer.
- Return to freezer for 2-5 minutes, just until chocolate has set. Remove from pan using the parchment overhang onto a cutting board and cut into 16 squares. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Amount Per Serving: Calories: 166Total Fat: 14.4gSaturated Fat: 7.3gSodium: 43mgCarbohydrates: 3.8gNet Carbohydrates: 2.5gFiber: 1.3gSugar: 1.5gProtein: 6.9g
Do they make up well if I delete the whey protein? thanks
No, the whey protein provides a lot of structure. Otherwise it’ll be just peanut butter and butter. It’ll still be delicious but would probably be really messy. You could experiment with using just coconut flour, but I don’t think it would be a 1:1 substitution, so I don’t know what the ratio would be.
Hi, I usually use Lindt 85% chocolate here in NZ. Have just seen a sugar free one they do in supermarket. However the ingredients had maltitol in it. Confused me which was the better chocolate to get?
I personally don’t like to use maltitol, but some people choose to include it in their keto diet. In my experience, 85% chocolate is usually better quality than any sugar free chocolates out there, and the carbs remain fairly low. So I often choose 85% over sugar free, but it’s really a personal preference.