Looking for something fun to do with kids? Try these Homemade Vegan Twix Bars! Made with a buttery shortbread cookie, topped with gooey homemade caramel covered dark chocolate.
Halloween is the date which marks the real beginning of the “holiday season” in the retail world. Usually by the time the Halloween decorations and candy are up, there are hints of Thanksgiving everywhere and everything screams “fall”. In some of the larger chain stores, Christmas and New Year even begin making their appearance around this time.
We try not to get too far ahead of ourselves here, though. There are plenty of sugar filled temptations associated with Halloween to keep us busy, even if the local shops want to rush us into December!
And even though we don't celebrate Halloween, we thought we would revamp an all time favorite when it comes to candy bars: the Twix bars!
Why this vegan Twix recipe works and how we handle its challenges:
With this recipe, we set out to accomplish two very challenging tasks:
- We intended to make a vegan candy bar. Yes, these are starting to become more available in stores, but they aren't always easy to find. A home made version lets you control the ingredients and save money! Plus, it's a great activity to get the kids involved in the kitchen
- We needed to perfect the art of making vegan caramel, and believe us, it truly is an art! If you’ve had the original Twix bar, you know that the crunchy cookie inside is nothing without the decadent gooeyness of caramel and the delicious chocolate. Obviously, we have experience creating vegan cookies (the base for this recipe), and have worked with vegan chocolates before, but we had to spend a great deal of time on the caramel recipe. It was a matter of trying a variety of different ingredient combinations and tweaks to get both the consistency and flavor of the caramel to match our expectations.
For those of you not familiar with homemade caramel, most recipes tend to involve browning sugar and then adding cream and butter. In our recipe, coconut milk and oil allow us to eliminate the dairy, and "liquid sugars" (agave and corn syrup) keep the caramel form getting grainy and make it soft and chewy.
How to make vegan Twix bars at home:
- Make the vegan shortbread cookie with coconut oil, sugar, flour and vanilla
- Make the vegan caramel, we have tested this vegan caramel recipe multiple times and we found the perfect combination of fat and sugar that tastes as close as a traditional caramel as possible. We used a combination of coconut oil, agave, corn syrup, and coconut milk.
- Make the chocolate coating. It is important to use good quality chocolate here to get the most delicious and decadent vegan Twix bars. We like Enjoy Life, California Gourmet and if you have a Wegmans near you their brand of vegan chocolate is also excellent.
Once the caramel is ready and has cooled off a bit, spoon the caramel over each cookie.
Let them cool in the refrigerator for a few minutes
Tips to make the perfect vegan Twix bars:
- Caramel will thicken and become chewier as it cools. If it becomes too hard to handle, just warm it up slightly.
- It's important to let the cookies cool completely before assembling the bars, so the caramel stays on and doesn't run down the sides.
- Use a good quality vegan chocolate to coat your vegan Twix bars. Use any chocolate or chocolate chip that you enjoy eating right out of the bag or wrapper.
Did we pass the test?? Give this Twix Bars recipe a try and let us know!
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Vegan Twix Bars
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 mins
- Yield: 16 1x
Description
Looking for something fun to do with kids? Try these Homemade Vegan Twix Bars! Made with a buttery shortbread cookie, topped with gooey homemade caramel covered dark chocolate.
Ingredients
- For Shortbread Cookie
- ½ cup refined coconut oil
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
- ½ tsp natural vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch salt
- 2 tbsp water
- For the caramel
- ¼ cup canned, full fat coconut milk plus 2 tbsp
- 4 tbsp agave
- 3 tbsp organic corn syrup (such as Wholesome Sweeteners)
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp refined coconut oil
- For the chocolate coating
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)
- 1 tbsp refined coconut oil
Instructions
- To prepare the shortbread
- Preheat over to 350F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper
- In a medium bowl, cream together coconut oil and granulated sugar for about one minute. Add confectioner's sugar and vanilla and continue beating for another minute, until creamy
- Reduce speed, add flour, salt and water, and mix until just incorporated
- Using your hands, pull the mix together to form a dough
- Press the dough as evenly as possible onto the lined pan. Using a sharp knife, score it to form 8 even 1-inch strips, then score it once down the middle (you'll end up with 16 strips)
- Bake at 350F for about 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside to cool completely
- To prepare the caramel
- Combine ¼ cup coconut milk, agave, corn syrup, water, and 1 tbsp coconut oil in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, whisking often. Remove from heat, add 2 tbsp coconut milk and continue cooking for another 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature (see note)
- To prepare the chocolate coating
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil on a double boiler or in the microwave (20-second increments, stirring each time until completely melted). Transfer to a bowl wide enough to fit one of the cookie bars
- To assemble the bars
- Brake off the cookies once they have cooled completely. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper
- Spoon caramel over each cookie. Let them cool in the refrigerator for a few minutes
- To cover with chocolate, place a caramel covered bar on a fork over the chocolate bowl. Dunk it in the melted chocolate, using a spoon to help cover the bar completely. Carefully shake the excess chocolate and return it to the lined baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining bars and refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened.
Notes
Caramel will thicken and become chewier as it cools. If it becomes too hard to handle, just warm it up slightly.
It's important to let the cookies cool completely before assembling the bars, so the caramel stays on and doesn't run down the sides
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Category: candy
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 twix bar
- Calories: 215
- Sugar: 16.6
- Sodium: 3.5
- Fat: 13.5
- Saturated Fat: 10.3
- Unsaturated Fat: .8
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 23.5
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 2
- Cholesterol: 0
tanya says
i have never made my own candy bar before. This looks really good though. I'm sure I could figure it out. Thanks for the recipe.
Vicky & Ruth says
You are welcome, thank you for taking the time to write a comment.
David @ Spiced says
Twix are absolutely one of my favorite candy bars...I love that you made a homemade version! And that vegan caramel looks pretty awesome, too...I'll have to give that version a shot sometime soon. 🙂
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you! Let us know if you do!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says
Oh wowza! From the looks of it, I would say you totally succeeded at making a stellar vegan twix bar!! These look absolutely fantastic and that vegan caramel sauce looks decadent and just perfect! I will totally have to give these a go, because my husband LOVES twix bars! Cheers and thanks for sharing the YUM!! 😉
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you Cheyanne! We love to challenge ourselves in the kitchen and this recipe was a winner!
Rachel @ Bakerita says
This is awesome! These Twix Bars looks beyond delicious 🙂 love that they're vegan!
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you, and they were decadent too 🙂
Renee @ Two in the Kitchen says
Homemade Twix? That are vegan too?? Sign me up!! 🙂
Vicky & Ruth says
Thanks Renee.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
What a nifty treat! I rarely think of making candy but when I do I always have a good time in the kitchen and eating it.
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you Maureen, the best part is definitely eating the candy 😉
Amanda says
Making homemade candy bars is such a blast, and Twix are so good. I love that you make the vegan caramel with coconut milk. That sounds delicious!
Vicky & Ruth says
It took us a couple of tries to get the caramel right, but we did it!
mira says
Love these! And they are vegan? Great! So glad I found your site!
Vicky & Ruth says
We are glad you found us too!
John/Kitchen Riffs says
Love the idea of vegan Twix bars! Very creative -- and also very yummy, I'm sure. Inspired stuff. And believe it or not, I've been seeing Christmas trees up in some stores, and have for the last several weeks. Way too early!
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you John, we agree way to early for Christmas trees!
marcie says
Just brilliant making one of my favorite candy bars vegan! These look even better than the original, too -- homemade is always best!
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you Marcie, and they were finger licking good!
Kelly says
I love that you made your own Twix bars and that they're vegan! They look amazing!
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you Kelly!
Raquel says
I love twix bars and i cant believe these are dairy free!! Cant wait to try them!
★★★★★
Moriya says
You totally pass the test, these vegan twix candy bars are amazing, chocolaty, decadent and the caramel is fantastic!
★★★★★
Vicky & Ruth says
Thank you so much! We love this vegan twix recipe as well!
Francis says
OMG these were insanely good!
★★★★★