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Lightened up Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars (Like a Reese’s) {No Bake, Healthier}

April 18, 2012 by lauren.kelly 15 Comments

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This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. All opinions are my own.

Maybe you are trying to eat healthier?  Or you’d like to lose a few pounds?  I bet you think you can never touch a treat or dessert again?  NOT TRUE!!  I love a good peanut butter cookie.  Add some dark chocolate to that and you have my definition of heaven.  Out of all of my cookie recipes, these are by far the best.  Chocolate peanut butter bars are a HUGE weakness for me.  It took me a while, but I was finally able to lighten them up without sacrificing the flavor.  They came out AMAZING!!!  I used natural peanut butter, good dark chocolate (71% cocoa), severely decreased the butter and replaced confectioner sugar with powdered sucanat.

What the heck is sucanat???? Sucanat is whole cane sugar that is the least processed.  It is simply dehydrated sugar cane juice.  It is the healthiest alternative for all of the processed sugars out there.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Now remember, these are NOT calorie free by any means.  But they do have less calories and fat than the original recipe and the ingredients are all clean (except the graham cracker crumbs).  Go ahead, have one and ENJOY IT! 🙂
adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

  • 2  cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 cup peanut natural peanut butter
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips ( I used 71% cocoa)
  • 1 1/2  cups powdered sucanat or powdered unrefined sugar
Directions
  1. Pour sucanat into blender (I used my Vitamix) and place on high speed for 10-15 seconds to create a “powdered” sugar.  (Yes, it really is THAT easy!)
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, powdered sucanat, peanut butter and melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan. Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Spread melted chocolate over the crumb crust. Chill for about 5-10 minutes, then cut into bars before the chocolate is completely set, then chill until ready to serve.
chocolate peanut butter bars2

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 bar (makes 24 bars but you can also cut them into bite size bars which would be less calories)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 171 Calories from Fat 89
Total Fat 9.9g
Saturated Fat 3.5g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 5mg
Sodium 332mg
Total Carbohydrates 18.0g
Dietary Fiber 1.1g
Sugars 10.9g
Protein 4.3g

*Nutritional information not 100% accurate, provided by www.caloriecount.com

I want to hear how much you LOVE these!  Everywhere I bring these, people always ask for the recipe 🙂

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Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Kids, No Bake Desserts Tagged With: easy, five ingredients, healthier chocolate peanut butter bars, lightened up, no bake, simple, sucanat, vitamix

Comments

  1. angie says

    April 18, 2012 at 11:11 am

    Oh yummy 🙂 these look great!

    Reply
  2. Lesley says

    April 19, 2012 at 10:08 am

    Looks amazing. I have never used Sucanat, but I need to look into it because I have seen it mentioned a lot over the blog world. Any info on it you want to share??

    Reply
    • LaurenKellyNutrition says

      April 19, 2012 at 11:15 am

      Hi Lesley! Basically we use sucanat because it is the least processed from of can sugar. Try it!! 🙂

      Reply
      • Lesley says

        April 20, 2012 at 9:50 am

        Great! Thanks, I will 🙂

        Reply
  3. nutrisavvysblog says

    April 22, 2012 at 11:08 pm

    Oh, I really can’t wait to try this one. Every now and then I’ll just gotta have a good chocolate-covered treat. PB and chocolate is such a delightful combo! : )

    Reply
  4. Sarah says

    April 23, 2012 at 3:16 am

    these sound amazing! coming over from successful saturdays. 🙂

    Reply
  5. angie says

    April 23, 2012 at 10:49 am

    dangerous but amazing! 🙂
    Thank you for linking up on Successful Saturdays!

    Reply
  6. acupofteafortigerandme says

    April 25, 2012 at 2:54 am

    Oh my…my kiddos are going to LOVE you for this one!! Thank you for sharing it on Fit and Fabulous Fridays Lauren! 😉

    Reply
  7. Amee Beck Livingston says

    April 25, 2012 at 2:56 am

    Oh my….the kiddos are going to LOVE you for this one!! Great recipe Lauren! Thank you for sharing it on Fit and Fabulous Fridays! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Mama J says

    March 4, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    I grew up on these and LOVE them. I never thought to make powdered sucanat for them. Great idea!

    Reply
  9. Donna says

    October 23, 2014 at 2:37 pm

    Could you use the more unhealthy regular powdered sugar and still get the same good results?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies says:
    January 13, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    […] you love peanut butter and chocolate too,  you also might like my Lightened Up Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispy Treats, Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies or my Peanut Butter Oat […]

    Reply
  2. Healthy Treats for Halloween says:
    October 23, 2014 at 2:05 am

    […] these Lightened Up Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars seriously taste just like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  No […]

    Reply
  3. » Peanut Butter Apricot Bars {No Bake} Sumptuous Spoonfuls says:
    January 18, 2015 at 12:43 am

    […] finally relented … I went into the kitchen fully intending to make Lauren Kelly’s lightened up peanut butter chocolate bars, but my apricots started talking to me. I was minding my own business, trying to follow the […]

    Reply
  4. Peanut Butter Cake says:
    April 18, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    […] Lightened Up Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bars from Lauren Kelly Nutrition […]

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