VegNews.com is the dot com version of VegNews magazine. The website has blogs about vegan shopping, vegan restaurants, and the latest vegan products. These Chocolate Peanut Maple Bars are packed with peanut butter and peanut-studded chocolate layers in a sugary maple filling. Here’s the recipe:
What You Need:
2 12-ounce packages vegan chocolate chips
1 18-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
2 cups dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 cup dry vanilla pudding mix
1 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
What You Do:
1. In a large bowl, add in chocolate chips and peanut butter and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring to combine, until melted. Stir in peanuts. In a 9 x 13-inch parchment-lined pan, spread half chocolate mixture. Place pan in refrigerator to cool and set.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine pudding mix, margarine, and almond milk. Bring to a boil and let boil for 1 minute.
3. To a large bowl or stand mixer, transfer pudding mixture. Stir in powdered sugar and maple flavoring, and beat until smooth. Remove chocolate pan from refrigerator and spread pudding mixture onto cooled chocolate layer.
4. Spread remaining chocolate mixture evenly over pudding mixture. Chill in refrigerator for several hours or overnight. For easy cutting, remove bars from pan with parchment paper lining, and place on a cutting board. Cut into 1 x 1.5-inch squares.
Makes about 80 bars.