Fri-daaaay.
Good to see you, old friend.
I love my job (someone just seriously pinch me that THESE CHOCOLATE BARS ARE MY JOB), but even still, Fridays have some kind of magic in them.
Friday night pizza is only a few hours away and I can stay up irresponsibly late perusing Etsy and VRBO for dream house decor and trips that aren’t real. My idea of fun. And then Friday leads to Saturday, and Saturday morning’s breakfast possibilities are endless – whole wheat pancakes? sausage potato egg bake? a trip to the coffee shop? and Saturday leads to Sunday, and who knows? Sunday might even find me outside, walking around like a normal person to get re-introduced to the sun (♡♡♡♡♡) after months wrapped in hoodies, wool socks, and blankets. This is Friday, and this is my face on Friday. –> 😀
So let’s complete the Friday experience with some chocolate. And raspberries. And almond butter and tons of toppings that are pretty. Yeah?
I’d like y’all (since Charleston is in my soul now and I say things like y’all) to meet these beautiful, naturally sweetened, loaded Chocolate Raspberry Almond Butter Bars. Hugs and kisses are appropriate.
Chocolate Raspberry Almond Butter Bars, in case you didn’t know, start with a layer of frozen raspberries and pecans (but you have different fruit and different nuts? just do what you need to do, girlfriend) and then comes the good stuff –> a layer of melted chocolate fudgy butter sauce, and then a second layer of creamy almond-buttery sauce, and then, finally, maybe most importantly, the toppings come out to play: cacao nibs, crushed nuts, seeds, flaked coconut, and/or powdered sugar if u like it fan-say.
Baking? No siree. Pop these babies in the freezer for 30 minutes and BOOM. You’ve got yourself a super-pretty, feel-good, pre-dinner snack. Not that I ever eat stuff like this before dinner. I mean, me? Come on, you guys. Nevvvver.
In addition to being gorgeous, decently healthful, and indulgent to the max, these little treat bars are essentially Use Anything In Your Pantry kind of bars, which is my number one favorite kind of dessert recipe.
Frozen strawberries? Cashews? Oats? Non-frozen pomegranate arils? Pistachios? Peanut Butter? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES.
Also, they are naturally sweetened, meaning we’re not loading this up with sugar but just a few spoonfuls of honey to sweeten each of the layers. And by some freezer miracle, the honey doesn’t really freeze – it does one better. It sort of creates these gooey pockets of sweet goodness reminiscent of a layer of caramel, and YEAH. I am not even complaining.
Go shorty, it’s the weekend.
Time to treat yoself.
Chocolate Raspberry Almond Butter Bars
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10–12 slices (nutrition is for 1 out of 12) 1x
Description
Chocolate Raspberry Almond Butter Bars! So beautiful, naturally sweetened, and fully loaded. Naturally sweetened, so these are completely guilt-free!
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons salted butter, divided
- 8 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 4 tablespoons honey, divided
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- a couple pinches of salt (to taste)
- 1 heaping cup frozen raspberries
- 1/2 cup whole or chopped pecans
- cacao nibs, flaked coconut, sea salt, or anything else you might like as a topping
Instructions
- Line a pie plate with parchment paper or foil. Arrange the raspberries and the pecans in a single layer.
- Melt 4 tablespoons butter and 4 tablespoons coconut oil together until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Taste, adjust, and pour the mixture over the berries in the pie plate.
- Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and 4 tablespoons coconut oil together until smooth. Add the almond butter, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt – stir until melted. Taste, adjust, and pour the mixture over the chocolate mixture in the pan.
- Freeze for at least 30 minutes – right around the 30 minute mark they will be sturdy and solid but still awesomely semi-soft and bite-able. Cut into wedges to serve. (I stored my leftovers in the freezer and then just let them thaw a bit before eating each time.)
Notes
You could mix the two melted mixtures together but I sort of liked having them in two layers. You can necessarily tell (I tried to swirl but it didn’t really work) but I just liked the idea of them being layered better than mixing them all together.
The texture of these is a cross between a fudgsicle and chocolate bark. It will be more fudgy and gooey (and better, IMO) if you let it thaw out a little bit before eating.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate almond bark, chocolate raspberry bars, almond butter recipe
Yes, the sun and these bars=weekend goodness!! It feels so good to finally be back into warm temps again (I mean 40 is warm now, right?!) and I’m going to pretend it’s summer with these delish babies!
Yes! I am allergic to coconut, but pinned these amazing-looking bars for others to find and enjoy. (BTW, I could not resist that long pin with the words on it!)
Wohoo! Thanks Becky!
Chocolate and raspberries and almond butter allll together sounds like the perfect way to start this beautiful weekend! These are beautiful.
When I first saw this I almost clicked away because I’m doing a no refined sugar thang right now. Then I was drawn in by the deliciousness and thought I could pin it for when I’m done. THEN I saw there’s NO REFINED SUGAR. And you made my life SO much better right now. I’m halfway through my no sugar adventure and I’m dying. I need dessert in my life. You just made that happen. These are so going down in my kitchen TONIGHT!
Yahhhhhs!
Yay Friday!! Sunny Fridays in Minnesota are probably one of the greatest things in life…
These bars looks completely amazing and the photos make me want to jump into my screen and snatch one up! 🙂
chocolate bars are your job. i love it! =) and want these. like NOW. yum!
Oh WOWWW. These bars. I want them. I love all of these ingredients and I love frozen snacks. ;therefore, these bars, in my eyes, are perfect.
Gorgeous! I looooove that top photo. These seem so decadent with the fudge, raspberries and almond butter …. nicely done. 🙂
These sound and look so perfect, absolutely love them!
Thanks Matt!
These look amazing! Do you store them in the fridge? Or room temp? Thanks!
I kept mine in the freezer.
I love your website/blog!!! Its funny,entertaining and the recipes are EASY and YUMMY. I will definitely try this Chocolate Raspberry Almond Butter Bars this weekend. Ingredients are definitely GUILT FREE…..
Awesome. Love that the ingredients are so clean. Happen to have all ingredients on hand – will give it a try for tonight’s dessert!
yummy! I bought almond butter the other day for a blog, but I don’t particularly like it. But I bet it’s great in this recipe!!
Awesome! I hope you like it in this Heather!
Drooling. I love this recipe. I can’t wait to try it at home. Fridays are a girl’s best friend. 😀
YUM! Oh. My. Word. These look so good! They combine three of my favorite things; chocolate, raspberries, almond butter! And I love that second to the last picture! GORGEOUS!
Love this! Can’t help but think that a little drizzle of maple syrup would put this recipe over the top!!
Your photography here is amazing! These are gorgeous photos. The liquids and the raspberries really pop!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
These look amazingggg. Also, love how you cut them like a pizza. Can’t wait to make!
These look absolutely delicious! Love to have more ideas using almond butter and will be trying out the recipe soon! Thank you!
Maria
ohmagawd. these look amazing!! i’ll be making these soon. thanks for the recipe!!
I love this idea for a sweet treat that’s not laden with sugar. I also like the idea of making something that’s chocolate that doesn’t require chopping it up. So, after you freeze them, are they crunchy like bark? Or, are they kind of chewy?
Kind of like a fudgsicle, not really crunchy OR chewy… just cold, soft, meltable chocolate and berries.
I mean, you could snap a piece in half like bark right after taking it out of the freezer, but I like to let them thaw.
Could you use fresh strawberries or fresh blueberries?
Sure! Sounds great. I wish we had some here right now…
Mmm these look perfect for an afternoon snack! I’m taking these to work next week fo sho.
Oh my. Absolutely fantabulous!
THANK YOU!!!!!!! Cheers, Ardith