Easy Healthy Sugar-free Twix Bars–gluten-free, keto, and vegan with no bake option

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These Easy Healthy Sugar-free Twix Bars are a homemade healthier take on super popular Twix candy bar that’s sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. They have no refined sugar, and are gluten-free with vegan, low-carb / keto options and there’s even a no bake option as well for those “gotta have something sweet now” moments in your life.

Healthier Twix Bars in a flash? What’s not to love?

Plus, I’ve got two great options to sandwich between that yummy shortbread crust and rich chocolate coating–either a gooey caramel or creamy peanut butter / almond butter inside to match the two delicious Twix Bar varieties.

stack of sugar-free twix bars on white plate with chocolate drizzle
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What Is a Twix Bar and Why I Made This Healthier Version

For anyone out there who doesn’t know what a Twix Bar is, it’s a super popular classic candy bar made of three layers. Traditional Twix Bars are made of a cookie crust and a caramel filling which are enrobed in a chocolate coating, while Peanut Butter Twix Bars have a peanut buttery filling instead.

Since our oldest was born with a life threatening allergy to dairy (and other things), he’s never had a Twix Bar. Our youngest has tried them, but we don’t have a lot of candy around the house–as in almost never.

We try to limit sugar and eat basically 100% gluten-free, but we still love fun and tasty things, so I wanted to make a sugar-free Twix that we all could enjoy without the icky after effects of eating too much refined sugar, etc.

These healthy homemade twix bars turned out great. So great, you better believe they were gone in a flash.

Three Reasons You’re Gonna Love This Recipe

There are lots of homemade twix recipes out there, and I’m sure many of them taste great–there are vegan twix bars, keto twix bars, homemade paleo twix bars, and more.

However, the reasons that these Healthy Vegan Twix Bars are great is the simple to find ingredients, customizability, plus how incredibly easy they are.

Nothing worse than finding a recipe you want to make, but the ingredients are not easy to find or it’s so complicated that you just never make it.

And Twix Bars you don’t make are–well–a big huge Twix bummer.

Talk about easy….If you make the no bake, chocolate on the top, easy homemade version, you can have a healthy candy bar on the fly–easy as pie um–candy.

Ingredients

Following is a basic list of the wholesome ingredients in these Homemade Healthy Twix Bars. To get the full list with amounts, scroll down to the printable recipe card below and get baking (or not baking, as the case may be).

Cookie Base Layer

  • gluten-free flour or almond flour
  • powdered low carb sweetener (or powdered coconut sugar, or other sweetener)
  • butter or dairy-free butter or coconut oil
  • vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Caramel Layer

  • vegan condensed milk
  • butter or dairy-free butter or coconut oil
  • arrowroot
  • brown low-carb sweetener, coconut sugar, or other healthier sweetener
  • vanilla extract

For the Coating

Instructions

Following are brief instructions with process photos. For the complete directions, scroll down to the printable recipe card.

Shortbread Crust

Line an 8×8 or 7×11 pan with parchment.

Combine flour, sweetener, and butter / coconut oil. (Photos 1, 2, and 3)

ingredients for cookie layer in a clear bowl

Rub butter into flour and sweetener until combined. (Photo 4)

ingredients for cookie layer in a clear bowl

Press the dough into the pan. Chill. (Photo 5)

Melt brown sweetener in pan. (Photo 6)

dough pressed in baking tray and brown sugar in pan collage

Add condensed milk and butter. (Photos 7 and 8)

ingredients for caramel layer in a pan

Stir and bring to a boil. Add arrowroot blended with water. (Photo 9)

Stir and simmer ’til thick.

Remove from stove and cool. (Photo 9) Pour over shortbread layer and chill. (Photo 10)

melted caramel layer in pan and baking tray collage

If coating individual bars, after cooling, cut into desired shapes. (Photo 14)

Melt the chocolate and add the coconut oil.

chocolate bars in clear bowl and melted chocolate collage

Either pour the chocolate over the 2 layers (Photo 13),

melted chocolate in tray and twix bars in cooling rack collage

or coat each bar with chocolate and then chill. (Photos 15 and 16)

dipping twix bars in melted chocolate and chocolate coated bars collage

Top with drizzled chocolate and salt if desired.

sugar-free twix bars on white cuting board with chocolate drizzle

Other Healthier Homemade Candy Recipes

Here are some other healthier candy recipes to keep the healthy sweet lovers in your household happy.

Recipe Notes and Special Diet Substitutions / Alternatives

Nut-free / Peanut-free Option: For those are avoiding nuts or peanuts, you can use sunflower seed butter instead of the almond butter for the caramel layer. Pumpkin Seed Butter can also be used, but the appearance will be quite different (as in, kind of green). Yummy, but a tad green.

See the next section for details about almond flour vs. grain-based gluten-free flour.

Flour Options: You can make these with either a gluten-free flour option or almond flour. The recipe is written for almond flour, but to make a gluten-free grain flour option, use the same amount of flour and double the fat.

Milk Chocolate Version: For a Twix Bar that’s more like the traditional Twix, use melted sugar-free milk chocolate chips or chocolate bar.

Coconut Oil Notes: If you choose to use coconut oil for this recipe, you might want to use refined coconut oil if you’re sensitive to coconut flavor.

Chocolate Options: So many to choose from. I prefer a lower carb option like Lily’s, Lakanto, or Choc Zero’s. If you’d like milk chocolate, Choc Zero and Lily’s both have delicious options there. Enjoy Life has great dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they have sugar. Personally I love my Homemade Chocolate Chip Recipe for taste and ’cause they save money. I’ve made this recipe using the ingredients for those (skipping the chip making part) and they’ve turned out great.

I figure–Hey, if you’re gonna melt the chips, why not just skip the chips part altogether?

AIP: Use carob instead of cocoa, approved AIP sweeteners, and tiger nut flour. You might want to cut back on the sweeteners in the topping since carob is a bit sweet. I haven’t tried tiger nut flour in this recipe, but it should work.

How to Store

Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. I HIGHLY recommend making several batches and freezing so you can have these on hand for more than a day (since that’s all a double batch lasts in our home!)

  • Fridge: These bars should be kept covered in the fridge until ready to serve. They’ll keep in the fridge for about a week or so.
  • Freezer: The bars will freeze well in an air-tight container for about 1 month. If you do keep them in your freezer, however, leave them on the counter at room temperature for a few minutes before serving so they’re easier to cut.
stack of sugar-free twix bars
twix bars drizzled with salt and chocolate

Easy Healthy Sugar-free Twix Bars

These Easy Healthy Sugar-free Twix® Bars are a healthier version of your favorite candy bar–shortbread crust with caramel filling and rich chocolate topping. They're refined sugar-free, vegan, and keto, with a no bake option so you can easily have Healthy Twix anytime!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Keto, Sugar-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword: healthy twix bars, keto twix bars, sugar free twix bars, vegan twix bars
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chilling Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 15 bars
Calories: 291kcal

Ingredients

Cookie Base Layer

  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1/4 cup powdered low-carb sweetener (or 3 tablespoons sugar-free or regular maple syrup)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil or butter (or vegan butter alternative)
  • 1/2-3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • coconut milk or water as needed to make dough the proper consistency

Caramel Layer

Coating

Alternative Caramel Layer

Instructions

  • Line an 8×8 or 7×11 pan with parchment paper.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees if choosing the baked crust version.

Shortbread Layer

  • In large mixing bowl, add the almond flour, sweetener, and coconut oil. Rub the coconut oil into flour and powdered sweetener until it forms a dough. If using maple syrup, add that after the coconut oil and flour are crumbled and combined with each other.
  • Press dough into the pan evenly. Either place in fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes for the No Bake Version, or for a crispier cookie base, bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Caramel Layer

  • Add the sweetener to a saucepan and heat over low-medium heat until it melts and turn darker brown. Add condensed milk and coconut oil.
  • Add a small amount of water to the arrowroot and stir to make a slurry.
  • Add the arrowroot mixture to the saucepan.
  • Stir with a whisk and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Once thickened almost to desired consistency, remove from stove and cool to room temperature. The mixture will thicken more as it cools.
  • After cooled, pour over the cookie layer and put it into the fridge or a freezer and let chill.

Alternative Caramel Recipe

  • Put all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until bubbling.
  • Let cool slightly and pour over cooled crust.

Chocolate Layer / Coating

  • Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the top of a double boiler.
  • Top the chilled layers with the melted chocolate (reserving a little for drizzling, if desired). Chill, and when set, cut into desired bar size using a large sharp knife on a cutting board, then drizzle with additional melted chocolate and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt if desired.

Dipped Bar Version

  • If you wish to dip each individual bar, remove the 2-layered bars from the pan, peel back the parchment, and cut the bars.
  • Dip each bar completely into the melted chocolate, followed by more chocolate drizzle and sea salt as desired.
  • Stir with a spatula and bring mixture to a boil.

Notes

  • Nut-free / Peanut-free Option: For those are avoiding nuts or peanuts, you can use sunflower seed butter instead of the almond butter for the caramel layer. Pumpkin Seed Butter can also be used, but the appearance will be quite different (as in, kind of green). Yummy, but a tad green.
  • Flour Options: You can make these with either a gluten-free flour option or almond flour. The recipe is written for almond flour, but to make a gluten-free grain flour option, use the same amount of flour and double the fat.
  • Milk Chocolate Version: For a Twix Bar that’s more like the traditional Twix, use melted sugar-free milk chocolate chips or chocolate bar.
  • Coconut Oil Notes: If you choose to use coconut oil for this recipe, you might want to use refined coconut oil if you’re sensitive to coconut flavor.
  • Chocolate Options: So many to choose from. I prefer a lower carb option like Lily’s, Lakanto, or Choc Zero’s. If you’d like milk chocolate, Choc Zero and Lily’s both have delicious options there. Enjoy Life has great dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they have sugar. Personally I love my Homemade Chocolate Chip Recipe for taste and ’cause they save money. I’ve made this recipe using the ingredients for those (skipping the chip making part) and they’ve turned out great.
  • AIP: Use carob instead of cocoa, approved AIP sweeteners, and tiger nut flour. You might want to cut back on the sweeteners in the topping since carob is a bit sweet. I haven’t tried tiger nut flour in this recipe, but it should work.

Nutrition

Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 23mg | Potassium: 39mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 27IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 2mg | Net Carbs: 23g

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I have tried twice to make the caramel layer, specifically making sweetened condensed milk. Both times after I brown the sugar then add the other ingredients it seems fine, but as it starts to simmer and I stir, it separates and the butter just runs around the caramel. I will try the almond butter version, though I was looking forward to the caramel…Maybe it was too hot?

    1. Hi there. Sorry you’re having trouble. What sweeteners were you using and what milk? Hopefully we can sort it out.