Creamy Peanut Butter Chocolate Crisp Bars

Creamy Peanut Butter Chocolate Crisp Bars

by | Jul 12, 2017 | Health, Home, Recipes

Today I’m bringing you guys some magical Creamy Peanut Butter Chocolate Crisp Bars made with Erewhon Organic’s Cinnamon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal.

If you’ve been following my A Day of FLO Living posts, then you’ll know I enjoy eating food that is nourishing for me and my cycle.  Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that chocolate-topped peanut butter crisp bars are “health food” but I’ll say they come close.  During my ovulatory phase I was craving sweets LIKE CRAZY—specifically chocolate.  Lucky for me, chocolate is on the list of WomanCode approved foods for ovulatory phase.  Yippee!

peanut butter chocolate dream bars

So, I went into the kitchen, with a bit of guidance from Angela Liddons’ Oh She Glows Everyday Cookbook, and got experimenting.  I used Angela’s recipe for Nut-Free Dream Bars as a base but I tinkered with the sweetener, salt, and, of course, the nut butter.  For me, what makes these bars awesome is the pairing of protein and fat, both of which lessen the sugar punch and make these bars satiating.  Of course, macronutrients aside, the chocolate-peanut butter combination is also a huge appeal!

The result is a large number of bars that are:

Creamy,

Fatty (eh-hem, I mean rich!),

Peanut buttery,

And crunchy from the peanuts and crispy brown rice cereal crust.

They require a small amount of prep but NO BAKING.  This is a freezer treat at its finest.  Plus, once made, they will last forever in the freezer!  Just let them defrost for a few minutes before biting into them.  If you can exercise restraint, let them defrost for five to ten minutes and the peanut butter filling gets extra creamy and oozy.  In fact, the filling contrasts so nicely in that state with the crisp crust and solid chocolate topping.  Together, the three layers make for one delightfully decadent and delicious dessert or snack.

peanut butter chocolate dream bars

Let me know if you give these bars a try!  Just writing this post makes me crave one so I’ll be at my freezer if you need me!  👋

Creamy Peanut Butter Chocolate Crisp Bars
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Melanie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 18-20 bars
These rich and creamy no-bake bars, adapted from Angela Liddon’s recipe, make for a satisfying dessert or snack when those chocolate peanut butter cravings kick in! The combination of crispiness from the crust and creaminess from the bars just can’t be beat!
Ingredients
  • Crust Ingredients:
  • 1 ½ tbsp melted virgin coconut oil
  • 1 ½ cups Erewhon Organic Cinnamon Brown Rice Cereal
  • 2 tbsp cacao powder or cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • a pinch of salt
  • Filling Ingredients:
  • 1 cup natural peanut butter
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup melted virgin coconut oil
  • ¼ to ½ tsp salt, depending on the saltiness of the peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Chocolate Topping Ingredients:
  • 1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup cacao or cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped, for topping
  • Sea salt, for topping, optional
Instructions
  1. Line a large loaf tin (see notes) with parchment paper and lightly grease with coconut oil.
  2. In a bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients for the crust. With a rubber spatula, mash up the cereal until it looks crumby and thoroughly coated. Then, press the crust down into the bottom of the loaf tin. Place it in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
  3. In the same bowl, rinsed and wiped clean, combine the next five ingredients. As a precaution, make sure the ingredients for the filling are all room temperature. If the maple syrup or peanut butter are cold then that will make the coconut oil seize up. The mixture should be smooth. Adjust salt to taste.
  4. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour the filling on top. Gently swivel the pan so that the filling covers the crust completely and so that the top is flat and even. Now, the filling will set in the freezer for an hour before the final topping.
  5. After waiting the appropriate amount of time for the filling to solidify, begin making the chocolate topping. Whisk together melted coconut oil, cacao powder, and maple syrup until no clumps remain. Chop the peanuts and keep them at the ready.
  6. Remove the loaf tin from the freezer and pour the chocolate over the filling. Be warned: it freezes almost instantaneously! While the chocolate is still wet, throw on the peanuts and a sprinkle of sea salt. The chocolate layer will soon solidify from the cold from the loaf tin.
  7. You may then remove the bars, using the parchment paper to lift them out. Move them to a cutting board and slowly cut into 18-20 squares. If the bars seem melty in any way, do put them back into the freezer for 10 minutes or so. They may fall apart if you try cutting them while soft.
  8. The peanut butter chocolate dream bars are best stored in the freezer. Pull one out when you want to enjoy a bar and let it sit at room temperature for up to 3-5 minutes. They will soften to an easier-to-bite state. Wait a little longer and the peanut butter filling gets extra oozy and delicious!
Notes
My baking tin is 9.5 x 5 inches though Angela’s recipe uses a 10 x 6 inch pan. I believe that a standard 9 x 5 loaf tin could work, too but your bars will just be a bit thicker.[br]Cooking time also reflects freezing time in this recipe.

Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows Everyday Cookbook Nut-Free Dream Bars.

Thank you to Attune Foods for providing me with Erewhon Organic Cinnamon Brown Rice Cereal to make this recipe possible.

peanut butter chocolate dream bars

5 Minute Peanut Butter Apple Crisp for One

5 Minute Peanut Butter Apple Crisp for One

by | Feb 4, 2017 | Health, Home, Recipes

I know what it feels like to get major cravings all of a sudden and desire immediate satisfaction.

I try not to keep unhealthy snacks or desserts around my house because I do not want the temptation.

Sure, I could make myself a healthy dessert but the thought of going through a lengthy process to whip up something is not always appealing.  Plus, what would I do with the leftovers?  Or, more likely, the problem will be that there are no leftovers.

Sometimes I have no self-restraint 🙈

Thus, I have created a treat to satisfy the quick snack cravings in a way that won’t leave you feeling yucky from an overindulgent dessert.

I cover all the sweet treat bases:

Warm

Crispy

Fruity

Peanut-buttery

Crunchy (Wait, is that the same as crispy? Nope!)

The most delicious crisp texture comes from broken down Ginnybakes cookies.  They are very firm, gluten-free cookies.  I  personally like microwaving them for a few seconds to soften them up, if I’m going to eat them on their own, but their hockey-puck like texture is perfect for adding crunch to this dessert snack!

Also, in the recipe, I used half of a large Gala apple but feel free to use an entire apple if you don’t want to leave half of an apple lying around.  Alternatively, double the recipe and share the snack-sized crisp with a friend! 😉

 

I’m aaaall ready to dive headfirst into this easy to assemble snack! Let’s go!

5 Minute Peanut Butter Apple Crisp for One
Recipe Type: Snacks
Author: Melanie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 serving
A quick and easy apple crisp that is healthy enough for a snack and filling enough to satisfy a sweet tooth for dessert.
Ingredients
  • ½ tsp of Nutiva butter flavored coconut oil or plain coconut oil
  • ½ a large Gala apple or apple of choice, chopped
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Ginnybakes Coconut Oatmeal Bliss Cookies*
  • 2 tsp of peanut butter (I used Wild Friends Pumpkin Spice peanut butter)
Instructions
  1. In a small, nonstick pan, warm up the coconut oil over medium heat.
  2. Add chopped apples and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir the apples around in the pan until warm. Pour apples into a serving bowl.
  3. Place the nonstick pan back on the stove, turning the temperature down to the lowest heat. On a cutting board, chop up the 2 cookies until there is a mixture of fine and medium-sized crumbs.
  4. Add cookie crumbs to the pan and turn off the flame. Let sit for 1 minute, swirling the crumbs every few seconds. The crumbs should already be crunchy so they just need to warm up.
  5. While the crumbs warm from the heat of the pan, add the 2 teaspoons of peanut butter to the cinnamon apples and stir until coated.
  6. Remove the pan from the stove and pour cookie crumbs over the apple-peanut butter mixture. Pat yourself on the back and eat!
Notes
*You can use another crunchy cookie of your choosing. The classic Nature Valley granola bars are the kind of firm, crispness that you’re looking for. Alternatively, you can sub 2 tbsp of pre-made granola for the cookie crumbs.