Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars

Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars | Baking

Let’s delve into the world of sugar free baking, making delicious Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars. We’ll use a traditional recipe, but swap in my favorite sugar-free baking alternatives. And in the process, we’ll reduce the per bar sugar amount from 27 g to zero.

Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars | Recipe

Now, this recipe makes about 9 bars. We’ll start by adding 1/3 cup of softened butter into a stand mixer. Next, we’ll add the sugar alternatives.

I’ve tried baking with a lot of different brands of sugar substitutes. Many I tried tasted good before baking, but ended up tasting bitter after being in the oven. Then I found Lakanto sugar substitutes, which I have enjoyed immensely. There are some workarounds when dealing with one of its main ingredients, erythritol, which I will get into later, but for taste, this is the best sugar substitute I found for baking. And I am not being paid for this endorsement. It’s just my honest opinion after years of trial and error.

Lakanto has substitutes for powdered sugar, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and more. Today, we’ll be using 1/3 cup of Lakanto Classic, which is a granulated sugar replacement, and 1/3 cup of Lakanto Golden, which can be a brown sugar replacement.

Add the paddle attachment and cream together the butter and Lakanto on low. Add one tablespoon of pure vanilla extract. Add one eggs. It’s always best practice to crack your eggs before putting them in the bowl in case any shells fall in. Then blend on low again until everything is combined.

Now we’ll make our dry ingredients. Have one cup of all-purpose flour. Add in 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. And mix that together.

Now, carefully add about half the dry mix into the stand mixer and set on low until it combines together. Then add the rest of the dry mix until it’s combined well. When finished, remove the paddle then add in our sugar-free chocolate chips.

We’re going with Lily’s Milk Chocolate Baking Chips, which are delicious. We’ll add in one cup of chocolate chips. Incorporate the chocolate chips into the dough by hand.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Use an 8×8 metal baking dish. Put parchment paper neatly inside by using the following trick.

Flip the baking dish upside down. Cut one slit into the parchment paper in each of the corners of the dish. Then flip the dish right side up again, aligning the slits with the interior corners of the dish. Now cut off the excess parchment paper. Believe me, this part does not have to be perfect. Now your baking dish is neatly lined with parchment paper.

Then spray the parchment paper with avocado oil spray, thoroughly coating it. Now move the dough into the baking dish and pack it down tightly, making the surface as even as possible.

Then put it in the oven for roughly 45 minutes. Check it at 25 minutes and keep checking every 8 minutes or so as everyone’s oven is just a little bit different. If you can push down on the top of the bar and it has just a little spring, it’s done. Please do this carefully with the back of a spoon and always use your oven mitts.

When the Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars are done, turn off the oven and let them cool a few minutes. Then carefully transfer them to a plate where they can cool for another 5 minutes. Then carefully remove the parchment paper.

Then slice them into nine equal bars.

Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars | Taste & Texture

Now it’s time to give them a try. These are so delicious and a wonderful consistency. Soft, chewy, sort of cake-like. It sort of tastes like a chocolate chip cookie cake. Really, really wonderful. And this is definitely satisfying my sweet tooth.

Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars | Storage & Leftovers

It’s always best to store them in an airtight container. Now, there is one major workaround when dealing with erythritol and leftovers. The consistency of the bars the next day will be hard. Hard to break into two pieces and hard to consume. I am still able to bite into it without feeling like I would break a tooth, but it is a bit too crispy for me. And it just isn’t quite as pleasant an experience as it was when freshly baked.

This is because erythritol  recrystallizes upon cooling, creating a firmer, drier, and often crunchier texture. This even happens sometimes when you store it in an airtight container.

But here’s the good news. Reheating the Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars counteracts this hardness. Simply put a bar in the oven or an air fryer on reheat at 300° Fahrenheit for about 7-10 minutes. The bar will then be the perfect consistency again, easy to break into and chewy. 

These bars will keep nicely for about a week. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, then defrost them and heat them in the same manner I just outlined.

There can sometimes be a dryness issue with Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Bars the longer the time between baking and eating. The simplest way I like to deal with this is by dunking them in almond milk or milk before eating when they are in that late-leftover state.  

Just so you know, you can also make Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookies with this recipe. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!