Growing up, Twix were always some of my favorite candies. After trick-or-treating for Halloween, I’d literally trade the other kids my candy for their Twix bars. The combo of cookie + caramel + chocolate is simply perfect, in my humble opinion. The other day, I was majorly craving a Twix, which got me thinking — why not make one? Better yet, why not make it with healthier ingredients that I can feel better about? That’s how these Healthy Twix Bites came to be. In addition to being delicious, they’re totally gluten free and easily made vegan! They have a delicious shortbread base, a rich caramel layer, and are topped with some chocolate + sea salt for a combo that you’re sure to love. Enjoy!
Making Healthy Twix Bites
To make these, theres really three main components. First, the shortbread. It’s a super simple combo of almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, vanilla and maple syrup. Mix that up, press into sprayed/paper-lined pan (I used a mini cupcake pan and the paper cups help make assembly easy) and bake. Set aside and let cool, and you can turn the over off since the rest of the recipe doesn’t require baking!
Next, you’ll make your caramel, which is made of dates, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. First, soak pitted medjool dates in boiling water for 5-10 minutes, which will soften them and make them easy to blend. Then add into a blender with milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and blend until smooth. Toss that in the fridge while you finish up prep.
Lastly, you’ll need to melt some chocolate with a teensy bit of coconut oil. Stir that up until its smooth, and then you’re ready to assemble these. Keeping these in the little paper cups, top the cookie base with some of the date caramel, and then top that with some melted chocolate. Finish with a bit of flaked sea salt, pop these in the fridge so they can harden. After about an hour in the fridge, they should be solid, and you can remove the paper wrapping, pop one in your mouth, and enjoy!
Healthy Twix Bites
Equipment
- Blender
- Mini Cupcake Pan
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 1.25 cup almond flour blanched, fine, sifted
- 1.5 tsp coconut flour
- 1.5 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1.5 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 6 medjool dates pitted & soaked in boiling water 10 min
- 1/3 c milk or plant milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- shake of cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips can use vegan or paleo chocolate
- 1/2 tsp coconut oil
- Flaked sea salt for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Mix up shortbread ingredients in a mixing bowl until you have a solid mixture. Line a mini cupcake pan with paper liners, spray with cooking spray, and put in ~1/2 tbsp in each paper, pressing down to create shortbread. Bake at 350 for ~9 min, until lightly browned and solid. Remove from oven, set aside to cool completely.
- Pit and soak dates in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Add to blender with milk of choice, cinnamon, and vanilla and blend until completely smooth. Put in fridge until ready to assemble.
- Combine chocolate chips and coconut oil and melt in 30 sec intervals in the microwave, mixing until smooth.
- To assemble, top each shortbread base with a dollop of date caramel, then top with melted chocolate, finish with flaked sea salt, and place in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the chocolate to harden. Store in the fridge. Enjoy!
