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No bake? Always a winning recipe! These simple No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are rich and chewy with hearty oats and sweetened with delicious maple syrup. A simple after school treat or fun recipe to make together.
No bake cookies in bar form
If there is a saying out there that starts with "A buckeye a day..." I would like to know!
Certainly, there isn't a doctor condoning such dietary habits, but I would be happy with it no doubt! I could seriously live on peanut butter and chocolate--it's the truth. A day without peanut butter especially is unheard of for me! Don't believe me? Check all of these recipes out!
Do you remember those no bake chocolate peanut butter cookies your mom may have made as a kid?
I remember being blown away by the fact that we could make a cookie without the oven. The original recipe usually has you spooning the little cookies into blob like pieces.
These No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars basically are the same concept but I find them much prettier.
To be honest, these No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars can be made into cookies or even rolled into balls. I just thought the bars looked a little more presentable.
You can also use any kind of nut butter or even sunflower seed butter. Feel free to use regular or gluten free oats. Also, while I used dark chocolate chips, it's not a must. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
Notes when making these chocolate peanut butter bars:
- I use natural creamy peanut butter. I find it is always nice and drippy and never dry. That is ideal for any recipe like this. However, since you are heating the peanut butte in this recipe, you may be ok still with a no stir peanut butter. It may be a little bit thicker and more dry.
- Almond Butter works great as well as cashew butter. I haven't tried it with sunflower seed butter but I imagine that would be great as well.
- All about that drizzle! These are great with a nice peanut butter drizzle! I think it makes them look extra fancy as well.
Try these other simple snack recipes:
- No Bake Samoa Bars
- Lemon Coconut Bars
- Copycat Perfect Bars
- Flourless Peanut Butter Chip Muffins
- No Bake Snickerdoodle Cookies
DID YOU MAKE ONE OF MY RECIPES? LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW! I ALSO LOVE TO SEE YOUR LEMONS + ZEST RECIPES ON SOCIAL MEDIA–TAG ME @LEMONSANDZEST ON INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK!
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats regular or gluten free
- ½ c natural creamy peanut butter or nut butter of choice
- ¼ cup 100% pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 ½ T cocoa powder
- 3 T butter, melted (or coconut oil for dairy free)
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, combine peanut butter, maple, vanilla, butter, and dark chocolate chips.
- Heat at med-low heat stirring constantly until chocolate chips are melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder.
- Pour mixture over oats in a mixing bowl and stir to coat oats.
- Press the mixture firmly into a small pan (I use a 6x8 inch or bread pan) lined with parchment. You can also roll into balls, flatten into cookies.
- Chill for about 30 minutes before cutting.
Jackie says
I don't see anytihng about the drizzle and where do you even find a 6*8 pan?
Lorie says
Hi! The drizzle is just plain old peanut butter. I added it when I updated the photos but hadn’t updated the recipe to add it as an option. So I have a 6x8 Pyrex glass rectangle dish. However, I have made these in an 8x8 and not pressed it all the way to one edge, leaving a 2 inch space. I’ve also used a bread pan to make them nice and thick. Hope that helps!
Rose says
What is serving size to = 1000 calories
Lorie says
Hi! I’m not quite sure. I don’t focus on calories due to my history and relationship with food. I’m sure you could plug the ingredient into a counter to get the details. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Kat Howard says
Just made these as an afternoon snack/treat...SO DELICIOUS!! Thank you for sharing your talent for food and wise words XOXO
Lorie says
Kat, I'm so glad you liked them! They are my new favorite for sure. I brought them to work to share and they were gone in an hour so I took that as a sign of approval. Thanks again for the kind words. 😉
Sherry says
Thank you so much for sharing yourself and showing what it's like to be vulnerable. I am working on sharing feelings so I really appreciate your openness.
Lorie says
Sherry, I really appreciate this comment! Putting my fears and anxieties down on "paper" has been such amazing and freeing therapy. It's not easy though that's for sure so thanks for the encouragement! It really means a lot.