This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for my affiliate disclosure. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
First published 6/27/14; recipe most recently updated 7/12/16. I renamed the recipe from the original “Butterfinger Bars” 12/5/16 because I thought it would be smart to avoid a copyrighted/trademarked name. It’s still the same recipe!
This happens to be one of the most popular recipes on my website. With good reason, because it’s one of the recipes that I actually make over and over again. These things are awesome.
No, they’re not the candy bar, but rather the cookie bar version. This is a healthy recreation of something that our family has been making ever since I can remember. Every time my sister made these for a social event or for those in my family who are not on THM, I thought, “I just have to find a way to recreate those.” They’re some of my favorite bar cookies. They might even make the top of the list. Thankfully, a healthy version wasn’t hard to make at all, and it came out shockingly close to the real thing. That’s always a plus.
Trim Healthy Mamas (click here to see my quick synopsis of the plan), this is an S dessert despite the oats. Generally oats are viewed as an E fuel, but if you’re careful with numbers sometimes it’s OK to squeeze a few into an S recipe for the sake of bulk or texture (sometimes I use it in a mixture of flours because it’s very cheap). This is done in the Trim Healthy Mama book in the meatloaf recipe, and the same principle is used with black beans in the “Special Agent Brownie Cake”. As a rule of thumb, we’re allowed to have up to 10 net carbs in an S meal, and the net carbs from the oats in these bars come to less than 3 grams per serving. In recipes like this that use a small amount of an E fuel, it’s important to observe serving sizes so you don’t accidentally cross over (which is still healthy but not conducive to weight loss).
I’ve tested this recipe with my new Baking Mix! If you want to see my other Baking Mix-ified recipes, click here for a list. That stuff is awesome.
This is the shredded coconut I used for this recipe. It is actually a reduced-fat, finely shredded product. The reduced-fat part is nice because you’ve already got a lot of butter, peanut butter, and coconut oil going on. The fine shreds hold together well. I’m sure you could substitute regular unsweetened coconut flakes, but your Brianafinger Bars might not hold together as well.
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- 2 sticks salted butter, melted*
- 1½ cups Let's Do Organic brand finely shredded unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (use gluten free if necessary)
- ½ cup Briana's Baking Mix
- 1 T THM Super Sweet Blend
- 1 tsp. Grandma's molasses
- ¾ cup refined coconut oil
- ¾ cup creamy natural peanut butter (well-stirred)
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 5-6 tsp. Truvia, powdered in a coffee grinder (or 2½ - 3 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend, powdered), or more to taste
- Mix crust ingredients together and press into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 11-12 minutes. Set aside to cool, then chill in the freezer or refrigerator.
- Melt the coconut oil and natural peanut butter together. Stir in the cocoa powder and powdered sweetener. Taste and add more sweetener if desired. Set aside at room temperature.
- When the bars have chilled for a little while, pour the chocolate over the top and then refrigerate or freeze until hard. Cut into bars (the bars are easier to cut when they're not completely frozen solid) and store in the fridge. Yields 15 servings (which keeps the net carbs from the oats to under 3 grams/serving).
For a non-Baking Mix option, replace the Baking Mix with an additional fourth cup of old fashioned oats (takes the carb count from the oats up to 4.4 net carbs per serving), ¼ cup oat fiber (use gluten free if necessary), and ½ cup almond flour. Use only 1½ sticks of butter (12 T). Omit ½ cup of the finely shredded coconut. This is the original recipe.
This recipe was updated on July 12th, 2016.
Click here for my Baking Mix recipe!
Products I use:
- THM Sweet Blend
- Truvia
- Finely Shredded Coconut Flakes
- Oat Fiber
- THM Oat Fiber (gluten-free)
- Grandma’s Molasses (gluten and nut free)
Made these today. I used extra coconut instead of the oats and misread 1/3 c. cocoa as 1/2. I baked the crust closer to 15 minutes, it had barely started turning golden then. If I make these again, I will bake longer yet. These are good….but I personally don’t get any Butterfinger flavor at all.
These are based off of an old church cookbook cookie bar dessert I grew up on called Butterfinger Bars. They’re not necessarily meant to taste just like the candy bar version, although the chocolate/peanut butter combination gives you a little of that. 🙂
I made these today, and they were WONDERFUL!!!!!!! My mom and I both really like them (and my mom is pretty particular about her desserts). Thanks for sharing the recipe! ?
Can I use Olive Oil in place of the coconut oil
No, the taste and texture will be very different and probably unpleasant. Coconut oil is a solid when cold, like butter.
Hi Briana~
I just accidentally asked a question on the other page with your baking mix- so sorry!
Anyhoo… I have some THM Baking Blend already, so can that be used in place of your baking mix in this recipe?
Thank you so much!!!
Yes, THM Baking Blend should be fine, but you may need an extra tablespoon or two since it’s not as dry as my mix is. 🙂
Hi Briana, my name is Rosemary and this will be my first time making one of your recipes. I dont have the ingredients to make your baking blend but i do have the thm baking blend however i cant seem to figure out how much of the thm blend i need to use for the 1/2 that this recipe calls for. Ive read the post on your blend but am having a brain fart. Please help. Thank you.
Hi Rosemary! I would try about 2/3 cup of THM Baking Blend.
Hi
I can’t use coconut. What would you suggest I sub it with?
Congrats on all the Lord is doing in your life right now. It’s a blessing to watch.
You could try using old-fashioned oats, but the bars would probably become a crossover if you follow Trim Healthy Mama. 🙂 And thank you!
do you grind your oatmeal @ all for this recipie?
No, I don’t. 😉
These are my absolute favorite. I actually center my meals around getting to have one of these. I make them every week and pack them up in single serving containers for my lunch everyday! I LOVE THEM!
I’ve only made about four batches though and the first two were amazing. Looked just like your pictures. The last two have come out (tasting just as awesome!) but they were super crumbly. I couldn’t get them out of the pan without them being into pieces. My best friend said that I might have baked them too long? Or should I add more butter?!
Thanks again for making these recipes. You are an inspiration!!
Wow – I’m glad you like them so much! I’m afraid I’m not sure what to tell you about the crumbliness problem. Have you started using a different baking mix in them? I would try adding a little more butter next time and be sure not to overbake. 🙂
Hi, I always use Swerve. Any ideas on how I would
Substitute that for the Truvia and the Stevia and other sweeteners? Thanks!
This sweetener conversion chart would be helpful for you: http://www.trimhealthymama.com/main-home/sweetener-conversion-chart/
Swerve is supposed to measure like sugar, so use the sugar column in the chart to convert to Swerve. Keep in mind that taste buds differ quite a lot, so it’s always a good idea to start with less sweetener than you think you’ll need, then add more and taste as you go.
Hey Briana! I’ve just recently started seriously following you, by that I mean I’m making LOTS of your stuff. Lol. Question, how much thm baking blend would you use in place of yours? I have it and want to use what I have before making your blend. Also, could yoiu use gentle sweet in place of ground up truvia? If so, how much? Thanks!
Hi Amber, you can find substitution details for my baking mix in the baking mix recipe post, but the general rule of thumb is to use 3/4 cup of my blend for every cup of THM Baking Blend (or vice versa), then adjust liquids if necessary. Gentle Sweet and Truvia (in its unground state) are said to measure the same, but I usually just taste and adjust because my taste buds don’t often completely agree with the THM Sweet Conversion Chart (http://www.trimhealthymama.com/main-home/sweetener-conversion-chart/).
If I use THM baking mix, is the ratio the same as your baking mix? 🙂
Also, I noticed Oat fiber in another of your dessert recipes. What is Oat fiber?
Information about substitutions can be found in the Baking Mix post itself. My mix is drier so you’d need a little more THM Baking Blend to make up for it. http://www.briana-thomas.com/brianas-baking-mix/
Oat fiber is a flour that has 0 fats or net carbs and a very fine texture. I use it in my baking mix (it’s also found in THM Baking Blend), and I also use it for thickening sauces, etc. There are links for it below the recipes that call for it. 🙂
Could you sub oat fiber for the oats?
Unfortunately that would totally change the texture of the bars (and oat fiber is a much drier flour than the oats would be). If you like, you could try substituting more unsweetened coconut flakes for the oats.
We are heading on a trip soon and I am looking for some things to take with me. I am wondering if the chocolate would be shelf stable if I subbed butter for the coconut oil for the topping??? I would be putting these in a container to fly on an airplane 🙂
I’ve never used butter in the topping, so I’m not sure. I’m guessing it would be more shelf stable than the coconut oil, but whether it would be stable *enough*, I don’t know. I think if you’re not going to a tropical country and you don’t shake them around too much during transit, they’d probably be OK, albeit a little messy.
Can these be made with lilys chocolate, or would that make it a crossover?
Lily’s Chocolate should be fine. 🙂
Hi!! I love your recipes!! I really want to try this but, I can’t have oats. Do you think using a flour(AF or baking blend) would work in place of Oats? Thanks!!!
I would probably use some more coconut (for texture) and some almond flour or THM Baking Blend. The amounts may need to be adjusted, though (I’m guessing you’d need a little less flour than whole oats?).
Hi Briana, can’t wait to try out this recipe! Is there something you would suggest using in place of almond flour? I cannot have tree nuts. Thanks! Angela
Since I’m stingy with my almond flour (it’s so expensive), the last time I made these I tried using a smaller amount of coconut flour in place of the almond flour (coconut flour soaks up more liquid, so you don’t need as much). They turned out a little dry, so next time I might use a little bit of flax flour and some coconut flour (I think the flax would help it hold together better, but you don’t want too much or it’ll taste flaxy) in place of the almond flour. I would also maybe add an egg to help it hold together better and not be so dry. If you find something that works, please let me know!
Where did you buy the reduced fat coconut? Thanks
We buy ours from Ingles, a local grocery store chain. I provided a link to the product on Amazon below the recipe.
Thanks Brianna, the Butterfinger Bars are yummy ! So happy we have you to create all these delicious on plan foods that we can eat ! 🙂 Blessings to your day, and please know you are VERY appreciated.
Thank you so much for the encouraging words, Lorene. 🙂
I finally took the time to make these and wish I would have made them a long time ago already! They are fabulous! In my rush to make them before church tonight I didn’t read the added version at the end and will try that next time!
I tried these and they are good except I don’t care for coconut could I just omit that? Would I have to add something in its place?
I wouldn’t advise just leaving out a cup and a half of ingredient; you might not have much left in that crust. 😛 You have a couple of options: 1) if you use the brand and type of coconut I have linked below the recipe (Let’s Do Organic Finely-Shredded Low-fat Coconut), I think you’ll find that it doesn’t have a very strong “coconutty” flavor. I never taste coconut when I make these. 2) You could try to replace the coconut with various flours such as almond flour, coconut flour, and/or oat fiber. This would really change the texture of the bars, though, and you’d have to mess with the liquids/eggs/butter. Feel free to experiment to find something that works for you!
I know this thread is old but I wanted to add my two cents. I didn’t want to use oats this time so I adapted your advice above. I used 1/4 cup of oat fiber and a 1/4 cup of coconut flour and they turned out perfect! Love, love, love these! Thank you! 🙂
Thanks for sharing, April!
Awesome! Thanks! 🙂
Would there be a suitable substitute for the molasses? I am making these and do not have that item and am toying with the idea to use something else like 1/2 tsp of raw honey even though technically off plan. Am also thinking about just leaving it out. Thoughts? Thanks!
The molasses is basically just to give a bit of a “brown sugar” flavor. You could leave it out or add a dash of maple flavoring. 🙂
So good. Even my husband and 3 year old LOVED them. Thank you so much!
A really tasty addition is to make the crust, then put the a no bake cheesecake on the crust (I made it out of whipped 2/3 cup peanut butter, 1.5 packages cream cheese and stevia beaten til light and fluffy and with 3/4 cup whipped cream folded in) and then set in fridge and then carefully pour almost set skinny chocolate on top. Like a no bake cream cheese dessert!
I can’t wait to try these today! I’m going to run my regular (unsweetened) coconut flakes through the food processor to make them finer and see how it works.
I have a question concerning your Mom’s lightened up version. I would like to make these bars like she does simply because I bought oat fiber and now I can’t remember why. 🙂 My question has to do with the sweetener. Are you saying to add the doonks of stevia instead of or in addition to the 3/4 cup of “sugar”. It just seems like it’s going to change things drastically if I just use the stevia because of the bulk of the other sweetener.
I always just use THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder in these and they turn out fine. 🙂 So yes, the doonks of stevia instead of the 3/4 cup of sugar equivalent.
I made these bars the other day, and don’t know if I didn’t bake them long enough but my chocolate just went clear through the bars. Now they look kind of like a chocolate granola bar. 🙂 What did I do wrong?
Did you completely cool the bars before you poured the chocolate on top? From the way you described it, it sounds like you baked the chocolate on the crust.
I thought I had cooled the bars before I poured the chocolate on, but I didn’t put them in the fridge. They were just room temp.
That should be fine as long as they were room temp before pouring the chocolate on. You put the bars in the fridge *after* pouring the chocolate on to set up, right?
I did but it just immediately went right through the bars. They must have still been too warm. Btw, I love all your recipes! I’m having the french toast right now 🙂
These butterfinger bars are crave worthy. Seriously, I think of them often. 🙂 I made a batch right before Halloween and successfully avoided eating my children’s halloween candy. Whew.
Woohoo! Way to go!
I made these today and they are excellant! Thanks Briana. ps, I used 4 tbsp xylitol plus 2 tbsp of Truvia for my double batch of skinny chocolate. I may try your mom’s lightened-up version next time.
What version is this? ?
Hi Briana,
I made these today, but my skinny Chocolate topping tastes awful.. I slowly kept adding small doonks of the pure THM stevia,and now its just too bitter. Any suggestions what I can do to make it better, with out wasting the whole 9*13 pan of bars? Thanks!!
Aw, that’s too bad. I’ve been there and done that. One thing I’ve learned is that Skinny Chocolate tastes best with Truvia. I don’t really care for it when made with just plain stevia extract powder. And definitely if you use stevia, use a very small amount. On what you could do to salvage it…well, depending how bad it is, a night in the fridge may help to even out the sweetener level. If it’s really bad, you may just want to scrape off the topping and redo it. You could probably melt down the topping and add some more cocoa and coconut oil to thin out the sweetener level so you wouldn’t totally have to pitch it. Personally, I would probably just eat it, bitter or not, just because I hate to waste things and I’m too lazy to go to all the work I just suggested to you. 😛
This looks SO GOOD! I only have Truvia. Do you have any idea how much I would use to equal
the 3/4 cup of sugar?
This conversion chart will help you: http://www.trimhealthymama.com/main-home/sweetener-conversion-chart/
Thank you! Can’t wait to make these!
I found my new favorite THM blog for sure!
I plan on making these for my birthday! They look so good 🙂 also, wanted to say I really enjoy all of your posts and pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds great can’t wait to have some. About two two weeks since starting the book. Have read quite a bit of it up to recipes, looked at them also. As yet I am not confident as to where a meal fall S or E or crossover. That is my goal to be able to do it, you would think the seesaw would be all I need maybe I am the one complicating it.thank you for your blog love reading testimonies and health changes.
Can’t wait to try these…your Butter Pecan Ice Cream was fabulous!!!
Awesome! Glad to hear it.
I just made these and both my hubby and I give them 2 thumbs up! They are absolutely delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out.
Briana could you please give us the breakdown of the carb and fat numbers for this recipe? I’m not sure if the original recipe is considered an “s”. Thanks for your help. Deb
Hi Deb, since Trim Healthy Mama is not about counting numbers, I don’t post the carb/fat breakdowns. However, in the recipe I did note that the amount of oats keeps the carbs/serving under 5 g, which *is* important (10 g being the limit for an S meal). I assume that’s what you’re concerned about because I’ve had a lot of questions about it.
I’m sorry but I didn’t notice where you said it was 5 grams of carbs per serving. I was asking because someone shared this recipe on the thm fb page and it turned into quite a long discussion about whether or not this would be an “s” recipe. It was determined by one of the mods that it was a crossover. A few ladies were concerned that someone who was a newbie might be confused by the recipe and think it was ok to make as it was originally written. I think the thread must have been deleted because I can’t find it at all now. I’ve made the recipe a few times and love it so I was just trying to clarify for myself and others that it is indeed an “s”. Thanks, Deb
That’s totally fine; thanks for asking the question. 🙂 Yes, one of the mods contacted me and said that another mod got confused about it, so I could expect some questions. 🙂 The recipe is actually an S as originally written, as well as with my update. As originally written, there are under 5 g of carbs from the oats, and in the update there are even less than that. Thanks again for the question, and thanks for the feedback. P)
What a gorgeous new website! So proud of you. I’m still on blogger but maybe one day I’ll switch. I’m recommending this recipe in my family newsletter this month.
Thank you so much for the compliments, as well as recommending the recipe. 🙂 I’m so glad I made the website switch. While it’s a big learning curve, I’ve found it to be worth the work already. If you want to go anywhere with your blog, I recommend making the switch sooner rather than later.