Vegan peanut butter chocolate chip pecan bars – irresistibly moreish vegan snack bars loaded with chocolate chips and crunchy pecans.
These vegan peanut butter chocolate chip pecan bars are seriously addictive. Their texture sits somewhere between a cake and a blondie, with a gentle peanut butter taste, a warm hint of cinnamon and plenty of dairy-free chocolate chips plus crunchy pecans. They make a perfect snack anytime you need a sweet lift, and they’re also lovely served warm with vegan ice cream for dessert.
Watch the baking time carefully. Batters that include peanut butter can dry out if over-baked. The right indicator is similar to brownies: a skewer inserted in the centre should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. If it comes out completely clean, the bars are likely overcooked.
To keep these bars vegan, a flax or chia egg is used to bind the batter: mix ground flaxseed (linseed) or chia with water and let it sit until it becomes thick and gooey. For the fat component, a solid dairy-free margarine (the block form rather than a spreadable tub) works best for baking; that’s what I used. Coconut oil should also work, although it will alter the flavour slightly.
Other Vegan Snack Bar Ideas
- Vegan fruit and nut flapjacks
- Berry crumble bars (vegan)
- Pumpkin chocolate chip cake bars (vegan)
- No-bake superfood granola bars
- Ginger and coconut flapjacks
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Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Bars
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed/linseed/chia
- 3 Tbsp water
- 160 g (⅔ cup) vegan margarine (block rather than tub is best; I used Stork), softened
- 120 g (½ cup) smooth peanut butter
- 180 g (1 cup) light brown soft sugar
- 120 g (½ cup + 2 Tbsp) caster sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 260 g (2 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened plant milk (I used soya)
- 200 g (7 oz) dairy-free chocolate chunks or chips
- 150 g (5 ½ oz) pecans, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 23cm square cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
- Mix the ground flax/linseed/chia with 3 Tbsp water in a small bowl. Set aside for about 10 minutes until the mixture becomes gloopy.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the vegan margarine, peanut butter, light brown sugar and caster sugar until smooth. Stir in the flax egg and the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Fold half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then add half the plant milk. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining milk, folding until combined.
- Reserve a handful of the chocolate chips and pecans. Fold the remaining chocolate chips and pecans into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, spread it level and scatter the reserved chips and nuts on top.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is just firm and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. If the top browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil halfway through baking.
- Allow 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.
