No-bake bars with peanut butter and chocolate chips.
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 12 to 16 – bars |
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup real maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup ground walnuts
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
- ⅜ cup confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8 x 8 inch pan.
- In a medium bowl combine flour and baking soda. Mix well and set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend brown sugar and 1/2 cup margarine to form a grainy paste. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add 1 cup syrup, egg and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture and walnuts and blend at low speed just until combined. Pour batter into baking pan and smooth top with a spatula. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan.
- To Make Maple Frosting: In a medium bowl, cream 1/2 cup margarine and cream cheese with an electric mixer at high speed. Add 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 3 tablespoons maple syrup, and beat until smooth. Slowly add confectioners sugar and reduce mixer speed to low. Once sugar is added mix until smooth. If frosting appears thin gradually add confectioners sugar until frosting thickens. Spread frosting on top of bars in pan and cut into squares.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 311 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 39 g |
| Cholesterol | 46 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 141 mg |
| Sugars | 25 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My husband’s family make maple syrup and our portion this year came to over 11 gallons! We are also on a mission to eat healthier, so I tweaked this recipe to cut down on fat & refined sugars. My substitutions are as follows: same quantity of applesauce in place of butter, 1 cup each of whole wheat & all-purpose flour, maple syrup used in place of brown sugar, chia seed (1 TBS soaked in 3 TBS of water for 10 minutes) instead of egg. I also substituted the frosting with homemade maple cream. This turned out fabulous AND we can have guilt-free dessert!
These are Fabulous! I made this with pecans instead of walnuts. I was pleasantly surprised by the icing, I was afraid it would be too buttery, but I turned out great. It tasted wonderful on top of the bars.
Excellent recipe. It baked well in a 9×13 pan. I altered the frosting a bit. 3 oz cream cheese, 2 Tbsp butter, 1 Tbsp maple syrup and 1 cup powdered sugar. I sprinkled walnut pieces on top of frosting for a nice finish.
I loved these and so did everyone else! They came out like maple brownies and the icing was easy, quick and very tasty. I am so very pleased. Thank you!
These bars were very tasty, my family enjoyed them. The only problem I had with them is taking longer to cook than it specified and then it sunk in the middle of the pan while cooling off. So, I’m not sure what went wrong with that. But, the taste of the bars and frosting we all liked and they smelled delicious too! I will try them again.
My Husband and family really liked the Maple Walnut Bars. I altered it slightly by adding butter instead of margarine and a little more Maple syrup to the frosting until it reached the strength I liked. I also spread it thin to make bars instead of more cake like. Thank you Debbie Rowe for sharing this recipe. Connie
This recipe, as is, came out terrible! I used a 9×13 pan–though recipe called for 8×8–and they still came out way too thick for bars. They seemed more like a dry, thick cake. The icing was the worst part. I think there has to be an error in the amounts. 1/2c butter with only 1/4 c sugar & 2 ounces of cream cheese tastes like sweetened butter. The texture was terrible. I made them for a family outing of 15 and only 1 was eaten.
This recipe is delicious!! I made it for my dad who is a Maple Walnut lover. The length of time to prepare is not too bad, but the end result is worth it!! Dad will be happy today, I am making him another batch!!