muhahauha
I don’t know why, but that just felt appropriate to open with being 6 days from Halloween and all.
Evil cackles are the perfect compliment to many situations, don’t you think?
Such as:
– When you’re bored at work and want to make coworkers think you’re up to something (aren’t you always??) See Dwight Kurt Schrute III.
– Ditto above, but for your significant other/family members.
– Obviously, evil scheming is one of them, which I did lots of as a teenager with my sister Kristi and girlfriends. (Don’t worry sis, your secrets are safe with me…..unless I ever write a novel. mhauhauha!)
– When you hide behind a wall and then jump out to scare your pet or husband (not that I do this or anything…)
– When you send your spouse to work with salty cookies…on April Fools Day
– When kids ring your doorbell on Halloween
– When you make a killer dessert recipe
When to avoid witch cackles: going through airport security or customs, when the officiate asks if anyone objects to the marriage, in church, after serving food to your guests at a dinner party (Halloween excepted), near any newborn, during a GRE, at a job interview.
Use at your own risk.
Last week, a couple of you asked me if I could revamp my Vegan Twix bar recipe. I like the way you think because I was already planning on doing so! The original recipe was very tasty and decadent, but the shortbread crust was fairly crumbly and contained a ton of vegan butter. It also required baking the crust and making caramel from scratch.
For this version, I made the recipe lower in fat, gluten-free, faster, and improved the crust. After the Homemade Rolos were such a hit with many of you, I knew I wanted to use date caramel again. The crust ended up driving me a bit crazy though. I used oat flour, agave, and just a touch of coconut oil. While it held together perfectly it was way too dense and the flavour was too earthy for a Twix recipe.
I also knew I didn’t want to make a soft, fluffy crust. To me, a Twix bar has to have a crisp crust! Then Eric suggested I use rice crispies for the crust. Genius. It’s easy, fast, and just a few ingredients. Most of all, you don’t bake the crust which saves a lot of time. The crispy texture turned out to be the perfect compliment to the gooey date caramel and hardened chocolate coating. I don’t think I need to explain any further…
You can thank Eric for this one. (He says he will accept boxes of Homemade Twix bars.) ;)
Homemade Crispy Twix Bars
Email, print, or text this recipe
Yield: ~16-18 bars
for the crust:
- 1 & 1/4 cup GF crispy rice cereal (I use Nature’s Path)
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup*
- 2 tbsp peanut butter*
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
for the date caramel: (adapted from Homemade Rolos)
- 200-210 grams pitted soft Medjool dates (about 1 & 1/4 cup pitted dates)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter*
- 1 tbsp almond milk, or more if needed
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
for the chocolate coating:
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil (optional)
1. Line an 8-inch pan with two pieces of parchment paper. In a small pot, add the brown rice syrup, peanut butter, and vanilla. Increase heat to medium and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently until combined. Add pinch of salt. Pour into a large bowl with rice crisp and stir well.
2. Scoop the rice crisp mixture into pan. Wet hands slightly and then spread the mixture evenly and press down firmly until smooth. Place in freezer while you make the date caramel.
3. Soak dates in water until soft (only if necessary) and drain. Place pitted dates, peanut butter, milk, and salt in the food processor and process until almost smooth and a big ball forms.
4. Spread caramel layer over top of the crust until it’s as smooth and even as you can get it. Place back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to set.
5. Melt the chocolate and optional coconut oil in a small pot over low heat. When 2/3 of the chips are melted, remove from heat and stir until smooth. Spread chocolate on top of the caramel and place in the freezer for about 3 minutes only.
6. Remove from freezer (chocolate should be slightly firm, but not completely set) and slice into rows and then in half. Freeze again until set for about 10 minutes. Store in fridge or freezer.
Substitution Notes: 1) The brown rice syrup can probably be subbed for honey (if you include honey in your diet). Agave won’t hold together as well since it’s not as “tacky”, but it will hold together when kept in the freezer. It will fall apart at room temperature though. 2) You can sub peanut butter for sunflower seed butter as a nut-free option.
I wrapped up two at a time in orange candy wrappers (from Bulk Barn) and secured them with kitchen twine. Not spooky, but so darn cute and festive.
These were delicious. I made a second batch using bananas instead of dates, since I’d used my dates up in the first batch. Both were great, but I think I prefer your version a bit more. Thank you very much!
I wonder if you could use date molasses instead of the brown rice syrup? And what would you suggest as a nut butter that wouldn’t add much flavor? Maybe cashew butter? I can’t eat peanut butter or sunflower nut butter and I feel like almond butter would maybe add too much almond flavor? Great idea though – I love twix and recently saw a homemade version that was full of refined sugar, flour, and FAT! So this sounds like a great alternative :)
This recipe kind of reminds me os “scotcheroos”… but not really. Have you ever had them/I would love to see a more healthy/vegan recreation of them… even though I know it probably isn’t easy because of the butterscotch chips?
I made these with Speculoos cookie butter instead of peanut butter and omitted the date caramel layer and it was DELICIOUSLY decadent!! Thank you for sharing such great recipes!
I love this recipe and make it all the time! However, I am allergic to peanuts and I found I didn’t have a sub in my cupboard for the crust, so I kept the water I soaked the dates in and simmered it with a tablespoon of golden syrup (naughty I know!) and it did the job perfectly!
Thanks for all the inspiration!
These turned out so good! Next time I want to try puffed millet, or puffed barley. Maybe a combo of these? Still, nice recipe, keep up your amazing work, you inspire me!
These were amazing! I’ve had a hormonal craving for days which was satisfied by these wonderful,sticky,oozy yummy bars. Keep up the great ideas and thank you for the time and effort this must take, Rachyx
I finally had a chance to make these last night. I’ve been jonesing for something sweet and chocolatey and these definitely fit the bill! They were relatively easy to make and were a big hit with my hubby.
My friend made these once for a potluck and they were so good, I forced her to show me where I could find the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this!
I was wondering if anybody knows how to make a crispy rice base but without the sugar. What could be used to hold it together? Or would you need some sort of dark chocolate coating as a wrapper of sorts?
Thank you!
Just made these. Amazing thankyou :)
Yumm! My boyfriend and I just made them and they’re soooo yummy! A big part of them can already be found in our tummies, hehe.
I really love your blog and recipes. From Wednesday on even more, because our Vitamix arrived last Wednesday :) Yay, now I can finally make really smooth smoothies instead of finding some spinach leaves back into my smoothie…
Have a nice weekend!
These are soooo good I can’t stop making them!! I am going for again tonight, thank you so much for creating this recipe, you a life saver! ;)
Hi Angela! These look ahhh-maazing. I’d love to try them. I do have a question though, I’ve noticed that in both the rolos and the twix bar recipes, you use date caramel. Now, as one who can’t stand dates, this creates a dilemma. So my question is: is the date taste strong?
Hey Malak, You can definitely taste the dates in these recipes, but I would say the caramel flavour is more pronounced (to my taste buds anyway, I can’t comment on how it would taste for you of course). Chilling them in the freezer helps too. Good luck!
I love your site. My sister found it for me as I was looking to make my own almond milk and that was the first recipe of yours I tried. Needless to say, the milk is wonderful. I made the Twix Bars for a friend’s son for dessert tomorrow. She recently decided to become a Vegan and her son has reluctantly joined her. She doesn’t like to cook, works two jobs just to get by and both of them need some comfort food.
I was recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and am on a special diet so I couldn’t taste anything with this recipe which killed me. So, after I had finished cutting them and they’d rested in the freezer for 10 minutes I had my sis taste them. She said they were the best thing she’d had in months. I think Davy will love them and I thank you for sharing!
If I make these and put them in the freezer, will they be ok if I take them out in a couple days ?? Thanks!
WOW! These are really yummy. I whipped them up in about 20 minutes. I substituted raw almond butter for the peanut butter and it is delicious. This was my first recipe I have tried and I look forward to trying more!
Just stumbled on this post! I’ve had a peanut allergy all my life so I’m all for making my own sweets… gets rid of the fear factor, plus I can better tailor the taste to my liking. :) I’ll be making these with Barney’s almond butter (it’s peanut free and sooooo smooth). Thanks.
Hahahha….tooo funny! I’m just about to take the GRE in a few hours, and just my luck I happen to stumble on this recipe right before it. I just think it’s hilarious! Talk about coincidences and serendipity…well I guess not soo happy in this case. But still, uber hilarious! :D
I don’t know how you made yours so perfect, mine is all over the place XD
however this tastes AMAZING <3 thank you for sharing the recipe
Every weekend i used to pay a visit this site,
as i want enjoyment, since this this website conations actually nice funny information
too.
dates are not vegan. google it.
Made these today and they are great..Twix are my ultimate favorite…thanks for this!!!
Jen
These are absolutely fantastic!They are yummy!I can’t wait to make them again.x
These are delish!!
Absolutely love ’em!!
I used 1 cup puffed quinoa and 1/2c chopped peanuts in place of the puffed rice cereal-yummy! Close to a snickers…
Mahalo Angela
I made these for a friend as a thank you for dog sitting for us. It’s always a bit scary trying out a new recipe on someone else, but she kindly shared some with my husband and I and they turned out great! I used honey instead of brown rice syrup, and I think next time I’ll soak the dates longer to make them easier to blend. (How long would you recommend? Your recipe didn’t say…) Other than that turned out great! I’m amazed and impressed with people who can take something unhealthy they used to love and say, “I could make something like that!” Caramel out of dates?! Who would’ve thought?? Kudos!
Made these last night and they are awesome! I don’t mean to split hairs here, but I think witht the peanut butter, they are much more like Whatchamacallits than Twix. Also, I had some trouble with paper sticking to the bottom layer…Any advice there? But still, overall, A+.
Just finished these. I have so far just tasted individual layers, but love the date caramel! Bottom layer is satisfying and nice and crunchy. I just received your book and am taking Empowered Noodle Bowl to Easter Brunch.
I made them this morning and brought them to a picnic with some friends, they were a huge success!!! There were a lot of ohh and ahh sounds, and some of the descriptives I heard were divine, orgasmic, a religious experienced, incredible…. Thanks for this recipe!! …and so many others…
Oh my gosh these are amazing – my very picky 8 year old loves them!!!! I made them with almond butter because he doesn’t like peanut and they are sooooooo crazy good. Thank you!!!!
Holy crap, these are good!
I just made them for my girls xmas party. Allergies: dairy, gluten, peanuts, mangos. None of the girls thought that a dessert could be made that all could enjoy.
I used WOW soy butter and honey.
They taste magical.
Thanks!
P.S. Salt and vinegar chickpeas are in the oven and I made the pb cookie balls the other night… all amazing!
YOU RULE!
Again, another amazing dessert recipe! This is so much fun to make and I love the idea of a healthier and even tastier Twix bar! I just chocolate rice crisps for the bottom and extra dark (80% cacao) chocolate for the top layer. I also put a little more melted chocolate on the top than the recipe calls for, because I’m a chocolate fanatic. Will definitely be making these again! These were also an absolute hit with my friends.
Another amazing recipe. The date caramel is a keeper. Loved it!
I have made these twice now and they are so crazy good! I made them with wholegrain rice crispies and a mixed nutbutter, which worked really well. The first time I added coconutoil to the chocolate, but found it to coconutty for my taste, so the second time I simply omitted it and it worked just as well. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe, I am such a fan, everything I have tried works out so well: I had a bookpresentation and ordered two beautiful vegan cakes, but to cut back on the costs I also made your carrotloaf with sweetened vegan creamcheese on top and everone simply devoured it, liking it better than the professionally made cakes!
hi,
can’t have brown rice syrup, would maple syrup work? Would love to make these, they look awesome!
These taste absolutely amazing!! Can barely tell they are vegan would definitely reccomend making these!
Hi Ang,
Would it work if I substituted maple syrup for the brown rice syrup? I’m making the crispy twix bars
Thanks , Tanya :)
I just tripled this recipe to share with friends at church. They turned out…AWESOME! I used almond butter instead of peanut butter. I was concerned that the brown rice syrup wasn’t sticky enough to hold the cereal together, but it did! They cut beautifully. Thanks for the recipe!
Why oh why did I discover this recipe! It is SO good, I’m gonna eat the whole tray!!! It’s very straight forward…will be making batches for my holiday parties this year!