Okay friends, STOP right now because the search is over!
If you’ve been looking for a way to combine 3 of the world’s best foods (peanut butter, raspberries, and dark chocolate), into a mouthful of deliciousness – you’ve met your match!!
These bars are the ultimate sweet, meets salty, meets fruity dessert. While also happening to be gluten free, dairy free, vegan, refined flour free, and blood sugar friendly!
You’re going to absolutely love these bars – I cannot wait for you to make them!
A few things to note:
- Working with fruit can be MESSY – follow the instructions very closely to ensure ultimate success
- You must use FRESH raspberries – frozen will not work for this recipe as they will be too mushy when defrosted
- When making the base layer, be sure to press firmly into the pan and distributed evenly throughout before popping into the oven
- These bars are best eaten immediately after they’ve finished setting and sitting (for 20ish mins) or else stored in the freezer and removed 20 or so mins before you’re ready to eat (that being said you can absolutely store them in the fridge – the bottom will just be slightly less firm and crisp)
- I’ve tried making the bars with ground pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and hazelnuts in replacement for the almond flour and all have worked really well!
- These are great any time of year – especially when raspberries are in season but also during VALENTINE’S season – to me these are the ultimate V-day treat!
Ingredients
BASE LAYER:
-1 cup smooth all natural peanut butter
– 3/4 cup almond flour (or another nut/ seed flour
– 1/4 cup maple syrup
– Optional: Pinch of sea salt (especially if your peanut butter is unsalted)
MIDDLE LAYER:
-1 clam shell raspberries (approx. 1 cup), loosley chopped
TOP LAYER
-1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips
– 4-5 Tbsp. Almond milk
Instructions
-Pre-heat oven to 325 F. If you did not read recipe notes above, go ahead and do that now 🙂
– Place peanut butter, almond flour, sea salt, and maple syrup into a large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer or stand alone mixture until well incorporated (this shouldn’t take long). If you don’t have a mixer you could use a food processor – or just stir really really well!
– Press this base layer into an 9×5 pan and bake for approximately 12 mins. You want the edges to start appearing to be golden brown (but no more than that)
– Loosely chop your raspberries (they should be NO more than halved). This is very important – do not over chop your raspberries so they become mushy or it will result in mushy bars!
– As the base continues to bake, melt your chocolate – place in a double boiler, or in a small pot. Slowly add almond milk Tbsp. by Tbsp. continuously stirring to ensure it does not burn! Continue to melt until you reach a super smooth and creamy consistency (no clumps!)
– Once the base has finished baking – place the raspberries evenly over top of the base layer, then pour your melted chocolate on top.
– IMMEDIATELY put in freezer – allow to set for a minimum of 2 hours. You’ll know they’ve set when the chocolate is no longer tacky
– Once the chocolate has hardened, remove from freezer, allow to sit for 15-25 mins (so they are easy enough to cut) and then cut into squares
– These bars are best enjoyed right away or else stored in the freezer and removed 20ish mins before you’re ready to eat (this being said, you can absolutely store them in the fridge for a few days – the bottom will just be slightly less firm and crisp) – it’s completely up to you!
