healthier-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars &laquo; WordPress.com Tag Feed http://en.wordpress.com/tag/healthier-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars/ Feed of posts on WordPress.com tagged "healthier-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars" Thu, 23 May 2013 18:11:24 +0000 http://en.wordpress.com/tags/ en <![CDATA[Lightened up Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars (this is NO JOKE!)]]> http://laurenkellynutrition.com/2012/04/18/lightened-up-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars-this-is-no-joke/ Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:08:08 +0000 LaurenKellyNutrition http://laurenkellynutrition.com/2012/04/18/lightened-up-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars-this-is-no-joke/

So, the weather is getting warmer…. and 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!!  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.

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 sucanat

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 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 http://www.caloriecount.com

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