No-Bake Grasshopper Bars - low carb, AIP, vegan, & gluten free
These low carb no-bake paleo grasshopper bars are healthy, dairy free, refined sugar free and so tasty. They're loaded with all kinds of nourishing ingredients so you can feel good about serving them and eating them anytime!
Today I have a really exciting healthy grasshopper bars recipe.
Since I was little, chocolate mint has been one of my favorite flavor combinations.
I feel a little bad sharing this but really--chocolate mint was a huge problem for me. As in Thin Mints and Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
My mother was a Girl Scout cookie mother one year.
Bad idea. Very bad.
And if we ever had Breyer's Mint Chip in the house, let's just stay it wasn't around for very long and I was the main reason for that.
Or the only reason.
So anyhow, it only makes sense that I would have to have some healthy chocolate mint treats on my blog like these Frosted Chocolate Mint Cookies, Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Fresh Mint Chocolate Ice Cream with Ganache, and today's treat, Healthy No Bake Grasshopper Bars.
These Grasshopper Bars are great in so many ways.
Chocolate Mint
First of all, they are chocolate mint, and chocolate and mint are just about the best combination out there, in my humble opinion.
No Bake
Second, they are a no-bake recipe. And that's not only great during the summer months -- that's great for all year round, 'cause it makes for a fast, easy recipe. Always good in my book!
We LOVE no bake desserts like these Coconut Delights, Chocolate Fudge-Topped Brownies, Chocolate Avocado Truffles with a Kick, Chocolate Avocado Pudding, and 5-Minute Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Balls.
Low carb
Great for helping you keep your carb intake down.
Dairy free
With so many being allergic or sensitive to dairy, this is a huge plus
AIP (autoimmune protocol) diet
These even can fit the AIP Diet, so they are the perfect dessert recipe for almost any special diet. It's hard to find recipes that work so well for so many special diets.
If you're on the AIP diet, this grouping of Easy AIP desserts should help.
If you don't know about the AIP diet, here is a great post with more information.
Healthy
Sixth, these chocolate mint bars are loaded with healthy ingredients, so you can feel good eating this yourself, or serving this treat anytime to your family and friends, knowing that you are feeding them real nutrition.
Ingredients
Coconut - full of antioxidants and healthy fats
Coconut Oil - antifungal, healthy fats, and a great energy source
Avocado - antioxidants, cardiovascular support, helps with satiety (feeling full). Here is more on all of the health benefits of avocados.
Cocoa - antioxidant source, good source of magnesium, cardiovascular support. Of course, cocoa does have stimulants, so carob is a better alternative if you are sensitive to that.
I don't know about you, but I'm craving these chocolate mint bars now!
These bars taste great just out of the fridge or the freezer.
Of course, they don't travel well in very warm weather, but you could use a freezer bag to take to a special occasion.
Ooh - and while we're talking about freezing, did you know that freezing avocados is a thing? Yes, you can make these Low Carb Grasshopper Bars more of a frugal treat by purchasing your avocados on sale and freezing them!
And all the Frugal Avocado Lovers rejoiced!
You could also drizzle some of these melted White Chocolate Chips on top for a special treat. Just melt over low heat, place in a plastic bag, cut a small hole in a corner and squirt out as you would from an icing bag. Of course, you can use an icing bag as well.
Whatever way you choose to eat these chocolate mint bars, enjoy the healthful goodness.
This recipe was inspired by Raia's wonderful recipe here.
Directions
For Mint Layer
- Lightly grease pan.
- Place all ingredients in high powered blender or food processor. Process until blended to desired consistency. (Photos 1 & 2)
- Spread mixture into prepared pan and place in freezer. (Photos 3 & 4)
For Chocolate Layer
- In small pan, melt coconut oil and sweetener over low heat. (Photo 5)
- Remove from heat, add in remaining ingredients, and stir.
- Pour over chilled bottom layer. Return to the freezer until the chocolate is solid.
- Cut into bars. (Photo 6)
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Sweetener: Any healthy sweetener can be used. If using stevia, use 4 scoops for the mint layer and 2 scoops for the chocolate layer. It is better to not use stevia in the mint layer if possible, though, since the bars will taste better if you use another sweetener because there is already stevia in the mint layer. For AIP, use organic coconut sugar.
- Stevia: See this post for information on measuring and using stevia. It can be a little tricky :). Also, use coconut sugar instead of stevia for AIP.
- Peppermint: You can substitute 9 drops peppermint essential oil for the peppermint extract. (I recommend Rocky Mountain Oils. You can read why here)
- Carob: Substitute organic carob for the cocoa to have a caffeine-free treat or for AIP - this adds more carbs.
- THM: For those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, this recipe qualifies as an "S."
- Cutting Tips: Using a warmed knife will help the cutting process so that the topping doesn't crack and you can cut more smoothly.
Recipe
No-Bake Grasshopper Bars
Ingredients
Mint Layer
- 2 Hass avocados (about 8-10 oz / 200-300 grams each)
- 1/2 cup low-carb sweetener (see Recipes Notes for alternatives)
- 3/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 6 scoops stevia (approximately 3/16 teaspoon; see How to Use Stevia)
- 4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
- 3/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate Layer
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup low-carb sweetener (blended preferred for smoothness--see Recipes Notes for subs)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Mint Layer
- Lightly grease an 8x8 pan.
- Place all ingredients in high powered blender (such as a Blendtec or Vitamix) or a food processor. Process until blended. If you prefer the texture of coconut in the finished result, do not process completely.
- Spread mixture into prepared pan and place in freezer.
Chocolate Layer
- In small saucepan, melt coconut oil and sweetener over low heat.
- Remove from heat, add in remaining ingredients, and stir to combine.
- Pour over chilled bottom layer. Return to the freezer until the chocolate layer is solid--about 15 minutes.
- Cut into bars using a warmed knife (see Recipe Notes above)
- Store covered in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
Try these chocolate mint bars - and let me know what you think!
Just delightful! I used 10 drops of peppermint oil, vanilla powder, carob instead of cocoa and 7 stevia drops in both the mint and carob layer. Aip amazing! Love chocolate mint and so happy to find a healthy recipe that fits my husbands keto and my Aip. What size are the bars in the nutritional! Tyvm!!!
Hi Beth! Awwww soo glad to hear this! The size would depend on what size pan you use. A larger pan will make a larger bar, but the proportion of the recipe will be the same.
Hope that helps!
Hello Adrienne!
Apologies I was not clear. I made them in the 8x8 pan suggested. I enjoy your nutritional info but I could not locate the serving size/number of servings your nutritional is for. How many servings is the recipe according to the nutritional? I can do the math from there!;)
Hi there.
No worries! There's a serving number indicated at the top of the recipe card - the number is a bit dark but it shows 16 in this case.
Hope that helps and again so glad you enjoyed them!
I’m having a hard time seeing where9 carbs would come from for a small bite size bar. Not from Avocado, coconut or coconut oil. I used a natural sweetener erithyrtol which has nil carbs.
Hi there. It's a combo of all of them. I just went in and checked the coconut and it looks like, if I remember correctly, that it's about 2-3 net carbs. So it should all add up. The calculations are just a guide. You can do your own if you like of course! Hope that helps!
Thanks Adrienne. Maybe it’s the size of bars that’s confusing me. If it’s an 8 X 8 pan are they cut in 1 inch squares or larger? I have 4 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut at 23 grams of carb for total pan.
I like these bars but if they are 9 grams for a small square I can’t eat them. Thanks
Sure! A 1 inch bar would yield 64 bars. So that is much smaller than what we used. Hope that helps! 8 inches on one side times 8 on the other = 64.
How much monk fruit piwder would I sub for the stevia?
Hi there! Monk extract is 64 times as sweet as sugar and stevia extract is about 300 times as sweet so about 5 times the amount should be good. Hope that helps! Let me know how it goes!
I have a child who is allergic to avocados, coconut protein, bananas, sweet potatoes and milk. It makes any alternate recipes challenging. Are there any other alternatives to make these? I Love chocolate mint too and always have since childhood. I also have a family member who is gluten free. Thank you for any ideas!
Oh my that's a lot! I'm so sorry.
Yes, it's a challenge. What other things are you all avoiding?
I have a few things that might help:
https://wholenewmom.com/homemade-mint-chocolate-carob-chips/
you can also search mint fudge - there are a few options there. The chocolate one is better. I have to see what I can do with that other one - it's soooo old - can't guarantee how it tastes.
How about this for something that would sort of work?
BTW, you might want to check my about page to see a little of our story. I am going to be sharing what we have done but in the meantime we can correspond about it if you'd like: wholenewmom.com/about-me/
Is there any substitution for coconut oil and coconut? I am allergic to it. I also have a nut allergy.
Hi there. That's a toughy since the coconut is the main ingredient. You could do a quality palm shortening for the oil. For the bars, that would be quite difficult.
You could try chopped seeds, perhaps, but really I don't think it will work. Can you have any nuts at all? My son was deathly allergic to most but not almond and macadamia.
Are you mostly looking for a bar or for something chocolate and mint?
What size are the avocadoes or does it matter? The sizes vary considerably by where I buy them. The ones from Costco are very large and the ones from Wal-mart much smaller, as are the ones I buy from the fresh vegetable/fruit market. so amount in grams would be more helpful.
Hi there. Typically Haas avocados are considered to be about 6 ounces so that's what I used as my guide. I hope that helps!
Great recipe, thanks! Do you have the nutrition information by any chance?
Hi there. They should be in there now. If you are so inclined, it would be fantastic if you could add a 5 star review for us. It helps others find good recipes and helps us out too. Thanks in advance and sorry for the delay!
This is possibly the best sugar free dessert I’ve made yet! I thought I was eating regular sugar sweetened bars. I also used peppermint essential oil instead of extract and it tasted amazing!! Thank you!
Wow - so glad to hear this! We love them too!!! You are so welcome! More recipes coming. Take good care!
Made these using maple syrup. Had some guacamole on hand (couldn't taste its seasonings) and it was a hit. Getting ready to try making it with just avocados and using monkfruit sugar.
So glad to hear it! Wow---with guacamole. That's crazy! By the way, this Simple Guacamole is fantastic, if I do say so myself. https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/aip-guacamole-autoimmune-paleo-guacamole/
What's not to love?! Delicious AND healthy! Can't go wrong. And not a time-consuming treat to whip up. Guess what will be on the dessert menu tonight?!
I hope you like it! Please do let me know and thanks!
This has been a highly demanded recipe from many types of eaters for 3+ yrs now.
I simplify by making them in silicone muffin cups placed in the dozen muffin tin. And make 1.5x the cocoa topping. We also really love mint so I add to taste.
When making for extended family to sample, I made in mini-muffin tins. That got a tad messy. But didn’t want to waste the yumminess if kiddos didn’t like. They loved.
Thank you!!!
Wow you made my day--so glad to hear it! Sorry I didn't respond sooner...been dealing with a load of things here. Great idea about the muffin tins!! Did you think that would be easier to give out small portions that way rather than cut into small pieces?
I made this tonight and it was amazing!! I’m not a fan of mint and chocolate together so I substituted the mint for hazelnut extract. It was amazing!
No way!!! What a neat idea! I'm going to have to try that!!
A lot of messy work to make, and mine completely fell apart when I tried to cut them into squares. On top of that the chocolate layer cracked all over.
Not so pleased with these, but I am willing to try some of your other recipes.
Hello Elaine - I'm sorry that happened to you--did you follow it exactly? I haven't made these in awhile, but one tip is to use a warmed knife when cutting a dessert that's finicky. I will add that to the recipe! Feel free to ask me ahead of time if a dessert / recipe is finicky. Special diet recipes can be a bit tough sometimes and I have two other recipes on the blog that are hard to cut - Protein Bars and Almond Joy Bars.
Re: the topping--that would be helped by the warm knife.
As for as messy to make, not sure what you mean by that---was it more messy than most recipes with a base and a chocolate topping?
Thanks and hope this helps!
Hey Beautiful Brilliant Adrienne! Made these and they are great! I needed a skosh more peppermint as I am an addict and teeny bit more sweet... refer back to first addition 😉
I also think when I make them again, I will cut down on coconut flakes and add maybe a cup of coconut butter instead. I felt like I had too much chewing to do to get rid of all that coconut. And I may chop them into cubes and roll to cover in extra choc covering instead of only on top... kind of a choc addict too!! But Thank YOU for the great idea and amazing starting point!!
I sure LOVE all Your whole food ideas and recipes You so generously share with all us less organized, precise and diligent as You!!! YOU ROCK!!!
I'm so sorry for not replying to this sooner. I LOVE the idea of the cubes. Did you ever try them w/ the coconut butter instead of flakes???? Would LOVE to hear and again, you are SUCH an encouragement. Thank you!