Name: Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars - Easy No Bake Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 4 h 20 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips; 1 cup unsalted butter; ½ cup brown sugar, packed; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 3 cups old fashioned oats; ¼ teaspoon sea salt; 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips; 3/4 cup crunchy (or creamy)peanut butter

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These delicious chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars have a thick layer of peanut butter goodness between two layers of hearty rolled oats, all drizzled in deep, dark chocolate.

These yummy no bake bars mean that they are super easy to make and there is no need to turn on the oven. The bars are the perfect sweet snack or dessert and also make a tasty breakfast on the go.

You can even make them ahead of time for Thanksgiving or Christmas and freeze them. Then, at serving time, just bring them back to room temperature.

What could be easier? Keep reading to find out how to make these delicious layered bars.

For another great Christmas dessert, try these skinny dark chocolate cupcakes. No guilt and so dark and rich!

The best part of this recipe is that all you have to do is heat up the ingredients, layer away and stick them in the fridge to set. Read on to see just how easy this recipe is, so that you can try them, too.

Even a die hard baker sometimes wants a no bake recipe! In case you can’t tell from my previous recipes, I am all about quick and easy cooking.

The preparation time for this recipe is all of about 15 minutes. The fridge does the rest of the work, giving me time to relax and get on with other things I’d like to be doing.

With a glass of milk and a hearty appetite, you have a match made in sweet snack heaven!

Do you love peanut butter and chocolate like I do? Check out this recipe for buckeye fudge.

Let’s Get Started!

I use parchment paper to line my pan. Using it makes it so easy to remove the bars later and makes clean up a breeze.

The ingredients for these bars are those that you likely have on hand in your pantry. This makes them easy to prepare on a spur of the moment.

Heating the butter and brown sugar

Even though we won’t be baking these bars, the butter and sugar will still need to be heated on the stove so that the oats have something to stick to.

Adding the oats

Once the mixture is nice and creamy and well combined, stir in the oats and sea salt. You’ll stir this mixture for about 5 minutes so that it is well combined.

(Be sure to also check out my recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies with just 70 calories each!)

Time to layer the peanut butter oatmeal bars

You’ll use about half of this mixture for the bottom layer.

Spread it out evenly and press it down into the prepared pan so that you’ll have a nice firm base for the peanut butter chocolate layer to come.

Peanut butter chocolate time!

Combining the stars of this recipe could not be easier. Just heat the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl.

I like to do this in 30 second increments, stirring well between each, until you get a nice creamy mixture.

Let’s add the Reese’s layer!

This thick chocolatey layer gets poured over the buttery rolled oats giving them the second layer which is sort of like a Reese’s Peanut butter cup.

Add the rest of the oats and drizzle the whole thing with some more melted chocolate. YUM!!

Time to get cold…

All that is left is to place the pan of chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars in the fridge to set. It will probably take about 4 hours to really firm up. This is an important step.

If you try to cut them too soon, they will taste great but be too soft to eat as a bar. And placing the pan in the fridge is as Easy Peasy as it gets. Now it’s time to relax!

Cutting the bars

It might be tempting to cut into the bars as soon as you take them out of the fridge. (they look so tempting, right?) But let them come back to room temperature first.

Doing this will make sure that you get straight even lines and ease of cutting the bars. Cutting hard chocolate right out of the fridge is not easy. We want pretty bars, not chocolate bark!

Tasting these Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Now I love peanut butter and chocolate in any way, shape or form. They taste great separately, are heavenly together and add to just about any dessert.

But when you take those rich chocolate chips and turn them into a mixture with creamy peanut butter, and then pour it and drizzle it over chewy oatmeal bars?

Well, some words come to mind – heavenly, divine and mouth watering, to name a few!

Every bite of these delicious peanut butter oatmeal bars has the perfect amount of sweetness.

They have a crunchy texture and a wonderful Reese’s creamy peanut butter cup moment. What is not to like?

Having that thick band of peanut butter and chocolate in between two layers of crunchy, buttery sweet oats is a cookie lovers dream.

Bite into one of these delicious bars and what have you got?

a dessert made with just 7 ingredients
and prepared in just 15 minutes
that is bursting with peanut butter and chocolate flavor
and is gluten free (with vegan and refined sugar-free options below),
protein dense,
and perfect after a workout.
They are great for a quick breakfast
and delightfully Reese’s worthy!

They check all the boxes, right?

Nutritional information for these chewy oatmeal peanut butter bars

This recipe makes 16 bars. Each of these tasty oatmeal peanut butter bars has 325 calories. The bars are high in protein and have a decent amount of fiber, too.

Substitutions to make a oatmeal peanut butter bar fit your diet

These amazing bars are gluten-free already but you can easily turn them into vegan or refined-sugar treats, too. If you are looking for a way to make these fit into a special diet that you follow, these substitutes will help you to customize your recipe.

Butter

Earth Balance Spread makes a great vegan substitute for butter in this recipe. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are vegan, too.

Brown Sugar

If you don’t eat refined sugar, you can use coconut sugar in place of the brown sugar. Maple Sugar will also work well.

Peanut Butter

Can’t eat peanuts? Substitute the crunchy peanut butter with any nut butter. The bars are already crunchy so you won’t miss the extra texture.

I especially like making them with Sunflower seed butter, since it has a very similar taste and you won’t be baking the bars, so you don’t need to worry about it turning green.

These no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars will be the hit of any bake sale. If you take them to a pot luck dinner, be sure to take along the recipe as well. You’ll be asked for it, for sure!

Gluten free diet

Most chocolate chips and many rolled oats as well as the other ingredients in this recipe are naturally gluten free. Check your labels for mentions of cross contamination.

Pin the recipe for later

If you would like a reminder of this recipe for these no bake peanut butter oat bars, just pin this image to one of your dessert boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

More No Bake Recipes

If you love the taste of no bake recipes as much as I do, be sure to check out these recipes too!

Yield: 16

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars - Easy No Bake Recipe

The old fashioned oats in these tasty bars give them a delicious crunch, and the chocolate drizzle add the perfect amount of sweetness.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups old fashioned oats
¼ teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup crunchy (or creamy)peanut butter

DRIZZLE:

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Line an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, and set it aside while you make the bars.
This will make them much easier to take out later..
In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract over medium low-heat, until the butter has melted, the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is well combined..
Stir in the old fashioned oats and sea salt.
Cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 to 5 minutes.
Pour half of the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Spread out the mixture evenly, pressing it down lightly to give the chocolate an peanut butter a nice base to sit on.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips and the peanut butter.
Heat on high in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each cooking time, until the chocolate and peanut butter have melted and are well combined.
Pour the chocolate mixture over the pressed oat mixture.
Top with the remaining oats
Melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave and place it into an icing bag and drizzle over the butter oat layer to finish.
Place in the fridge to set for 4 hours.
Bring to room temperature and cut into bars

Notes

A note on cutting the bars. I like nice sharp edges to my bar recipes but when you have hardened chocolate in the middle AND on top, cutting them when cold is a challenge.

The answer is to bring the bars to room temperature before slicing them. You'll get nice clean edges with no broken chocolate bits.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars – Easy No Bake Recipe