Ever had Tiger Butter? Try this low carb, sugar-free no-bake confection. All the great flavors of white chocolate, peanut butter and dark chocolate mixed together. There’s simply nothing else like it.
I can distinctly remember the first time I walked into The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. It had recently opened on Robson Street in Vancouver and I was eager to check it out on the recommendation of some friends. Ever a lover of all things chocolate, hearing that a new speciality chocolate store had opened made my heart flutter in excitement. And it was a beautiful sight to behold, all those ridiculously oversized turtles and peanut butter cups stacked row upon row. It was my idea of heaven. Of course, I was a poor university student back then and I could only afford a few precious pieces with my hard-earned cash. But I squirrelled them away when I got back to my dorm and I nibbled them here and there, savouring every last bite. And not sharing even the smallest crumb.
From that moment, I was a Rocky Mountain Chocolate devotee and I went there whenever the opportunity presented itself. I also sought them out whenever I was traveling (they always seem to have them in airports, have you noticed that?). After I graduated from university, I was on my way down to southwestern Colorado for an archaeology internship and I got stuck in the Denver Airport. It was late July, prime tornado season, and three tornados had been spotted within a mile of the airport. All planes were grounded for obvious reasons. But my flight had been entirely cancelled due to the lack of a crew to fly the plane. Perhaps my crew had gotten swept up in a tornado? Needless to say, I got to know the Denver Airport quite well that day and they had a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory just waiting for me. I spent much of the compensation given to me by the airline on chocolate. Hey, I was off to a tiny little town in the Four Corners region for 3 months. I needed to make sure I was well stocked!
One of the treats I purchased that day was a big round of Tiger Butter. I wasn’t really sure what it was, but it was a pale creamy confection swirled with dark chocolate, and it was in the shape of a very large peanut butter cup. I was intrigued by the name too. And at first bite, I was in love. It was peanut butter and white chocolate mixed together and then swirled with darker chocolate. Well, you know my obsession with anything that contains peanut butter and chocolate. It was so creamy and good, it was hard not to eat the whole thing in one go.
I had rather forgotten about tiger butter until I spied some homemade version on Pinterest. It didn’t take much to convince me I could make easily overhaul the recipe and make it low carb. What is white chocolate, after all, but cocoa butter, vanilla and sweetener? But since cocoa butter is pretty expensive and doesn’t always combine well with low carb sweetener, I thought I’d help it along with some coconut butter. (I buy the creamed coconut from Let’s Do Organic as it’s inexpensive, easy to find at Whole Foods, and tastes delicious!). I did find that I needed to help emulsify the oils with the peanut butter so I used just a touch of xanthan gum. Then I poured it into a parchment lined pan and let it chill as I melted some dark chocolate. Then I simply swirled in the chocolate and let it all set for a few hours. Voila! Low carb and seriously delicious tiger butter. We all loved it. Take that, Rocky Mountain!
Ever had Tiger Butter? Try this low carb, sugar-free no-bake confection. All the great flavors of white chocolate, peanut butter and dark chocolate mixed together. There's simply nothing else like it.
- 4 ounces cocoa butter
- 4 ounces coconut butter or creamed coconut
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter almond butter would work well too
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
- 4 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate such as Lily's chopped (could also use 85% or 90% dark chocolate, although that may raise the carb count a little bit)
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Line a square baking pan (9x9 or 8x8) with parchment paper, allowing paper to come up the sides for easy removal.
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In a medium saucepan, combine cocoa butter, coconut butter, peanut butter and sweetener over medium low heat. Stir until melted and well combined.
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Whisk in vanilla and xanthan gum (the gum is to help emulsify the mixture, to keep the oil from separating out and floating on top).
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Pour into prepared baking pan and spread to the edges. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes to start firming it up.
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Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Add chopped dark chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
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Drizzle chocolate over peanut butter mixture in pan and swirl gently with a knife (some will sink to the bottom as it is heavier than the peanut butter mixture).
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Refrigerate until firm and then cut into 16 bars or break into chunks with your hands.
Serves 16. Each serving has 5.9 g of carbs and 2.76 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 3.14 g.
Food energy: 187kcal
Total fat: 17.30g
Calories from fat: 155
Cholesterol: --
Carbohydrate: 5.90g
Total dietary fiber: 2.76g
Protein: 3.04g
Sodium: 37mg
Kat says
Yum!
Tiger butter is one thing I haven’t had from the Rocky Mnt Choc Factory.
Gotta tell you, I have a friend that works for them in Durango, CO.
I’ve had the privilege of touring the factory. Every summer (when we visit our cabin) our friend sells us rejects for a very discounted price.
I always get only the dark chocolates, but this year I’m being very strict with my low carb and I’ve told myself “none this year”.
I agree with you they are very good. They use only quality ingredients.
I have a question for you, have you ever been on the Ketogenic Diet?
Thanks again for all your great recipes.
Great work.
regreta says
Hey, their sugar-free stuff is pretty good. I usually score a box of their sf turtles, or mixed treats at the membership warehouse that starts with a “C” to keep me honest during the holidays, then stretch them out with my own nuts. We’re in Colorado, so if you don’t see it at your local store, try the website. That said, I usually prefer delightful recipes like these, because sometimes the amped-up application of sweeteners in even the best commercially-made products, can cause me stomach upset.
MonaKarel says
I have a bag of cocoa butter pieces in the freezer, waiting for me to figure out how to use them. And here we are!
Victoria M says
You mentioned using xanthan gum to emulsify the mixture to prevent separating. Is there a general rule to figure how much xanthan gum to use in a recipe? Would the xanthan gum work the same when using oil and powder (vs. peanut butter and oil)?
Carolyn says
I have no rule of thumb, I simply add a bit until things aren’t separating out. Less is more, in this case.
della says
Enjoyed reading your story!! Can’t wait to make the treat, it looks amazing!!
Rachel says
Really delicious! I’ve been on a low-carb diet for a week now and this is the first thing I’ve tried that a) I can’t even tell is low-carb and b) I like just as much as the non-“altered” version. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Aw, thanks! It was just funny with your review of the other recipe, I was confused by the two similar posts!
Liz says
Can you use Baker’s Unsweetened baking squares on the chocolate? I would maybe like to do that and add either some vanilla stevia or swerve to it just to make it not bitter. I am so going to make this today later.
Carolyn says
I think you could but Baker’s tends to seize easily so you may end up needing something to smooth it out a bit if it does.
Jenn says
Amazing! I even got a few friends that don’t do LCHF diet to enjoy these! I didn’t use nearly as much sweetener as called, and they were plenty decedent and sweet. Without the chocolate, I’m using just the PB part as race fuel for a half ironman 🙂
Carolyn says
Sounds like great fuel to me! Glad the non LCHF peeps liked them too.
Diana says
Where do you purchase the xantham gum?
Carolyn says
You can often find it in regular grocery stores, in the gluten-free aisle. Health food stores carry it too. But you can always order it online.
Michelle says
Is creamed coconut the same as coconut cream?
Carolyn says
Depends on the brand! The kind from Let’s Do Organic is basically the same thing as coconut butter, which is what I am talking about here. What do you have?
Rebecca says
Just curious, peanut butter has sugar, so how is this sugar free? Is there a sugar free peanut butter you used? Maybe grind up your own peanuts?
Carolyn says
There are plenty of sugar-free peanut butters on the market.
Terri S. says
Would a seed butter work for this recipe?
Carolyn says
I can’t see why not!
Sara says
Could I use THM Gentle Sweet instead of Swerve? These sounds super yummy! 🙂
Carolyn says
I think that should work, but I can’t guarantee it.
Nicole says
My peanut butter mixture was lovely till I added the xanthum gum, now its totally separated and I can’t get it to combine. So sad…..
Nicole says
Update, I added a dallop of fresh whipped cream I had made this morning and used my high speed mixer to blend it all back together again. it worked quite well! Also made a batch of your sugar free chocolate chips to use as the melted chocolate mixture! This is the first time I have worked with cocoa butter and it is just divine and a superfood to boot!
Solidworks says
ABsolutely perfect! We Are addicted to IT! Thank YOU for great recipe! ?
Appletree says
Hi, is it possible to substitute coconut butter for something else such as coconut oil or more cocoa butter? Thanks
Audrey T. says
This sounds wonderful! I’d love to try this.
Three questions:
Can powdered peanut butter be used? ( I have a brand called Crazy Richard’s. )
If I need to use actual peanut butter, is it okay to use the natural kind with the oil on top? Would I stir in the oil or pour it off for this recipe?
Carolyn says
I think the powdered can be reconstituted and used here. If using all natural, make sure to stir the oil in completely.
Audrey T. says
Thank you for getting back to me! Can’t wait to make this.
Shelly says
I made this today and it turned out great! I had a hard time finding the cocoa butter until I started looking under skin care and not cooking. I used 100% pure cocoa butter from Now, found at my local health food store, Anyway, the tiger butter looked beautiful and tasted really good! Melts in your mouth. More important, my husband didn’t realize it was made with sweetener!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Julie at icanlivewithoutsugar says
Hi Carolyn,
This looks absolutely superb. Cannot wait to make it.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Janice says
I have something called coconut manna…is that the same as coconut butter?
Carolyn says
I think it is. What brand is it?
Court~ says
This looks great! I have native forest brand unsweetened organic coconut cream premium. Will this work in place of creamed coconut? TIA
Carolyn says
No, I believe what you are referring to is the creamy stuff that is like the cream on top of a can of coconut. You need coconut butter, which is solid at room temperature.
Amalie says
These are so good! Thank you for the terrific recipes!
spaceranger says
Mmmm. I had 4 ounces of cocoa butter that had been in my cupboard long enough that I wanted to use it, and I stumbled onto this recipe. Yum! These are delicious. I used Lilly’s chocolate chips for the chocolate, which made them ridiculously easy to whip-up. Thank you! (Oh, and I forgot to add the xanthan gum–I had it out on my counter intending to put it in, but forgot–it didn’t cause any problems for me.)
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Tammy says
Is there a substitute for the coconut butter? I don’t care for the taste of coconut & avoid it any time I can.
Debi says
Yeah, me too. Suggestions, Carolyn?
Carolyn says
Use butter.
Yazmin says
While this is definitely an older recipe, and I have made it so many times I have lost count, I feel obliged to share our takes on this most excellent recipe. First off, the seed butters, particularly tahini (sesame seed butter) are fabulous in this recipe. The tahini seems to change the texture to something with uber happy mouth feel. I think if Umami was about “the feels”, this would qualify. (& sesame butter may actually be Umami. ..) Now for this week’s excitement, and I hope Carolyn will apprecite this as it is distinct Canadiana… We made…wait for it.. Tiger Tiger Tiger butter!!! 😆 If Tiger Woods had made it, we would call it a hole in one!! Tiger Tiger (sometimes called Tiger Tail, or Tiger Stripe) is a flavor of icecream found mostly in Canada, that incorporates both licorice and orange.-hence the Tiger! We used the milder almond butter, 1/4 tsp of star anise extract and 3-5 drops of orange essential oil. Wowza. Chocolate. Orange. Licorice. Creamy cocoa butter. All in one place. Yes, there is a God because this must be the food He must be eating. Thank you for all your good work Carolyn☺
Erica B says
Exhausted but in the mood for something sweet yesterday…this was so simple to make and pop into the refrigerator! I used 6-7 ounces of chocolate, because my husband has a rule about minimum chocolate:peanut butter ratios in desserts. 😄 Tasty and quite pretty too. After refrigerating for several hours, I didn’t taste coconut in the finished product at all, and my husband barely detected any coconut flavor—pretty cool! Now I want to try a coconut version using more coconut butter in lieu of peanut butter…zebra butter! 😄 Thanks, Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Glad you like it!
Nicole says
Is there something I could use to substitute for the cocoa butter?
Carolyn says
Not in this recipe.