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Vegan & Gluten Free Twixx

A few days ago, I got this hankering for a twix bar… or more likely a hankering to create a vegan and gluten free version of the popular candy that I grew to love as a child. I distinctly remember there being three varieties offered for sale in my small midwest village grocery store: peanut butter, cookies and cream, and caramel. I always loved each one for their own uniqueness… but for some reason, the caramel variety was my favorite.

Today, I barely remember what the darned things taste like… but I get the gist: a crunchy vanilla-ish cookie, creamy caramel, and a thin chocolate coating.

Easy enough, right?

Eh….

This recipe does take a little patience, finesse… and an even temper. But, it’s definitely worth a go if you too miss twix bars like I do *whether you are gluten free, vegan, or both*.

Not exactly the same, but close enough to be worth the little bit of extra effort.

(updated— the amazingly rational Kittee came through in the comments with a stellar idea to make these super easy! She had a ridiculously good suggestion to pipe on the caramel sticky filling using a piping bag and flat tip. Genius!) see * below

 

Vegan & Gluten Free Twixx Bars

Makes a lot… of everything (1/2 it if you’re not feeling super ambitious)… although the extra cookies do come in handy

Ingredients:

Cookies

  • 1 cup vegan margarine
  • 1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sorghum flour
  • 3/4 cup brown rice flour (the finest ground you can get)
  • 3/4 cup potato starch
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum

Filling

  • 20 medjool dates, pits removed
  • 2 tbsp vegan margarine
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 3 tbsp water

Also

  • 2 bags vegan chocolate chips
  • double boiler
  • parchment paper and/or silpat mat

Directions:

Cookies:

Cream together margarine, vanilla extract, and sugar until smooth. In separate bowl, mix together sorghum, brown rice, potato starch, and xanthan gum.

Using an electric mixer, slowly incorporate flour mixture into sugar/margarine and mix on medium- low speed for about 2 minutes, scraping sides as needed to form a stiff dough.  Press dough into a semi-flat oval and chill in fridge for an hour or so. I always just toss mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 300 °F.

Once dough has chilled, roll out gently onto parchment paper. The warmer the dough becomes the softer it will get. Roll to about 1/4 inch thick.

Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 1/2″ x 3 ” rectangles.

Poke a few holes in each one.

And bake for about 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until cookies are ever so slightly golden brown. This will make a lot of cookies, more than you will need for the twix recipe.

Set aside to cool (another trip back in the fridge for a few minutes can help here… but just don’t try and move the cookies while hot or they will break).

Speaking of the fragile-ness of these cookies, this will become annoying during the twix making process if you aren’t aware of it before you begin. You will break a few cookies… but this recipes makes plenty extra, so no worries!

Filling:


Okay, so the next step is to make your caramel filling.  Place dates, margarine, vanilla and salt into food processor, pulse with a 3 tbsp or so of water until smooth. I let mine ride for at least a minute to ensure adequate smoothness.


The next step is the trickiest part of all… but once you get the hang of it, it is sort of fun. Okay, so maybe fun is not the word. This step is a kind of a pain… sorry.

So, with the fragile cookie and the sticky caramel, the first part of assembling these things is slightly strange:

I lightly greased my hands and grabbed (you can use a spoon) about a 1/2 tbsp caramel mixture. I then ever so carefully rolled it into a small flat snake shape and placed it on top of my cookie. This is where most of my cookies broke- if you hold down the cookie and get your finger stuck to the caramel, inevitably, you will have a sad broken cookie. Try your best to keep the cookie flat and steady on your work surface and also try not to get anything stuck to that caramel to pull the cookie apart. Repeat until all caramel/and or cookies have been used. I was happy that about 15 survived…and I kept about 20 plain cookies aside just to nibble on.

*Or you can skip all of the insanity I put myself through and just pipe the caramel filling onto the cookies using a 1/2″ wide flat icing tip! This piping bag step will make assembling these MUCH easier and will make the cookies less likely to break. But they will still be fragile little shortbreads… take care while piping on that caramel.  (Thanks, Kittee!)

Chocolate Coating:

Use a double boiler over low heat to melt your chocolate chips.

Once chocolate is super smooth, place 3/4 of the chocolate into a drizzle bag, and leave the rest in the double boiler.

Lay out a piece of parchment or silpat mat and quickly brush the surface with a thin layer of melted chocolate. Work quickly to place the cookies onto the chocolate. A thin metal spatula is a cookie saver here. Gently scoop up, and gently lay down into the melted chocolate layer.

You can skip this step, but I think it re-enforces the whole “twix” character a little more to have a chocolate bottom.

Drizzle the tops with more chocolate, and spread out gently using a silicon brush, or a lightly greased finger.

Allow to come back to room temperature to the point where the chocolate hardens. Trim of  any excess chocolate (optional)… then, get your twix on.

Share with friends!

45 Responses to Vegan & Gluten Free Twixx

  1. Danielle says:

    I just found this, and really want to make these.

    I don’t have a need for gluten free, so could I essentially make any vegan shortbread dough in place of the gluten free cookie?

    • allyson says:

      Hi Danielle! Yep! Any shortbread cookie will work great here… preferably one that is a bit more firm than crumbly. :)

  2. OH
    MY
    GOODNESS
    I’ve gone GF vegan, but Twix bars were my favorite candy bar ever. Can you come bring these to me every day??? lol

  3. Kristen says:

    These look AMAZING!!! I will definitely have to try them out soon, I miss stuff like this so much. For the people who wanted to make the caramel without the dates, I’ve made a caramel with brown rice syrup. I think I just added a little bit of vegan margarine and a little bit of coconut milk, not sure on the exact proportions. It tends to get sticky fast, though!

  4. Wow! These look absolutely incredible!

  5. […] wait to try the thin mint ones!  Also Manifest Vegan even has a recipe for gluten free vegan twix and cinnabon […]

  6. Mandee says:

    You are fantastic!!

  7. Paul says:

    Nice! I didn’t know I missed twix bars until this very moment.

  8. Bella says:

    What a brilliant idea!!! I like, and my husband would LOVE!

  9. Jen says:

    Wow those look amazing. While I am the vegan one in the family, my 11 year old son is the wheat free one and he misses candy bars like crazy. Do you think we could use something other than the potato starch? That is an allergy here too.

    • allyson says:

      Hi Jen,

      Perhaps subbing the potato starch with 1/2 cup corn starch and 1/4 cup tapioca starch (or even a full 3/4 cup cornstarch) would do the trick? If it’s a little sticky, try rolling it out between two large pieces of saran wrap…. these are all theoretical directions, but it seems like it should work. :)

      Best of luck!

      ~ Allyson

  10. Nicole says:

    I wanted to let you know that I made these last night! They are a bit time-consuming, but totally worth it. I loved how they came out. I piped on the date filling, which made it super easy. Next time, I’m thinking I’ll make them into bite-size pieces so I can dip them in chocolate rather than spreading it. Thanks!

    • allyson says:

      oh fantastic! Bite sized twixx bars seem like the PERFECT solution… for many reasons ;) Really glad you enjoyed them Nicole!

  11. brian says:

    wow,.. these look amazing. dates for the filling? i would never have thought to do that. i may need to get ambitious to try this. awesome recipe!

  12. Geanna says:

    Wow, these look so fantastic. Twix were my favorite candy bar growing up, and I have really craved them recently. Thanks for the beautiful recipe.

  13. jessy says:

    have i told you how much i love you lately, Allyson?!?! my heart totally squeeeeeeeeeed when i read your post! (well, it actually squeeeeees when i read any of your posts, but i think it squeed the most today!) twix bars were my favorite candy bar. hands. down. i never varied from the originial flavor and i do dearly miss them and have never thought to create my own. i shall now make my own with your glorious recipe and kittee’s caramel technique. it’s a combination that is sure to have me even more happyfaced than i usually am in no time at all. you are THE BEST!

  14. These are incredible! You’re a genius – and a very patient woman :P

  15. Culinarian says:

    I had no idea this was even possible. You have a knack for making a vegan’s world go round!

  16. Nicole says:

    These are amazing! You are such a clever woman. I’m definitely going to make these for my hubby’s co-workers, some of whom have nut allergies and gluten sensitivities, so these would make fantastic treats for them. Thank you!

  17. Megan says:

    Ooh! Yum!

    Too bad all I have left is about a teaspoon of sugar :(
    I don’t even know where all of it went! D:

  18. Laurel says:

    You never, ever cease to amaze me with your astounding cleverness. I don’t miss Twix bars so much as I do Midnight Mars bars. However… there is always at least one however; however I’m thinking caramel truffles would be yummy in my tummy plus I really miss plain ole shortbread cookies so you’ve given us got three for one in this post. OK so that was three howevers, kinda like a twix bar if you think about it.

  19. Totally awesome! I have been working on a few candy bars myself and these took my breathe away. Looks great!

  20. Fanny says:

    They look awesome! I love that you made the filling out of dates, that’s so creative!

  21. Oh my!!! These look amazing!!!!

  22. Mihl says:

    Allyson, this is genius! I wanted to make these for ages.

  23. Olivia says:

    Oh my god these are incredible looking. I need to make these. Oh my god. Wow.

  24. Kat says:

    This sounds so much more delicious, not to mention healthier than regular Twix Bars. If I get the time I certainly will make them

  25. Meghann says:

    Oh wow…. you realize that since I’ve discovered your site, every recipe is a must make? I am going to be about 600 pounds by the end of this week.
    … Interestingly enough, I don’t think I will mind ;-)

  26. Katrina says:

    I absolutely love twix bars! I’m so excited to make these!

  27. Leinana says:

    Oh my, these look incredible! Twix were actually my favorite kind of candy bar before I gave those up. I’m going to have to try these, when I have some time to dedicate! Also, I’m embarking on a soy-free, gluten-free trial over here, so I’m going to be consulting your recipes even more than I already do!

  28. K says:

    These look so great!

    Unfortunately, dates seem to make me super bloated :-(

  29. Cara says:

    I am salivating just looking at your photos!! Yum!

  30. kittee says:

    omg, amazing! i want i want! i bet you can pipe that caramel sticky stuff on with a pastry bag and flat tip. yum!

    xo
    kittee

  31. Holy crap, this looks awesome! I bet that caramel recipe would make a nice dip for apple slices, too!

  32. Gauri Radha गौरी राध says:

    Those look fantastic!!

  33. Oh wow, these look amazing. You have a lot of patience but the end results are worth it. Yum!

  34. Jennifer says:

    You are incredible, Allyson!!!! These look magnificent.

  35. Ricki says:

    Oh. My. God. I liked Twix bars, but I know I would LOVE these. I want! I want! Now, if only I can think of a way to make caramel without even the dates. . . ! :D

    • allyson says:

      :)

      eeehhh, on the caramel without dates! But if anyone could figure that out, Ricki- it would most definitely be you!

  36. veganlisa says:

    Oh Allyson, what an incredible triumph. I am in awe. As a girl who makes glorious, gluten-free, vegan twix bars at home, you much have friends lined up outside to be on your sharing list.

    I hope they reward your efforts by carrying home your groceries.

    • allyson says:

      oh thank you Lisa! but sadly, no friends lined up willing to trade chores for treats… sometimes it’s tough enough getting my husband to help carry in the groceries! ;)