Healthy Twix Bars Recipe
If you love eating Twix bars but you’re not crazy about the idea of eating all that refined sugar, have a look at this recipe for healthy Twix bars.
Twix bars are one of my favorite candy bars. Like most people, I’m not totally immune to those delicious, golden packages staring at me from the checkout line shelves. I rarely indulge, but when I do, it’s a marvelous experience. But my body did not react favorably the last time I had one. So that got me thinking about making my own. And this was the result!
Why Are Twix Bars So Good?
One word, sugar. Our taste buds and bodies have been trained to crave sugar in the USA. Every time somebody from Europe has visited here, they are shocked at how sweet our deserts are. The level of sugar we have adapted to is far from healthy. But yes, it tastes good to us. And that’s not an accident. More sugar equals more profits for these large companies.
Is Twix Chocolate Healthy?
No. Far from it. A 2 oz. package of Twix bars has 14 grams of fat, 11 of which are saturated fats, with 0.2 grams being transfats. It has 4 mg of cholesterol and 113 of sodium. It even has 4 mg of caffeine!
And that’s just the nutrition data. Check out the ingredient list!
INGREDIENTS: MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, CHOCOLATE, SKIM MILK, LACTOSE, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, PGPR, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS), ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, PALM OIL, CORN SYRUP, SKIM MILK, DEXTROSE, LESS THAN 2% – SALT, COCOA POWDER, SOY LECITHIN, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, BAKING SODA, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR. CONTAINS MILK, SOY AND WHEAT. MAY CONTAIN PEANUTS.
Not exactly the healthiest choice, is it? Remember that good nutrition is often more about quality than quantity. What you eat matters as much as how much you eat.
Dietary Concerns:
Gluten-Free – These are naturally gluten-free, but it will be up to you to make sure that the individual ingredients you use are labeled as being gluten-free.
Sugar-Free – There really isn’t a way to do this unless you use liquid monk fruit. But I’m honestly not sure how that would affect the recipe as I have not tried it.
Nut-Free – As far as I know, there is no way to make this recipe nut-free. You could certainly use sunflower seed butter, but I’m not sure there would be a good replacement for the coconut or almond flour. Sorry!
Dairy-Free – Because this recipe automatically makes vegan Twix bars, it is also dairy-free. The only ingredient to be concerned with is the butter. You can either use oil or vegan butter.
Recipe Variations
You can add or substitute any of the following:
- Add 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Switch the peanut butter for almond butter or cashew butter
- Sprinkle the tops of the bars with chopped nuts instead of salt, or even lemon or orange zest.
How Many Calories Are In A Full-Size Twix Bar?
There are 286 calories in a 2 oz. package of Twix bars. That is for both of the bars in the package.
The bars in this recipe are higher in calories, but that’s because they are far more nutrient dense. You get a lot of good quality nutrition and none of the garbage. Let’s take a look at the ingredients called for here and you will see a huge difference in quality and overall nutrition.
Ingredients For Homemade Peanut Butter Twix Bars
Almond flour – Make sure it’s almond flour (from blanched almonds), and not almond meal (which includes the almond skins) It makes a big difference.
Coconut flour – Not desiccated coconut.
Coconut oil – or butter – plant-based butter is fine too.
Maple syrup – The real stuff. Not pancake syrup.
Salt – I use pink Himalayan salt. Sea salt is another good choice.
Natural creamy peanut butter – no sugar added. There should only be peanuts listed in the ingredient list. And maybe some salt. Nothing else. You can also use almond butter if you don’t want the peanut taste.
Oil – You can use more coconut oil if you wish, but any oil you usually cook with will work here.
Dark chocolate – or dark chocolate chips. I use either Lily’s brand stevia-sweetened chocolate bars (or chips), or the 365 Whole Foods brand of sugar-free chocolate chips.
How To Make Homemade Healthy Twix Bars
Collect and measure all your ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 330°F. While that’s warming up, put the almond flour, coconut flour, a ⅓ of the melted butter (or coconut oil) in a mixing bowl and mix until you form a dough.
Transfer the dough to an 8×8 inch baking pan that is lined with parchment paper and press the dough into a flat layer on the bottom of the pan. It should be about a half inch in thickness.
Bake this for 10 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
While that’s baking, combine the peanut butter, a ¼ cup (60 gr) of melted butter (or coconut oil), and a ¼ cup (60 gr) of maple syrup, and mix until well combined.
Cool the shortbread cookie base for at least 10 – 15 minutes. Then pour the peanut butter sauce on top and spread it over the crust evenly. Place it in the freezer for 1 hour, or until the peanut butter has hardened. It doesn’t have to be frozen, just hardened.
Once hardened, remove the whole thing from the baking pan and cut it in half with a sharp knife. Keep cutting the pieces in half until you have 16 bars.
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler with a tablespoon of vegetable oil (or coconut oil). Dip each bar into the melted chocolate and set them to dry on a tray lined with parchment paper. Before the top part dries, sprinkle some salt to taste.
Note: You can also melt the chocolate in a microwave. To do this, place the chocolate in a bowl and heat for 1 minute. Stir. Then heat in 30-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate is melted. Then you can stir in the oil.
Freeze for 10 minutes to set the chocolate and enjoy.
Storing Healthy Twix Bars
Keep these in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to 9 days.
Freezing
You can freeze these for up to 9 months if wrapped well.
Homemade Twix Bars Recipe Supplies
For this recipe, you’ll need an 8×8 baking pan, a mixing bowl, and a recessed spatula. You can find all these products on amazon by clicking the images here. (Affiliate links)
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Healthy Twix Bars Recipe Card
Healthy Twix Bars Recipe
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- 8×8 inch baking pan (20×20 cm)
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup coconut oil (or butter – plant-based butter is fine too)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup natural creamy peanut butter (no sugar added)
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 12 oz. dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Collect and measure all your ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 330°F. While that's warming up, put the almond flour, coconut flour, a ⅓ of the melted butter (or coconut oil) in a mixing bowl and mix until you form a dough.
- Transfer the dough to an 8×8 inch baking pan that is lined with parchment paper and press the dough into a flat layer on the bottom of the pan. It should be about a half inch in thickness.
- Bake this for 10 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
- While that's baking, combine the peanut butter, a ¼ cup (60 gr) of melted butter (or coconut oil), and a ¼ cup (60 gr) of maple syrup, and mix until well combined.
- Cool the crust from the oven for at least 10 – 15 minutes. Then pour the peanut butter sauce on top and spread it over the crust evenly. Place it in the freezer for 1 hour, or until the peanut butter has hardened.
- Once hardened, remove the whole thing from the baking pan and cut it in half with a sharp knife. Keep cutting the pieces in half until you have 16 bars.
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler with a tablespoon of vegetable oil (or coconut oil). Dip each bar into the melted chocolate and set them to dry on a tray lined with parchment paper. Before the top part dries, sprinkle some salt to taste.
- Freeze for 10 minutes to set the chocolate and enjoy.