Nut-Free Keto Twix Bars
These Keto Copycat Twix Bars are made without almond flour or coconut flour, and are gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, vegetarian, and can easily be made entirely coconut-free.
Servings: 8 bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cup 138g ground sunflower seed meal
- 3 tbsp 1 ½ oz melted unsalted butter
- 1 tsp 2.5g powdered monk fruit sweetener
Caramel:
- ¼ cup 2 oz unsalted butter
- ¼ cup + 3 tbsp 84g allulose
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp 135mL heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp ~5g No-Sugar-Added SunButter
- Pinch of salt optional, but recommended
Chocolate:
- 140 g ~3/4 cup sugar-free dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp 15mL coconut oil
Instructions
- Crust: In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, mix together ground sunflower seed meal, melted butter, and powdered monk fruit sweetener until it resembles consistency of wet sand. Transfer mixture to individual cavities of silicone mold and, using your fingers, press into even layer to bottom of individual cavities, using the back of a teaspoon to level. Transfer mold to freezer to chill while preparing caramel.
- Caramel: To a saucepan over medium-low heat, add butter and allulose. The butter will melt and will start to bubble, resembling a low boil (do not move on to next step before the mixture is really bubbling and looks like it's at a low boil). At this point, start a timer to simmer mixture for 3 minutes, stirring a few times with a rubber spatula. You may need to reduce stovetop heat to low to avoid caramel burning. After 3 minutes has passed, pour in heavy cream (you may need to remove pan from heat to avoid it boiling over), then add SunButter, and, optionally, salt. Whisk ingredients together and then reduce stovetop heat to lowest temperature. Cook mixture until it begins to thicken, which may take anywhere from 7-15 minutes, depending on the room temperature of your kitchen, stirring a few times. Watch mixture carefully to avoid burning.
- Meanwhile, while caramel is simmering, to a large mixing bowl, add ice cubes and water to create an ice bath. When caramel has finished simmering, transfer saucepan to sit inside bowl for about 1-2 minutes, depending on the thickness of your saucepan, to stop cooking process. (If you do this for too long, the caramel may split. If that happens, transfer pan back on stovetop over low heat to warm up again, stirring continuously. If you do this, don’t return pan back to ice bath.)
- Set saucepan aside and allow to sit at room temperature to thicken, which may take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. It should resemble the thick and sticky caramel that you are familiar with (see photo within blog post for reference, if needed), so don't move to the next step until it does.
- Remove silicone mold from freezer and pour caramel on top of crust, spreading into even layer using the back of a spoon. Transfer mold back to freezer for about 15 minutes, or until the caramel is set, while preparing chocolate.
- Chocolate: Using the double boiler method (see note below for instructions) over medium-low heat, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil, stirring occasionally to combine ingredients.
- Final Steps: Remove mold from freezer. Pop out each individual cavity and, if needed, using a sharp knife, trim top of the caramel to yield a smoother top. Dip bars into melted chocolate, covering all sides with chocolate. Carefully shake off any excess chocolate and transfer to a wire rack placed atop a baking sheet to catch any drips, or, to avoid losing any chocolate from dripping through the wire rack, place each chocolate-coated bar atop a parchment paper-lined baking tray or baking sheet. Transfer pan to refrigerator until fully set, about 10 minutes.
Notes
Where To Buy A Silicone Mold: I bought and used this silicone mold to make my Twix bars. Note that you can use a different type of mold, but the size of the individual cavities and the thickness of the silicone should be similar to the one I used, otherwise the crust may break when trying to pop the bars out.
Ground Sunflower Seed Meal Substitution: I typically buy my ground sunflower seed meal from Amazon. You can make your own homemade ground sunflower seed meal by pulsing raw sunflower seeds in a blender or food processor until they turn into a flour. Be sure to not over-blend though, as doing this will lead to making sunflower seed butter, which has a consistency similar to peanut butter. If you can eat nuts, almond flour should work fine here at a 1:1 ratio substitution.
Unsalted Butter (Crust) Substitution: Ghee or coconut oil will work here at a 1:1 substitution ratio.
Powdered Monk Fruit Sweetener: You can use Classic Monk Fruit Sweetener, Golden Monk Fruit Sweetener, or erythritol here, but I would suggest powdering it in a blender to ensure the texture is as the original recipe intended.
Unsalted Butter (Caramel) Substitution: Ghee will work here. Just note that the caramel may not be entirely as thick as if you used butter, but it will still work.
No-Sugar-Added SunButter Substitution: If you do not have peanut or tree nut allergies, peanut butter or almond butter can be substituted in at a 1:1 ratio.
What To Do If Butter Separates While Preparing Caramel: The butter and allulose can separate while cooking, leaving a layer of fat at the top of the pan. This typically happens if there is a drastic temperature change when preparing the caramel. You can usually fix this by removing the pan from the heat and stirring until the layer of fat is no longer visible. If this doesn’t work, stir in 1-2 tsp hot water. Return the saucepan of caramel back to the heat at the lowest temperature and mix occasionally.
Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate Chips Substitution: A high-quality dark chocolate will work here. Ideally, it would be a 80% cocoa (or higher) chocolate bar. Note, if you use a dark chocolate bar rather than sugar-free dark chocolate chips, the resulting carb content will be higher in carbs, albeit marginally, depending on the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate bar you use. I used Lily’s sugar-free dark chocolate chips, which I either purchase from Thrive Market, Amazon, or my local grocery store.
Coconut Oil Substitution And How To Make This Recipe Coconut-Free: Butter or ghee can be used in place of coconut oil at a 1:1 substitution ratio.
Double Boiler Method: Instead of putting the chocolate chips directly in a saucepan to melt, we want to simmer water in a pot and set a bowl atop the simmering water. This is to ensure the chocolate does not burn and melts evenly. To successfully melt the chocolate chips using the double boiler method, to a large saucepan, add enough water to fill the bottom of the pan, but not too much that the water will touch the bottom of the bowl you plan to melt the chocolate in (about 1 cup). Over medium-low heat with the bowl of chocolate atop the water, simmer the water, which will lead to the chocolate melting in the bowl.
Net Carbs: Each serving contains 5.5 grams of net carbs and 1 chocolate bar is equivalent to 1 serving. This recipe yields 8 bars in total.
Refrigerator Storage: Store prepared bars in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freezer Storage: Wrap prepared bars in plastic wrap, then foil, then place in an airtight container for 2-3 months.