If you are looking at the picture of these scrumptious decadent bars and thinking ‘yea right these can not be low calories.’ Well, I am here to prove you wrong. Who ever said being on a diet meant you can not divulge in something sweet and then afterwards not have that guilty feeling. These little treats only have 157 calories in each bar so get ready to give in to the sweet tooth because it will totally be worth it.
When you think of a reduced fat desserts or really anything low in fat and calories, one tends to think it is not going to have that rich flavor that the normal recipe would have. Well with this treat we use reduced fat cream cheese, peanut butter, and chocolate wafers. You can not even tell that anything is different. The peanut butter taste explodes in your mouth. We do top the bar with a semi-sweet chocolate which is actually not bad for you considering the benefits this dark chocolate holds in comparison to other chocolates.
I got this recipe from Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook. It is a cookbook with dishes and desserts to help you drop a dress size. If you are thinking that you may have heard of this cookbook, well it was featured on a show on Limetime a while back. My co-worker, Chad, gave me this cookbook to borrow to check out some healthier recipes for me to experiment with. His wife, Brittney, suggested these Peanut Butter Dream Bars and of course I had to fulfill her request. 🙂
Ingredients: (makes 16 bars)
1 Cup low-calorie chocolate wafers, ground with a food processor
1 Cup old fashion oats
2/3 Cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 Cup creamy reduced fat peanut butter
3 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
around 1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Line a 13 x 9 inch pan with wax paper or parchment paper. Make sure you leave a couple of inches over the edge so later you will be able to lift it out of the pan.
In a large bowl combine ground wafers, oats, powdered sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add butter and mix until completely moistened. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter until large clumps form. Transfer to lined pan and flatted into an even layer with hands. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes or until firm.
Blend cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, rest of the peanut butter (6 Tablespoons should be left), and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Blend until pale and almost double in size. Transfer to pan and make an even layer on top of the wafer layer. Freeze for 15 minutes or until hard.
Melt chocolate in the microwave and be careful not to burn the chocolate. Melt enough to cover the whole pan with a thin layer (amount of melted chocolate may vary). Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.
When ready to serve lift bars out of pan using paper and cut into 16 bars. Serve cold.
ENJOY!
Tastefully Scrumptious 
AMAZING
AMAZING 🙂