GLUTEN FREE · VEGAN · NO BAKE

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This recipe was inspired by Broma Bakery’s Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars (you can find the original recipe here). I saw that recipe and genuinely wanted to reach through my screen to grab and eat those delicious-looking bars! Sadly, there was one too many of the ingredients I choose to avoid, so I set out to make my own gluten free, vegan, and all-round ‘healthified’ version.

Luckily for me, I had just recently finished tinkering with my Vegan Caramel Sauce, so I had the caramel element sorted out, and just needed to make some suitable ingredient swaps and quantity tweaks to hopefully replicate those stunning bars I had seen. I was very pleased with the result, with the only ‘downside’ to my adaptation being that my creamy caramel sauce does not help ‘glue’ everything together the way traditional caramel would. But I’m happy to trade off that sugary encasement for the creamier (and much healthier) alternative, and just use the trick of keeping the bars in the freezer (as is so often the case with gluten free and vegan treats/baking), in order to keep them as neat as possible!

These bars are really delicious, and have that great combination of smooth-crunchy, and salty-sweet. Plus, in addition to getting a scrummy treat, you also get a hit of fibre, good fats and plant protein. And if that wasn’t enough to get you to give these a whirl, this is also a no-bake recipe - my favourite kind!

INGREDIENTS

For the base:

Gluten-free pretzels

I used this brand, but you can use any gluten-free pretzels you can find. If you can find a grain-free version, then that would make this recipe Paleo.

While I’m not a fan of using ready-made, free-from foods regularly, indulging occasionally in order to make your life a little easier - or to make a delicious recipe like this one - is perfectly fine.

Nut butter

I used cashew butter, but you could easily swap this with almond butter, or even hazelnut butter. You could even try a seed butter, like sunflower seed butter, but keep in mind the taste may come through the final result so make sure you’re ok with that.

Coconut oil

Make sure the coconut oil is neither solid nor liquid for this recipe. Semi-soft is best, so if it’s solid at room temperature, warm it up a little before using, and if it’s liquid, put it in the fridge for a bit.

Coconut oil is a great oil option for sweeter dishes. You can also opt for an odourless version if you don’t want any coconut taste coming through whatsoever. I used regular coconut oil and honestly could not taste it at all.

Coconut oil is high in lauric acid, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, helpful for fighting pathogens. For more on coconut oil, check out this post.

Powdered coconut sugar

To create powdered coconut sugar, all you need to it is to put regular coconut sugar into a blender and blitz until it is ground down to a fine powder, and it’s ready to use.

Coconut sugar is a great substitute for refined sugar. Also called coconut palm sugar (not to be confused with palm sugar), it is not as processed and even contains small amounts of certain nutrients.

Coconut sugar contains potassium, magnesium, and sodium, which are important for balancing electrolyte levels in the body. Regular table sugar has a glycemic index (GI) of 65, while coconut sugar has a GI of 35 (much closer to the GI of the sugar that’s naturally found in fruits - around 25).

Vanilla extract

For the caramel:

I used my Vegan Caramel Sauce recipe for the caramel layer-

Medjool dates

Dates are a great natural sweetener, and their stickiness helps to mimic regular caramel. You can use other dates if you can’t find Medjools, but they really are the best if you can get your hands on them, as they are larger and ‘juicier’.

Dates provide the sweetness you want, but with lots of healthy fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Coconut oil

Cashew butter

Cashew nuts have a very unique buttery, sweet and salty taste, making their butter ideal for use in desserts.

Cashews are also a great source of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, including zinc, phosphorus, copper, selenium and magnesium, making them a health-supporting nutritional powerhouse, and a great health-boosting ingredient in this recipe.

Sea salt

Water

For decoration:

Gluten-free pretzels

Dairy-free chocolate

Sea salt (optional)

TIPS

These bars can get rather melty, especially if you have superhuman self-restraint and don’t eat them as soon as you see them! So, to help the bars hold together better:

Be sure to break the pretzels for the base into small pieces - but not so small that they’re down to a flour!
The nut butter should have its natural accumulation of oil poured away before using, in order to reduce the final bars’ oil content.
The coconut oil should be semi-soft, not liquid.
Store in the fridge or freezer (I recommend freezer) in an airtight container. Eat straight from the fridge, or remove from the freezer 5-10 minutes before eating for the best consistency.