My favorite nut butter substitute to use in this recipe is Sunbutter. It is made in a peanut and tree nut free facility and tastes delicious. I like to use ¾ cup of the creamy Sunbutter and ¾ cup of crunchy Sunbutter in these bars, but you can use whatever you have on hand. I reach for Vermont Nut Free Chocolates when I bake and this recipe is delicious topped with their milk chocolate or dark chocolate. I like to mix a bit of heavy cream into the chocolate to create a velvety, fudgy chocolate layer. You can use melted chocolate without the cream if you prefer a crunchy chocolate layer on top.
Author: Jennifer from 1840 Farm
Ingredients
4ounces(1 stick) butter
1 ½cupssunflower seed butter
3cupsgraham cracker crumbs
1cuppowdered sugar
2ouncesheavy cream
1 ¼cupchocolate chips
Instructions
Prepare a 9x9 pan by lining with parchment paper or waxed paper. Lining the pan will make it much easier to remove the bars in one large piece to cut it into individual portions.
Melt the butter in a medium to large saucepan over low heat. Add the sunflower seed butter and stir to combine with the melted butter. The mixture should become very smooth as the sunflower seed butter warms. Remove the pan from the heat and add the graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar. Stir until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the lined pan and spread evenly to the edges of the pan.
Warm the heavy cream in a small pot or in a microwave safe container. The cream does not need to be boiling hot, so 20-30 seconds in the microwave should be sufficient. Add the chocolate to the warm cream and allow to sit for about a minute before mixing to combine the cream and melted chocolate. Stir until completely smooth before adding to the pan and spreading to cover the sunflower seed butter layer.
Place the pan in the refrigerator to help set the bars. When the bottom is cool to the touch and the chocolate has set up, lifting the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to cut into portions. The bars can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for several days although they never last that long at our house!