Indulge all your best peanut butter chocolate dreams with these extreme cookie bars. They're sure to please every pb cup lover.
Prep Time15minutes
Cook Time30minutes
Total Time45minutes
Servings16bars
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookie Dough:
1/3cupnatural peanut butter
3/4cupcoconut sugar
6tablespoonsalmond milk
1/4teaspoonsalt
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
1/2teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonvanilla
3tablespoonscocoa powder
1cupalmond flour
1/4cupdairy free semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/4cupchopped vegan peanut butter cupsplus more for topping (best if frozen before mixing) **see notes for link to my homemade recipe**
Peanut Butter Filling:
1/4cupnatural peanut butter
1/2cuppowdered peanut butter
3/4cupoat flour
6tablespoonsmaple syrup
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
Peanut Butter Drizzle:(Optional)
1tablespoonnatural peanut butter
1/2cuppowdered sugar
1tablespoonalmond milk
1/8teaspoonsalt
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 (180C) and line an 8x8 or 7x11 inch pan with parchment.
Chocolate Cookie Dough:
Cream together the peanut butter and coconut sugar in the bowl of stand mixer or a medium mixing bowl. Add the almond milk and beat until combined then add salt, soda, baking powder, and vanilla and mix well. Now stir in the cocoa on low until mixed, then add the flour last and continue stirring until your dough comes together. Fold in the chocolate chips and pb cups with a large spatula and divide the dough in half.
Spread half of the dough in the bottom of prepared pan (the dough may be a bit sticky to work with so if you are having trouble it can be chilled until easier to handle.) and press into a smooth layer.
Peanut Butter Filling:
Stir together the maple syrup and peanut butter in another medium bowl until smooth. Add the salt, vanilla, powdered peanut butter, and oat flour and mix until combined then add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix to incorporate into a thick dough.
Scrape the filling mixture out onto the base cookie dough layer and also press it down to form an even peanut butter layer on top of the chocolate dough.
Now scrape out the remaining chocolate dough over the filling layer and crumble evenly over it for the top layer.
Bake the bars for 18 to 22 minutes until the top is starting to darken and brown on the edges. Remove from oven and, if desired, immediately sprinkle some additional chopped pb cups over top and press down very gently. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting.
Drizzle:
If you'd like to add the extra drizzle, whisk together the ingredients in a small bowl until smooth and use a small tipped pastry bag or simply a fork to drizzle over bars.