Vegan & Gluten-Free “Butterfingers” Bars
If you live in an ingredient household, where you have many ingredients to make food with but never any prepared food, this minimal-effort dessert recipe is perfect for you. Made with common pantry staples, corn flakes, peanut butter, maple syrup, and chocolate, you’ll be able to whip up your favorite crispy candy bar in minutes. These vegan & gluten-free “Butterfingers” bars are excellent to have on hand to satisfy your sweet tooth any time of the day.
Traditional “Butterfingers” vs Vegan & Gluten-Free “Butterfingers” Bars
You may be wondering, “how do these “Butterfingers” compare to the real deal?” Well, our vegan, gluten-free “Butterfingers” are made purely, with clean, nutritious ingredients. They fuel your body with energy, rather than take it away. They taste just like the “real deal” with those same crispy, crunchy layers of peanut butter and delicious chocolate coating. Our vegan & gluten-free “Butterfingers” are also sweetened naturally with antioxidant-rich maple syrup instead of inflammatory corn syrup. Our “Butterfingers” are allergen-friendly (aside from peanut) and make a great treat for guests.
Traditional “Butterfingers” Ingredient List:
Corn Syrup, Sugar, Peanuts, Vegetable Oil (Palm Kernel and Palm Oil), Peanut Flour, Nonfat Milk, Less than 2% of Cocoa, Milk, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Annatto Color.Vegan & Gluten-Free “Butterfingers” Ingredient List:
Corn Flakes, Peanut Butter, Maple Syrup, Chocolate, Vanilla Extract
How To Make Vegan & Gluten-Free “Butterfingers”
Making delicious, healthy “Butterfingers” is one of the easiest, time-efficient recipes on the planet. These crispy, crunchy logs of chocolate-y, peanut buttery goodness take only 30 minutes to make - and most of that time is just waiting for them to cool in the refrigerator. Minimal effort for an outstanding end product.
Corn Flakes: many corn flakes brands, like Kellogs, Great Value, and Happy Belly are actually not gluten-free. They contain malt barley extract, which is unsafe for the gluten intolerant. Luckily, there are so many good brands of vegan, gluten-free corn flakes out there, from Vitabella, to Nature’s Path, to Nestle and more. As always, check the ingredient labels, allergen information, and manufacturing practices on the back of the cereal to make sure you’re choosing the best option for you.
Peanut Butter: for this recipe, any peanut butter will do. Personally, I like to use Super Crunchy Fix & Fogg Peanut Butter for extra crunch factor.
Chocolate: I’m a huge fan of Enjoy Life Ricemilk Chocolate in all of my dessert recipes. Rather than using a bitter form of dark chocolate and having to add sweetener, I find that this rice milk chocolate is sweet enough and tastes exactly like milk chocolate. It’s smooth and creamy when melted and works perfectly to coat these crunchy little rectangles. If you choose to use dark chocolate, taste test and add a little sweetener if you think it’s too bitter.
Maple Syrup: a sticky sweetener is key for richness, and also preventing the corn flakes from being too crunchy. With traditional “Butterfingers”, you have that stickiness and moistness surrounding the inside layers that make the candy bar so special and unique. They use corn syrup, but us healthy gurus know that maple syrup can achieve the same sensation without compromising flavor, consistency, or health.
Vegan & Gluten-Free “Butterfingers” Bars
Recipe Author: Nicole Riggs
A crisp, crunchy peanut butter core with a rich chocolate coating. Everything we love about a traditional “Butterfingers” bar, but make it vegan.
Equipment:
Food processor (optional), mixing bowl, measuring cups/spoons, parchment paper/silicone baking mat
Ingredients:
2 cups corn flakes
1 cup peanut butter
3-4 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup chocolate chips*
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Crush up corn flakes in a food processor or by hand. Combine corn flakes, peanut butter, maple syrup & vanilla extract in a medium-large mixing bowl.
Form crunchy mixture into small rectangles (recipe makes about 8). Place on parchment paper or silicone baking mat and freeze for 10 minutes.
Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a glass bowl or container until smooth.
Coat the rectangles in chocolate and place back onto parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, or until chocolate has solidified.
NOTES:
*In this recipe, we use Enjoy Life Ricemilk Chocolate Chips (linked in the blog), which are already sweetened and taste like milk chocolate. If you use unsweetened dark chocolate, you may need to add a little sweetener.
