Healthy No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Healthy No Bake Chocolate Peanut butter crunch bars using just one bowl, 5 ingredients and less than 2 minutes! This quick and easy snack or dessert is naturally gluten free, vegan, dairy free and can be made sugar free! 

I may have a shed a tear when my editor told me to nix a recipe which incorporated my favorite childhood snack and my favorite candy bar in one. My copycat crunch bar recipe is one of my favorites because it’s so easy, uses two ingredients and can be made completely sugar free!Just kidding about shedding a tear, I didn’t shed any because I have no heart and no soul and thus, no emotions. 

In all seriousness, the worst part of the cookbook process may have been cutting down on so many recipes I had planned to share. Narrowing it down to just one strawberry recipe, one doughnut flavor, and one oatmeal breakfast was not an easy feat. What was worse was having to actually omit at least 15-20 recipes, including today’s delicious offering. 

The best thing about having a food blog prior to the cookbook means whatever didn’t make the cut makes it to the blog….and also saves my derriere when I feel like sharing a recipe and have been a little bit behind on the development/testing/shooting/eating part! 

When it comes to flavor pairings, I really don’t think much can come between peanut butter and chocolate, except allergies. To be completely honest, I wasn’t besotted (flashback to my high school essay days) by this combination until I tried my first peanut butter cup back in 2009. To say it was love-at-first-sight would have been an understatement. I was sick, couldn’t taste it, and it enhanced my sore throat.

Fast forward to a week later when I was feeling much better, and I truly got the enjoy this combination, although in the shape of a deformed Christmas tree. I remember bringing back packets of it for my friends back in Australia, and slowly introducing them to this epic combination we were lacking! Now that I’m based across America and Australia, I have this candy at my disposal!

BOOM.

However, I am fully aware that eating multiple peanut butter cups a day is not the best idea, so there had to be other ways to get this delicious combination. To combat this, I wanted to make a faux candy bar, meets healthy snack bar, meets healthy dessert, meets cravings satisfied. 

For a potluck bbq, I’d made a recipe from one of my favorite new cookbooks, The Weeknight Dinner cookbook. I’d bought this cookbook with the intentions of broadening my savory creations, but as always, it was the sweets which took my fancy. I adapted on of their chocolate based cereal recipes to give it a healthy makeover.

• 3 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 9.3 oz/240 grams
• 1 cup peanut butter can substitute for sunflower seed or soy nut butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil can sub for grass fed butter 

Instructions

1. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish or deep baking tray of choice with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Add crispy rice cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl or stovetop, combine all your other ingredients and heat until melted. Remove from microwave/off stove and whisk until completely incorporated.
3. Pour the chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the crispy rice cereal and mix until combined. Pour into the lined baking dish and refrigerate until firm (at least an hour). Remove and cut into bars. 
   
   Source : https://thebigmansworld.com/2017/04/03/healthy-no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-crunch-bars-vegan-gluten-free/

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