When I first met my husband back in 2013, I introduced him to almond butter. Almonds are one of my favorite foods and it makes such a great butter. I love eating almond butter in oatmeal, on toast, with fruit, in smoothies, or just by the spoonful. So, when he told me he wasn’t a fan of the creamy, nut spread, I was shocked. Who was this man, anyway?
But, of course, his dislike for almond butter didn’t stop me from falling for him. And now, I have a recipe that uses almond butter that he loves. So much so, he ate two of them for dessert last night. And we shared the bars with our friends on Saturday night and they gave their approval.
So, I hope you’ll make these Chocolate Almond Butter Bars and tell me your thoughts on them.
I originally saw this recipe on A Whisk and two Wands but since I have a coconut allergy, I modified it. It can still be gluten and dairy free but doesn’t fit into a Paleo diet.
Eating Dessert
Eating dessert after dinner is something that we do often in our house. A lot of people are shocked by this. But for me I have learned I need foods that generate a feeling of balance and enjoyment. We try to enjoy what we enjoy and balance our meals with nutrient dense foods. For us, it’s about making the choice to make desserts and choose to make cookies that contain almonds and chocolate.
Desserts for Athletes
In my opinion, dessert belongs on an athlete’s plate. Dessert can serve several purposes:
- Provide enjoyment on meal plans
- Removing the “reward” element from dessert removes some of its “power” over you
- A way to consume extra nutrients when needed
Even if it’s past the holiday season, these quick and simple Chocolate Almond Butter Bars can make the list. If you need to make a cookie for someone who avoids dairy or eggs, this is a delicious easy dessert you can make.
Chocolate Almond Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour or almond meal
- 1/2 cup dairy free butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup raw almonds roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup dairy free milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cream sugar and butter together.
- Add almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Cream together.
- Add the two flours and mix until combined.
- Line a 9X13" pan with parchment paper. (A little trick to keep the parchment paper down is to add a tiny dot of butter on the bottom of the parchment paper and stick it to the pan).
- Pour the mixture into the pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- After taking the giant cookie out of the oven, let it cool while you prepare the chocolate.
- Use a double broiler to melt the chocolate and milk.
- Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, pour over bars and spread evenly with an offset spatula.
- Sprinkle with chopped almonds.
- Place in the refrigerator and let the chocolate set.
- Cut and enjoy!
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Thank you for sharing and I’m happy to have inspired you to make a treat you can both enjoy! How can he not love almond butter?!? Kidding because my girls, especially my youngest, loves her nut butter like her mama but almond butter isn’t a favorite other than baked into things. I’m so happy this worked out I was wondering if you subbed more almond meal/flour. I was also going to say if they didn’t turn out well the other runner up version is slightly different and didn’t have maple syrup (which we all decided we liked) and could have been modified.
Cheers to the holidays and baking!
How much sugar? I don’t see it listed in the ingredients… :] definitely want to try these!
Hi Katlyn, Thanks for catching that. We used 1/4 cup brown sugar. The recipe I adapted it from used coconut sugar. So feel free to experiment with the type that you enjoy cooking with.
What?!?! I can’t imagine someone NOT liking Almond Butter. Lol! These look amazing and something my whole family would devour up!