Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Bars

Vegan peanut butter chocolate chip pecan bars – incredibly moreish vegan peanut butter snack bars loaded with chocolate chips and pecans.

These vegan peanut butter chocolate chip pecan bars are crazy good; I could not stop eating them. They are somewhere between a cake and a blondie in texture; with a mild peanut butter flavour, a hint of cinnamon and loads of chocolate chips and crunchy pecans.

They make a brilliant snack if you are in need of a sweet pick-me-up at any time of day; and are also wonderful served warm with (vegan) ice cream for dessert. Do make sure that you don’t over-bake them; I find that bakes made with peanut butter in can become quite dry if they are over-baked. As with brownies, a skewer inserted into the centre should come out with a few moist crumbs on it but no wet batter when they are done; if it comes out totally clean then they are probably overcooked.

To make these vegan I used a flax egg to help bind them together – simply ground flaxseed (linseed here in the UK) or chia mixed with water and set aside until it goes gloopy. In place of butter I used a dairy free margarine; the kind that comes in a solid stick rather than the spreadable kind in a tub is best for baking with if you can get it. Here in the UK Stork is vegan and that is what I used. I haven’t tried making them with coconut oil but I think that that should work fine too.

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Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Bars

Vegan peanut butter chocolate chip pecan bars - incredibly moreish vegan peanut butter snack bars loaded with chocolate chips and pecans.

Course Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 16 people

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed/linseed/chia
• 3 Tbsp water
• 160 g (2/3 cup) vegan margarine (block rather than tub is best; I used Stork) softened
• 120 g (1/2 cup) smooth peanut butter
• 180 g (1 cup) light brown soft sugar
• 120 g (1/2 cup + 2Tbsp) caster sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 260 g (2 1/4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) unsweetened plant milk (I used soya)
• 200 g (7 oz) dairy free chocolate chunks/chips
• 150 g (5 1/2 oz) pecans roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease a 23cm square cake tin and line with baking parchment.
   

2. Mix together the ground flax/linseed/chia and the 3 Tbsp water in a small bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes until gloopy.
   

3. Place the vegan margarine, peanut butter, light brown sugar and caster sugar in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth. Whisk in the flax egg and the vanilla extract.
   

4. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Fold half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture followed by half of the plant milk then the rest of the dry ingredients followed by the rest of the milk.
   

5. Reserve a handful of each of the chocolate chips and pecans then fold the rest into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread level then scatter over the reserved chocolate chips and pecans.
   

6. Bake for about 40 minutes until it is just firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. Cover loosely with foil about halfway through baking if the top starts to brown too quickly.
   

7. Leave to cool in the tin then carefully lift out and slice into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to a couple of days.