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.
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup peanut natural peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips ( I used 71% cocoa)
- 1 ½ cups powdered sucanat or powdered unrefined sugar
- 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!)
- In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, powdered sucanat, peanut butter and melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9x13 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.
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 🙂
Donna
Could you use the more unhealthy regular powdered sugar and still get the same good results?
Mama J
I grew up on these and LOVE them. I never thought to make powdered sucanat for them. Great idea!
acupofteafortigerandme
Oh my...my kiddos are going to LOVE you for this one!! Thank you for sharing it on Fit and Fabulous Fridays Lauren! 😉
Amee Beck Livingston
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! 🙂
angie
dangerous but amazing! 🙂
Thank you for linking up on Successful Saturdays!
Sarah
these sound amazing! coming over from successful saturdays. 🙂
nutrisavvysblog
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! : )
Lesley
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??
LaurenKellyNutrition
Hi Lesley! Basically we use sucanat because it is the least processed from of can sugar. Try it!! 🙂
Lesley
Great! Thanks, I will 🙂
angie
Oh yummy 🙂 these look great!