Keto Three-Layer Peanut Butter Bars

These three-layered peanut butter bars are impossible to resist. A cream cheese base, crunchy peanut butter layer, and thick chocolate topping are the secret to this delicious keto-friendly dessert. With just a little more than 8 grams of carbs per bar, you can enjoy it without feeling any guilt.

Personally, I cannot get enough of desserts made from peanut butter and chocolate—it’s a perfect match. Plus, the bottom layer made from cream cheese and almond flour enhances the flavor.

Don’t let the fact that the keto bars have three layers scare you. It’s not difficult at all to make them. The base has to be baked in the oven, but the other two layers are no-bake, and with some help from your freezer, you’ll have them ready in no time.

Table of Contents

• Choose the Right Peanut Butter
• Butter vs. Coconut Oil
• How to Choose the Right Chocolate
• What Baking Pan to Use?
• What Are the Three Layers?
• How to Store Them
• Recipe

Choose the Right Peanut Butter

If you think that you can just use any peanut butter, then you’re wrong. There are many manufacturers that add plenty of sugar to their peanut butter, which you definitely don’t want. Always read the label and look for unnecessary additives.

Also, the ideal peanut butter for this recipe shouldn’t be too runny. Somewhere around gooey is your best option.

I really like to use the crunchy peanut butter type for this recipe since it tastes so much better. If you have regular peanut butter, then you can add any kind of keto-friendly nuts in there to make it crunchy — pecans, Brazil nuts, walnuts, peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, etc.

I used the Peanut Butter & Co. Peanut Butter Spread, but you can choose any other brand. Some of the brands that I recommend are MaraNatha, Santa Cruz, and Crazy Richard’s.

Butter vs. Coconut Oil

For this recipe, I decided to use butter to avoid the coconut smell and taste. But if you want to, you can use coconut oil instead. 

However, keep in mind that these two ingredients have a slightly different amount of calories and fat. Butter has lesser calories and fat compared to coconut oil. So, the final result will differ if you choose to use coconut oil instead of butter.

How to Choose the Right Chocolate

There are two factors that you should consider when choosing the chocolate for this recipe — the presence of sugar and the number of carbs. The ideal chocolate should not have sugar and should have the lowest number of carbs.

I used Lily’s Original Dark Chocolate for these keto peanut butter bars, but there are many other great options that you can try out.

What Baking Pan to Use?

The baking pan that I chose for this recipe is 5-inch by 10-inch. Once everything was ready, I cut the dessert into 6 bars. And, each layer turned out just as thick as I wanted it to be.

If you’d rather have thicker layers of this keto dessert, then you can use a smaller baking pan. However, I don’t recommend it since you won’t know how many calories each bar will have.

And here’s another friendly tip — double the ingredients and use a larger baking pan. Since this dessert can be stocked in the freezer, I always make more of the keto peanut butter bars.

What Are the Three Layers?

This keto dessert consists of three layers:

• Cream cheese layer. To make it, you need to mix an egg, almond flour, cream cheese, sweetener, and baking powder. Then, bake it in the oven.
• Crunchy peanut butter layer. For this layer, mix peanut butter, butter or coconut oil, and sweetener.
• Chocolate layer. On a water bath, melt the butter or coconut oil with the chocolate. If you wish, you can add some sweetener, but be careful not to make it overly sweet.

Only the base layer requires baking in the oven. For the other two, you’ll only need your freezer. After you’ve assembled it, you can place it in your refrigerator or freezer.

How to Store Them

You can store this dessert in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just cut it into bars and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.

If you’d like to make more of the keto three-layered bars and store them in the freezer, you can easily do so. They can be kept there for up to 3 months. I always leave a few bars in the freezer for when I crave something sweet.

Recipe