healthful ‘twix’ bars

I’ve been experimenting with some “healthful” recipes lately, inspired by the success of my banana bread cookies! I’ve discovered that I really like the combo of almond and coconut flour. It adds a nuttiness and rich depth of flavor to recipes, with lots of additional “healthful” benefits. In case you want to know why I consider them to have “healthful” benefits, both almond flour and coconut flour are gluten-free flours. They’re low in carbs, and rich in fiber and protein, which means that they help to keep blood sugar levels in check instead of high peaks and and valleys of energy and crashes. So if you’re looking for a healthful snack, or have a gluten intolerance, check out this recipe!

To clarify, there is nothing wrong with all purpose flour, or gluten-based flours in the slightest (assuming you don’t have celiac disease where you literally can’t tolerate gluten). There’s a reason why I choose the word “healthful” to describe my recipes as opposed to “healthy” or “skinny” or “low-calorie” or “low-carb” or whatever the current fad is. I like the word healthful because to me it represents the fullness of health, and is more on the “healthy-ish” side.

To me the word health or healthy encompasses nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being, far more than a single pot of zucchini noodles or a refined-sugar-free dessert will do for you. A lot of what the “healthful” word means to me is robustness of nutrition. Which means a lot of variety in my diet. Almond flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, cake flour–none of these are bad options! But combining them in a balanced diet means that I get the best they all have to offer. The downside to this of course, is keeping your pantry stocked with many different flours, or being in quarantine without access to some specialized ingredients. More specialized flours can also be more cost-prohibitive or harder to find, but luckily gluten-free options are becoming more widely available, along with more health-conscious choices.

But for healthful recipes on my blog, I look for delicious ways to incorporate more vegetables without compromising flavor or enjoyment, or upping protein and satiety to pack a bigger punch and prevent me from overeating. I put these “twix” bars into the latter category because they have a lot of sweetness and richness, but give me more satiety by incorporating some ingredients that have higher fiber and protein, without compromising this delicious, sweet chocolatey dessert! And we all know we need a little chocolate in our lives!

I have to say when trying this recipe out, I was highly skeptical of the caramel layer. The caramel in this recipe is made from nut-butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt. It seems to me that traditional caramel has a lot of unique components to it–the texture, and the flavor are not easily swapped, and I’ve made a lot of caramels in my day. In fact, we even made two types of caramels for our wedding as a personal touch for people to snack on! So color me impressed with the result of these. If you eat a spoonful of the “caramel” by itself, you will never mistake it for a traditional caramel. But it is hella tasty on its own. It’s not the same texture, for it’s softer and has no stretch or chew. But it does have a richness and softness that is closer to caramel than I would have guessed. And especially combined with the shortbread layer and chocolate topping, I found that I didn’t miss traditional caramel as much as I thought.

Especially because the nuttiness runs throughout the bar. With the almond flour in the base it ties together with the nuttiness of the caramel. You can use any nut butter here, which also makes it a very flexible recipe. I’ve used cashew, and tahini personally and like both of them. Tahini or sunflower butter are great if you need nut-free options, but pretty much any nut butter would work. I would also mention that I used natural nut butter, so I imagine it would work the same as the more processed stuff, but I haven’t tried it specifically! Honestly, it might be a little thicker and hold up better as “caramel” at room temperature. For these guys, I tend to keep them in the fridge and eat them while they’re still cold!

If you have dairy concerns about the chocolate or are vegan, you can swap out the chocolate chips and coconut oil for equal parts coconut oil and cocoa powder, sweetened with maple syrup. (Try 1/4 c. of each melted coconut oil + cocoa powder + 2 Tbsp. maple syrup). Don’t forget that flaky salt on top though, I think it brings the whole thing together!