I’ve finally given in and gone to the dark side: Follow me on Instagram. I hear the dark side has some bomb PB&J bars… Life is full of hypotheticals:
My best friend may be the child of alien dodos.
Neil Patrick Harris may be secretly, madly in love with me.
And I may or may not be obsessed with peanut butter & jelly.
As you can probably tell by the ridiculous amount of food porn in this post, that last hypothetical is so totally up for debate.
I mean, just look at that peanut butter pouring down and through that lusciously gooey raw square like so much suntan lotion slathered all over Chris Evans‘s gorgeous body. Who’d want that?
Not me. No siree.
And considering how this recipe is:
+ Raw (no-bake),
+ Vegan,
+ Gluten-Free,
+ No added sugars,
+ A 15-minute deal from start to fridge,
+ Possibly my favorite, I-will-actually-stuff-every-last-gooey-crumb-of-these-bars-in-ma-face-if-you-don’t-get-it-out-of-my-sight-this-instant recipe this year, even including this cookie recipe and this cookie recipe…
….considering all of the above factors, there’s no way you’ll want to try these.
These gooey bars that taste exactly like a peanut butter and jelly sammy sandwiched between a phenomenal date-and-nut top and bottom. Because you’ll have to devour them before everyone else does and time runs out like a strangely obsessive peanut butter bowl clock, spinning round…and round…and round…
PB&J, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways……..
That’s right, count ’em. One, two, three…..
If I seem distracted, it may because I am busy stuffing the half a pan I managed to hoard into my face while half-jealously perusing my friend’s text, which says:
Dude! These are scrumptious! !!! Thank you so much for sharing!!! 🙂
I am not even half-jealous.
I am fully, 100% committed-in-a-way-I-fear-in-my-daily-IRL-relationships, flat-out jealous.
Should’ve hoarded.
Just kidding.
(But I am kidding in that I-feel-obligated-to-be-kidding-but-you-can-probably-tell-I-HAVE-NEVER-BEEN-LESS-KIDDING-IN-MY-LIFE way.)
I’ve been using a lot of hyphens and violently truncated sentences in this post.
I’m sorry.
Then again, #sorrynotsorry…
But seriously. You might want to make these. Meet you back here in 15 minutes with the best PB&J hack you will ever taste. My name is Ala, and I endorse this healthy raw vegan gluten-free peanut butter and jelly heaven.
Yours in PB&J obsession,
Leave a comment and finish this analogy: “I love PB&J like…….”
If you have felt at all compelled to hit your Pin It, Facebook share, Tweet, or bookmark buttons, then
a) I love you like I love PB&J, and
b) Check out what awesome stuff my fellow bloggers have posted for this week’s Eat Clean Challenge!
Clarks Condensed – Strawberry Banana Buckwheat Muffins
Keep it Simple, Sweetie – Mango Ginger Smoothie
Je suis alimentageuse – Passionfruit Mochi
Cooking with Curls – Guacamole Linguine
Delighftul E Made – Loaded Guacamole
Life as Mrs. Larson – Clean Snacks!
Bite of Delight – {sweet} Potatoes Anna
Sandy Every Day Southwest – Grilled Mango with Honey and Pistachios
Wallflour Girl – Healthy No Bake Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Project Domestication – Creamy Brown Rice Farina with Fresh Berries
Healthy No-Bake Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars (Raw, Vegan, GF)
A new Wallflour Girl favorite recipe! Slightly gooey and intensely PB&J bars that take 15 minutes from start to finish to make. Plus, they're so indulgent and TRULY healthy that you can hoard half the pan if you want. Or hoard the whole thing, I won't judge. (Vegan, gluten-free, raw/no-bake)
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 24 dates, any variety (I used Deglet Noir)
- 1 1/4 cup almonds or nut of your choice
- 1/2 medium-sized ripe mango
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
For the peanut butter filling:
- 1 large ripe banana
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the crust:
- In a food processor, pulse all crust ingredients together until sticky and combined, scraping down sides of processor as needed. The crust should hold together when pressed lightly between fingers. Transfer crust to a separate bowl.
For the peanut butter filling:
- In food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth and just combined.
For the assembly:
- Press half of crust into the bottom of a foil-lined 8x8-inch baking pan.
- Spoon peanut butter filling evenly over crust.
- Spoon strawberry preserves as evenly as you can over the peanut butter layer.
- Gently press remaining half of crust on top of jam layer.
- Store in fridge for at least 1 hour before serving--or not. You are your own person and can eat this however the heck you damn please! Just make sure you store it in the fridge, as the bars will be very gooey.
PB&J? Yes, please. Love the recipe, love the gifs! Fun post — thanks.
And incredibly fun to make and eat, too! Thanks, John 🙂
Well now that you have convinced me that my life will end tragically if I do not eat these….how do I make them? I will go eat peanut butter out of the jar until I figure it out. 😉
Oh gosh, Lisa, my site totally deleted the recipe–so dorky of me not to notice! It’s up now though, so you can put that peanut butter to productive use. Hurray!
Wow! These look fantastic! I want one RIGHT NOW! 🙂
Kaylin, if you were standing in front of me I would un-hoard long enough to give you some! Good thing they’re so easy to make…thank you for dropping by again, have a fantastic weekend!
WOAH! I need to go buy jam just to make this…*insane* looking treat 😀 😀
I know, it’s slightly insane! …and yet, insanity tastes so gooood. Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
These GIFs are incredible, Ala, as are all of your gorgeous photos. The GIF with the peanut butter dripping down just slays me! I want all of this in my mouth right now. I can’t believe it’s raw, vegan and GF!
Right, Nancy?! Since discovering that nuts and dates (the fruit) make amazing snacks, my stomach has been telling me that doing normal things like dating (the social activity) is nuts. Because seriously, the PB&J&dates lifestyle is so much healthier. Uhh, anyway, that made zero sense. Hope you’re having a good lychee drink kind of Monday!
This is such a fun post Ala and these bars are just perfection! LOVE!
I have to humbly agree–LOVE is the perfect word for these bars. Thanks, Trish!
I don’t really like peanut butter and strawberry jelly (although I’ve tried natural peanut butter and apricot jam/orange marmalade before and those are pretty good), but these look so gooey and tasty, I’d definitely give them a try.
Maybe you could try subbing apricot jam, I bet it’d be unusual but stellar. But do give them a shot, Lisa!
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