Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bars

Finding healthy desserts on a whole food plant-based diet can sometimes take just a little more effort. But, never fear, soon you’ll get in the groove and discover ways to make your favorite sweets right at home. These Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bars are one of those scrumptious desserts that are hard to resist. 

You’ll need a food processor to blend the chickpeas but you’ll add all of the ingredients, except the cacao powder, and save on dishwashing.

Keep in mind, these are only slightly sweetened because of the cacao powder. They’re made with maple syrup but if you’d like your bars a little sweeter, you could add a little stevia into the batter if you’re trying to keep sugar low.

Here’s how you’ll accomplish the swirl. Once the batter is blended, remove half to a bowl and add the cacao powder. Blend until well combined. Then drop the chocolate batter by spoonfuls around the prepared baking dish. Next drop spoonfuls of the rest of the batter. Using a knife, swirl around the two batters. It’s so fun to see how they come together. 

If you’ve never tried a dessert with chickpeas, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that you do not taste any bean flavor. They are just neutral enough to take on the rest of the flavors in the recipe… in this case, peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, chocolate, and a little cinnamon. 

And, of course, a great bonus to the recipe is that you’ll be getting nutritious beans with protein, fiber, and B vitamins!

Here are some other desserts

• Avocado Brownies
• Carrot Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Easy Peach Crisp with Oat Topping
• Baked Pears with Cardamom
• Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream

Try Making Cookies

This recipe is quick to make because it uses one baking dish, but you could also make cookies out of the batter. To accomplish the swirl, add the “plain” batter next to the chocolate batter in the bowl and carefully swirl them together with a knife. Then proceed as you would for most cookie recipes. 

Place about 2 tablespoon batter on a parchment-lined baking sheet. They don’t spread a lot but you will want to smash them with the back of a fork to spread them out a little. If you like perfect cookies, roll them in your hand first to form a ball, place them on the baking sheet, and then smash with the fork. 

I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below for this Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bars recipe! If you have a photo, post it on Instagram, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!

Print Recipe

4.29 from 14 votes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bars

A delightful no-oil dessert made with chickpeas and cacao powder that's only lightly sweetened, looks fun and is delicious to eat.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time40 mins

Servings: 9 pieces

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can no salt chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup oat flour
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon*
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional Additions

• 1/3 cup walnuts chopped
• 1/3 cup pumpkins seeds
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 8 x 8" baking dish with parchment paper or spray with a little non-stick cooking spray.
• In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the cacao powder. Process until the mixture is completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. At this point, throw in any additions such as walnuts or mini chocolate chips and give it a quick pulse.
• Scrape half of the batter into a bowl and add 2 tablespoons cacao powder. Stir with a spatula until well combined.
• Evenly drop chocolate batter by spoonfuls into the prepared baking pan. Drop spoonfuls of the non-chocolate half around the baking pan, as well. With a knife, swirl the two batters together. Smooth the top to finish.
• Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature or refrigerate for 5 days. Freeze in an airtight container up to 2 months.

Notes

Does not include additions such as walnuts or mini chocolate chips.

*I recommend using Ceylon cinnamon, which has a sweeter, more delicate flavor, because the most common cinnamon, cassia, contains coumarin, a naturally occurring compound that may be toxic to the liver at doses of 1 teaspoon per day for adults and 1/4 teaspoon for children a few times a week. See reference from nutritionfacts.org.

 

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bars

Amount per Serving

Calories

200

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

8.3

g

13

%

Sodium

 

81.2

mg

4

%

Carbohydrates

 

25.8

g

9

%

Fiber

 

3.3

g

14

%

Sugar

 

12.2

g

14

%

Protein

 

6.5

g

13

%

Calcium

 

40

mg

4

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.