Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers

Name: Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients: 1/3 cup date paste (or sub pure maple syrup); 1/4 cup unrefined coconut sugar; 1 cup peanut butter (or sub any nut or seed butter); 2 cups gluten-free corn flakes; 1/8 tsp Himalayan sea salt; 2/3 cup chopped Hu Kitchen Salty Dark Chocolate

By Flora & Vino 36 Comments

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Easy vegan butterfinger bars made with peanut butter and cereal sweetened with date paste and coconut sugar with a dark chocolate coating.

Do you guys ever get emotionally attached to TV shows?

I’m currently rationing out my last 4 episodes of Lucifer on Netflix.

Yes, I could finish up season 4 tonight…but what’s the fun in that?!

Ever since moving to my new place those characters have been companions, their playful banter filling up the empty spaces of my living room before there was my large area rug, couch, throw pillows, and plants.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, because I get this way with books, too.

You know what else I’m emotionally attached to ATM?

These Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers that I made today.

You just need 6-ingredients to make this vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free treat version of the childhood classic!

There’s No Wrong Way to Eat Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers

You know how there’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s?

Well, Dan internalized this and decided that it totally applied it to Butterfinger consumption, too.

I’d catch him carefully shaving milk chocolate off the candy bar sides with a butter knife to reveal flakey peanut butter-y nougat.

He proceeded to eat the orange nougat in crunchy bites and leave the chocolate shavings in an untouched pile.

It’s hard to blame him, because Butterfingers are all about the nougat!

How to Make Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers

After deciding to make my own Butterfingers, I struggled initially with the ingredients to recreate the delicious interior.

It needs to be perfectly flakey, crispy, and butter-y before encasing in dark chocolate.

After some recipe research, I found that other bloggers had success with a adding cereal to the mix to achieve that candy crunch!

At first I was skeptical, but then I remembered how good rice crispy treats are with puffed rice cereal and decided to try it out.

Clearly, I was impressed.

So impressed that I’m sharing all of the sweet deets with you.

What You Need to Make Homemade Butterfingers

I think these good-for-you Butterfingers will seriously surprise you.

They’re nutty, sweet, crunchy, and chocolate-y with real-food ingredients you probably have on hand.

Here’s what you need:

date paste (or sub pure maple syrup)
unrefined coconut sugar
peanut butter (or sub any nut or seed butter)
gluten-free corn flakes
Himalayan sea salt
Hu Kitchen Salty Dark Chocolate

Got it?

Make the Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers Filling

First, heat the date paste and unrefined coconut sugar until it’s bubbling and sweet, then stir in gooey peanut butter, Himalayan sea salt, and finally, your cereal.

Don’t be afraid to really smash up the cereal into the saucepan.

It’s basically free therapy, so grab a spatula and have yourself a cereal smash.

You want to make sure every flake is completely covered with the peanut butter mixture.

Next, transfer the mixture to a bread pan in an even layer and freeze for a few hours until it’s solid.

I sliced my nougat into 12 even bars for “fun-size” Butterfingers, but if you’re in a jumbo candy bar kind of a mood you can do 9 or even 6 rectangles instead!

Here Comes the Chocolate

And now comes the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

Yes, I’m talking about the chocolate.

I’m pretty sure if Butterfingers had been made with Hu Kitchen chocolate that Dan would NOT be shaving it off.

I used Hu Kitchen Salty Dark Chocolate to encase these Butterfingers in a clean chocolate coating.

You can easily drizzle the melted chocolate over the chilled nougat for a shortcut variation, or, alternatively, dunk the nougat rectangles into the melted chocolate for the full candy bar effect.

I actually took mine a step further a double-dunked my bars in melted Hu Kitchen chocolate to get a more even chocolate layer.

Whether you choose to drizzle, dunk, or double dunk your Butterfingers will be delicious paired with dark chocolate.

Transfer the chocolate covered bars to the freezer to firm up in 5-10 minutes before serving!

How to Serve Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers

These Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers are perfect for a clean candy option any time of year!

I like to store mine in the freezer until eating to make sure they retain their classic crunch.

If avoiding peanuts, try substituting almond butter or sunflower seed butter for a delicious variation.

When selecting your cereal flakes, make sure the cereal is gluten-free as needed and unsweetened/refined-sugar-free, if possible.

I love the Salty Dark Chocolate bar in this recipe to enhance the buttery flavor of the bars, but any of Hu Kitchen will work in its place!

Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month, so stash some away for a rainy day.

Enjoy!

More Homemade Candy Recipes

I Want to Hear From You

If you make these Vegan Peanut Butter Butterfingers, let me know!

Be sure to leave me a comment, rating, and review so I can use your feedback to create more yums.

Give me a shout on Instagram and use #floraandvino to show me your creations.

Check out my Pinterest page to pin more recipes like this one to make later.

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XO Lauren