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You will never believe this delicious dessert bar is vegan, refined sugar free and soy free!
Although this recipe is titled Peanut Butter & Jelly, I choose to use almond butter instead but you can use any nut butter of your choice.
This almond butter and jelly dessert recipe was inspired by a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. There is something so nostalgic about peanut butter and strawberry jelly layered between two slices of bread. So, I had to create peanut butter and jelly dessert bar.
This easy dessert bar recipe is layered with almond butter instead of peanut butter. I choose almond butter as a healthier nut alternative because of the large amounts of health benefits associated with them.
The dessert bar recipe starts with a super easy almond flour shortbread crust. It’s the perfect texture for the base of these vegan PB&J bars.
Shameless plug, I MUST mention this baking pan because I have been using it for years. It’s my favorite baking pan and I think everyone needs it. (lol) I ‘m serious, it’s versatile and has excellent baking results. I use it for all my dessert bar recipes. One standout feature of this pan I love is its sharp edges, which make a clean and professional appearance of your final dessert. The sharp edges of this baking pan have always ensured that my dessert bars, brownies, and other sweet treats have well-defined edges and corners. Whether you’re a professional baker or a passionate home cook, I highly recommend this pan. You will get great use out of it, especially if you plan on making more of my dessert recipes! To get the baking pan, click here.
I always line the baking pan with parchment paper to remove the dessert bar easily out the pan.
The delicious vegan almond crust only has a few ingredients and the only part of the recipe that requires baking. Score! Bake the crust at 350 degrees F. for 15-20 minutes. Once it’s golden brown, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely.
Now, to the light and fluffy mousse filling. This filling is nutty, creamy, and decadent. The star ingredients are almond butter and coconut cream. The combination is magical.
Oh! Make sure your almond butter does not contain sugar in the ingredients. You want almond butter that only contains almonds as the ingredient.
Since I had some Strawberry preserves left from my easy 3-ingredient Strawberry preserves recipe, I thought I would use it in this recipe. If you haven’t tried my 3-ingredient Strawberry preserves recipe, it’s on my other website CocoaMelanated.com. On that website, I discuss women’s uterine health and provide tons of healthier plant-based food alternatives if you’re someone that suffers from fibroids, endometriosis, PCOS and other hormonal imbalance issues. click Linkhttp://Healthy 3-Ingredients Strawberry Jam Recipe (cocoamelanated.com)
This vegan Strawberry preserves is made with Strawberries, agave nectar and chia seeds! Super healthy and taste so good!
You also have the option of purchasing Strawberry jam or preserves, but I highly recommend making your own since most store-bought jams contain sugar or artificial sweeteners.
The strawberry preserves were layered over this light and fluffy nut butter mousse filling. Yum! Talks about a decadent vegan dessert bar!
Freeze dessert bars before cutting into even squares. The key is to cut the bars frozen, then defrost them in the refrigerator before serving or eat them frozen!
Ok, let’s get into the Vegan Peanut Butter and Jelly Inspired Dessert Bar recipe.
I chose to use almond butter instead peanut butter to create this Peanut Butter and Jelly inspired Dessert Bars. This delicious dessert bar is vegan, refined sugar free, gluten free and a healthier alternative to peanut butter if your choice to substitute the peanut butter for almond butter or any other nut butter of your choice.
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Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Rest Time 5 hours hrs 3 minutes mins
Total Time 6 hours hrs 18 minutes mins
Servings 16
Equipment
1 8×8 inch square baking pan
1 high speed blender
1 saucepan
1 spatula or off-set spatula
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cup Almond Flour
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt optional
Filling
- 1 cup peanut butter or almond butter or any other nut butter
- 1 13.5 oz can coconut cream
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
Strawberry Preserves
- 4 cups fresh or frozen Strawberries chopped
- 1/4-1/2 cup Agave nectar or maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp Chia Seeds
Instructions
Strawberry preserves
To a saucepan, add strawberries and agave nectar and mix until well combined. Heat on medium to low heat. Depending on how sweet your strawberries arewill determine how much agave nectar you want to add. I recommend starting with1/4 cup and tasting to see if it needs to be sweetened more.
I added about 1/4 cup of water, but it is optional. The water helps the strawberries break faster.
Cook on low to medium heat until the strawberries start to break down and bubble. This should take roughly 15-20 minutes.
Once most of the liquid has evaporated, add chia seeds and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the jam starts to thicken a little.
Remove the strawberry preserves from the heat and let sit at room temperature to cool down. The strawberry preserves will thicken as it cools.
This will make roughly 2 cups, which is more than needed for this recipe. The remaining amount you do not use, can be stored in a glass container for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. This can be used for other dessert recipes on my blog site, breakfast, sandwiches and more.
Crust
Preheat oven 350F degrees.
Put coconut cream into freezer for about 30 minutes. This will allow the cream to harden and float to the top while the liquid falls to the bottom. You only need the cream part for this recipe.
Prepare an 8×8 inch square baking pan by spraying pan then lining bottom and sides with parchment paper. A little spray will keep the parchment paper in place.
In a medium size bowl, combine crust ingredients. Stir until the crust is a nice crumbly consistency but also sticks together if you squeezed it between your hands.
Pour crust into prepared baking pan and spread out evenly.
Press crust into base of pan using the back of a measuring cup until evenly spread out. With a fork, poke several holes for ventilation.
Bake crust for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Then remove from oven and let it cool completely before moving onto the next step.
Nut Butter Mousse Filling
To a blender combine coconut cream (top solid portion of the coconut cream can) with almond butter or peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt. Blend until smooth.
Taste to see if you need to adjust the sweetness.
Once the crust is cooled, pour filling over the crust and freeze for at least 4 hours.
After 4 hours, spread a layer Strawberry preserves (about 1 cup) over nut butter mousse then freeze again. I froze mine overnight, but I would say freeze for at least an hour.
Once completely frozen, remove the dessert from the pan by lifting the sides of the parchment paper. Score your dessert with the desired number of slices, then cut while frozen.
Cutting while frozen gives nice dessert bars with clean edges. Defrost in the refrigerator before serving or eat them frozen.
To store leftovers, keep in freezer and take out as needed. The dessert bars will last in the freezer for up to 1 month.
I hope you find this dessert recipe just as delicious as I do.
Video
https://stephsdecadentdesserts.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/video-output-6FDB2E10-F6AF-48C3-ABE9-D511D31EE4AB.mov
Notes
- You can choose any nut butter of your choice as an alternative to peanut butter and almond butter.
- If you do not want to make your own strawberry preserves, you can substitute for store bought strawberry jam, jelly pr preserve, just be mindful it may contain sugar. You can also replace it with a different flavor such as raspberry.
- You can substitute the almond flour for gluten-free flour, all-purpose flour, or spelt flour.
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