I used to be such a Starbucks aficionado. It’s funny but I don’t go at all anymore unless I am traveling somewhere and in desperate need of a cuppa joe. I much prefer to make my own coffee and specialty drinks at home. Or maybe I have just become THAT anti-social.
I do have fond memories of their old baked goods, back when quality mattered to them. And I have created any number of low carb copycat recipes, like Keto Maple Pecan Scones and Keto Frappuccinos.
To be honest, my healthier versions are just as good as, or possibly even better than, the originals. And these Keto Fudge Crumb Bars are no exception.
What readers are saying
“These were absolutely AMAZING!! I can’t believe they are low carb. No one would ever suspect. The only thing I did differently was add extra sweetener because the chocolate was pretty bitter and I’m not a fan of extra bitter chocolate. Thank you once again, Carolyn, for a marvelous dessert!” — Nancy
Why this recipe rocks!
I really used to love the oatmeal fudge bars, with a delicious crumbly crust and rich chocolate filling. So how does one replicate that same crumbly, buttery crust in a low carb way?
You will be happy to hear that it’s not that hard. Done correctly, almond flour makes a great crumb crust for keto baked goods. It really comes down to the right ratio of almond flour, sweetener, and butter. I always like to add in a bit of coconut flour too, to dry out the mixture. I’ve used similar crusts in recipes like Keto Caramel Butter Bars and Keto Pumpkin Coffee Cake.
The filling is a simple keto chocolate ganache with a little added thickener. It’s like chocolate sauce when you pour it over but it becomes a thick, delicious fudgy layer as it bakes. The end result is spectacularly delicious!
Ingredients You Need
- Almond flour: You really do need to use a good finely ground almond flour for this recipe.
- Sweetener: Erythritol based sweeteners will give you the best results for the crust. But you can use other sweeteners in the filling. See the Tips for Success for more information.
- Coconut flour: A little coconut flour gives the cake a lighter, fluffier consistency. It also helps cut down in fat and calories!
- Butter: For a dairy free option you can swap it out for coconut oil or palm shortening.
- Heavy whipping cream: A good chocolate ganache always starts with heavy cream!
- Unsweetened chocolate: Do note that this is completely unsweetened chocolate, meaning it doesn’t contain any sweeteners at all. I recommend getting a good brand like Guittard or Ghirardelli, as they are less likely to seize.
- Glucomannan: This helps the fudge filling thicken. You can also use xanthan gum.
- Pantry staples: Vanilla extract and salt.
Step by Step Directions
1. Make the crumb crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, and salt. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract and toss until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Bake the bottom crust: Press 2/3 of the mixture firmly into bottom a greased 8×8 baking pan. Bake at 325ºF for 8 minutes, until just golden on the edges and then remove (it will not be baked through).
3. Prepare the fudge filling: In a large saucepan, heat the whipping cream and powdered sweetener over medium heat, stirring to combine. Bring to barely a simmer and remove from heat. Add the chopped chocolate and let sit 5 minutes to melt.
4. Pour over the crust: Whisk filling until smooth, then add the vanilla. Sprinkle with glucomannan and whisk to combine. Pour the filling over the crust and spread to the edges.
5. Bake the bars: Sprinkle the surface with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, until the topping is golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
Tips for Success
You want the crust mixture to resemble coarse crumbs, so if it’s too soft, add a little more almond or coconut flour to help thicken it.
Unsweetened chocolate makes a better fudge filling because it thickens up better than sugar-free brands like Lily’s or ChocZero. You can use these if you like but your filling may be a little too soft.
Sweetener Options
An erythritol based sweetener is your best bet for the crust in this recipe. Allulose sweeteners will make it too soft and hard to pick up. If you want to cut back on the erythritol, try using only 1/3 cup and adding a little stevia extract to make it sweeter.
The filling should work with both erythritol and allulose, although it may take longer to firm up properly with allulose. Make sure you use a powdered sweetener. I don’t recommend stevia extract here, as it can be very bitter when directly combined with chocolate.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make a wonderful crumb crust with almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener and butter. It’s great on everything from keto coffee cake muffins to Keto Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars.
These crumb bars will be good on the counter for up to 5 days, as long as you are not in a hot area. Otherwise, keep them in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze these bars. Wrap them up tightly and store in a freezer safe container for several months.
This keto fudge crumb bar recipe has 5.4g of carbs and 2.7g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.7g net carbs per bar.
Keto Fudge Crumb Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups (224 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (91 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (85.21 g) butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling:
- 3/4 cup (178.5 g) whipping cream
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 3 ounces (85.05 g) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp glucomannan, (or xanthan gum)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease an 8×8 inch metal baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, and salt. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract and toss until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Press 2/3 of the mixture firmly into bottom prepared baking pan. Bake 8 minutes, until just golden on the edges and then remove (it will not be baked through).
- In a large saucepan, heat the whipping cream and powdered sweetener over medium heat, stirring to combine. Bring to barely a simmer and remove from heat. Add the chopped chocolate and let sit 5 minutes to melt.
- Whisk filling until smooth, then add the vanilla. Sprinkle with glucomannan and whisk to combine. Pour the filling over the crust and spread to the edges.
- Sprinkle the surface with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, until topping is golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Carolyn,
We LOVE all your recipes – this one included! If I were to make this into a more Christmas dessert by adding mint to the chocolate, do you have any idea how much peppermint extract I would add to a recipe?
Thanks,
Carol
That depends a bit on your peppermint extract and how strong it is but I think 1 tsp.
Carolyn, i love your food! I am not a baker so it intimidates me. I just made this recipe, my chocolate was thin even after beating for what i felt like was long enough ? and my crumb mixture was wet sorta so it sank. On the positive side it smells yummy, not sure what it’s to look like when i take it out ? i will let you know how it tasted. Thank you for sharing all your yummy stuff with us wanna be cooks/bakers ♥️
What brand of chocolate did you use?
Can I use Lily’s chocolate for this recipe?
No, it doesn’t have enough fiber and the filling won’t set as well.
Just made these for the first time. They were a huge hit! I followed the recipe exactly so the flavor was perfect. They didn’t set up real well in our 100+ degree weather in Arizona so I refrigerated them. Would they set up better with a little extra Xanthan Gum do you think?
That might help a bit!
Carolyn!!
Thank you, thank you thank you for this recipe. Low carb sweets have been my nemesis. But, THESE! They got rave reviews from the kids and hubby. I’m not a fan of coconut and it does have a slight taste of coconut in the crust but I loved it. It reminded me of chocolate cream pie in bar form. I followed the recipe exactly as written except I halved the recipe and baked in a 8×8 pan. Thanks for all the hard work you put in to give us healthy and yummy food! 🙂
Delighted it hit the spot!
Hi, foolish question but is whipping cream the same thing as heavy cream?
Yes and no. Heavy cream must have a milk fat percentage of 36% or higher. Whipping cream is anywhere between 30 and 36%. They can both be used here, though.
Just saw this recipe on Facebook. Looks delicious, but I’m not fond of coconut. Would slivered almonds provide the texture needed in the crust?
If you can use sliced almonds, that works best.
This looks wonderful, but do I have to have Swerve Sweetner? I have THM Sweet Blend. Can I just exchange that for equal amounts of the Swerve Sweetner? I do have the POWDERED Swerve Sweetner for the filling
Don’t do equal amounts, the sweet blend is much sweeter than Swerve. Swerve measures like sugar so figure out how much of the THM blend to add in relation to sugar.
Several people mentioned using half and half instead of whipping cream. Do you think it would work as well? Just looking to keep some of the calories down. Would it just not taste as rich or would it alter the recipe? Looks delicious.
I think it would be fine for this recipe.
I changed the recipe up by using coconut cream, coconut oil, stevia, and a little xylitol. It was a very thick, rich, dark chocolate, that tasted great. It set up well so next time I’ll add more coconut cream to turn it into a pie.
Hi I know it late in the peace to be asking a question do you think it would work replacing the Almond flour with oat flour? in NZ Almond flour is $65.00 per kilo just cant afford to buy it .
Ouch, yikes! That is expensive. Oat flour is finer, and not as fatty, so you will need to compensate for that, possibly with more butter. Also…oat flour will raise the carb count.
Yeh I know expensive I just cant afford to use it, I dont worry to much about the carb count I just try to keep to healthy wholefood diet I use organic buckwheat flour quite a bit and make a flour out of ground up seeds ( seed flour ) my thoughts being that its protein Im consuming not carbs thinking its healthier for me, just need to change things around to what we can get and afford, but hay girl I just love your recipes. :0)
Okay so my thoughts are…sub the almond flour with oat flour and be ready to add more melted butter as needed.
Is it ok to use gentle sweet? If so, how much?
I am not sure that the filling will firm up properly but it’s worth a shot. Use the chart to tell you how much Gentle Sweet in relation to sugar, since Swerve measures like sugar.
You are awesome and so are these bars!! I love your recipes 🙂
Carolyn, I made these this weekend and THEY ARE SO GOOD!!! So easy to make and so delicious. These saved me from getting a Swig sugar cookie this weekend (a local soda shop here in Utah; their sugar cookies are a huge weakness for me). Thank you so much for all you do in developing these recipes for low-carb eating.
So glad I could help!
I made these for (diabetic) DH yesterday and I would defy anyone to guess they are sugar-free. They were a bit crumbly coming out of the pan, but firmed up fine after refrigeration. Am always looking for nice treats to share for family dinners, etc so DH doesn’t feel left out. These were amazing. Thank you Carolyn.
So glad to hear it!
Holy cow…I love this recipe. And my friends aren’t eating Keto or LC love these delicious chocolate squares too. My cousin (11years now) has diabetes- I’ll definitely surprise her with a batch. Maybe you have a recipe as well kids can easily make themselves. Thank you Carolyn! I love your blog!
So glad to hear it. Hope your cousin loves them!
Just made these! Pretty good! The only thing I did different was use Half and Half and a little more Xanthan Gum – turned out fine 🙂
I accidentally put in baking soda instead of xantham gum and they came out perfect! Ha 🙂
Made these this weekend. I agree very rich and amazing after refrigerated . I’ve been putting a bit of sugar free raspberry jam on them and some whipped cream or some of that halo top ice cream and man are they even more amazing! Thank you so much for such a great recipe!!!