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Retro-style – but updated, Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars. Think doughy, buttery oatmeal cookie base, layered with creamy peanut butter, and sweet salted chocolate on top. All made with simple, wholesome ingredients: oats, pure maple syrup, natural peanut butter, and dark chocolate. They’re sweet, salty, heavy on the peanut butter, extra chocolatey, gluten-free, and butter-free. Every last bite is truly delicious.
When I think of February, I think Super Bowl Sunday, and then of course, Valentine’s Day. This year, we have the Olympics which makes things even more exciting. I’m sharing a couple appetizer recipes next week that will be great for viewing your favorite winter sport as well as the upcoming Super Bowl too. Lots of fun things this month!
For some reason, when I think of the Super Bowl, I always think of chocolate and peanut butter together. I’m sure it’s because I’m from Cleveland. Ohio is the Buckeye State, which means we all love our chocolate/peanutty sweets.
These bars are one of my favorite chocolate-peanut buttter combos yet. They’re somewhat inspired by my lunchroom peanut butter bars. But also by the Twix bars I shared a couple weeks ago. I took elements from both and incorporated them into this recipe.
What’s awesome is that they’re naturally gluten-free, butter-free, and have no added sugar other than pure maple syrup! We’re all loving the more wholesome desserts right now.
Start with the oatmeal cookie
I based this layer off of my mom’s oatmeal cookies, but made things less sweet. Just some oats, almond flour, and maple syrup with eggs and vanilla.
I also used coconut oil in place of vegetable oil, something I’ve been doing for years.
Then, just bake the cookies until set. They taste buttery and perfectly sweet, but with no butter or sugar!
The peanut butter layer
Simply just peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil boiled together to thicken the mix. The secret to making this layer really delicious is to use a peanut butter with just peanuts and salt. Don’t use a no-stir peanut butter that contains oils and/or sugar. You just want a natural peanut butter. This will give you the best flavor and texture.
Pour the peanut butter layer over the oatmeal cookies, then freeze the bars. You only need them to freeze them for 30 or so minutes. This helps the peanut butter set up quickly.
When the peanut butter is chilled and stiff, pour some melted chocolate overtop to finish the layers up. My one piece of advice here is to slice the bars before the chocolate top becomes too hard. This will make the bars much easier to cut and prevents the peanutty filling from getting squished out.
The final review? Slightly chewy and crumbly on the bottom, with the creamiest peanutty filling – that’s perfect salted. The chocolate top adds a nice “crack” with every bite.
Delicious! And great for parties too since these can really feed a crowd!
Looking for easy party desserts? Here are a few ideas:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies
Homemade Vegan Peanut Butter Twix Bars
Caramel Butter Cake with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Lastly, if you make these Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Servings: 24 bars
Calories Per Serving: 322 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Oatmeal Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Mix
- 1 cup, plus 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (just peanuts and salt)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper. 2. To make the cookies: In a mixing bowl, beat together the oats, almond flour, baking soda, salt, coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Press the dough into the prepared baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden. 3. To make the peanut butter mix: In a medium pot, mix 1 cup peanut butter, the maple syrup, and coconut oil. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Pour over the oatmeal cookies. Freeze 30 minutes, until firm. 4. Melt together the chocolate and 1/3 cup peanut butter in the microwave. Let cool 5 minutes and then spread the chocolate over the peanut butter mix. Return to the fridge to set, about 10 minutes, then slice. The chocolate will not be totally set, but slicing is easier this way. Keep in the fridge.
Notes
If the Cookie Dough is Dry: add 1/4 cup additional melted coconut oil to moisten it.
I was excited to try this recipe as I have a friend who is celiac and dairy sensitive. I followed the recipe exactly as written. The cookie layer was mealy and tasteless. I ended up saving the peanut butter and chocolate layers and throwing the cookie layer away. Not worth the expensive ingredients.
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is something that I can help with! xx
Can I use flour in place of the almond flour?
Hi Jade,
Yes, that will be just fine for you to do! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Just made these tonight and they are so good! I did make a couple of adjustments, based on comments and what I had on hand (got two feet of snow today so didn’t want to venture out!): I subbed butter for coconut oil 1:1 & honey instead of maple syrup, 1:1. I halved the cookie recipe, blended about half the oats into a flour & kept the others whole. I made these in an 11×7 Pyrex because I wanted taller bars. Used the full amount for peanut butter layer but didn’t use all the chocolate (just my preference, I really love peanut butter!). Didn’t have any issues with crumbly crust or other layers setting up. Highly recommend!
Hey Penny,
Happy New Year! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! xx
Question- is the coconut oil measured before melting? Anxious to try these!!!
Hey Tracy,
You will want to measure the coconut oil in its melted state:) I hope you love this recipe, let me know if you give it a try! xx
Fabulous! I make them on a regular basis and they’re always a hit.
Hey Heiba,
Happy Monday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try!🍁 xxT
If I did not have parchment paper, I just Pam’d the pan, would you recommend the best way to remove them and cut them?? I currently have them in the freezer before the chocolate step.
Hi Laura,
I would just cut them and remove with a spatula. I hope you love the recipe! xx
I’ve made this recipe probably six times now. The first three times I made it the cookie part was incredibly dry. I was using the cup measurements. I switched to using grams and they came out perfectly the last three times. Not sure if there’s something slightly off in the cup measurements. Having said that I absolutely love this recipe and so does my family. Hope that helps.
Hey Charles,
Happy Friday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe turned out tasty for you, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! Thanks for sharing your feedback! xx
I love these cookies! I don’t find them too sweet & love all of these ingredients combined. They’re super easy & are perfect for dessert. Thanks so much Tieghan!
Hi DeAnn,
Happy Monday!! I truly appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad it was enjoyed! xx
I was a little disappointed. The base didn’t have much flavor. The best part was licking the bowl I melted the chocolate and pb in.
Hi Kari,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! Please let me know if there is anyway that I can help! xx
Can I use pancake syrup ?
Hi Amy,
I would recommend using maple syrup:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Do you recommend letting the cookie layer cool before adding the peanut butter? I put it on straight out of the oven and I don’t know if that was correct
Hey Kari,
No need to let it cool, that is totally fine to put it on while warm! I hope you love the recipe! xx
Made these for a GF coworker and they were gone in minutes! Insanely good. Thank you very much, Tieghan
Hey Isabella,
Happy Wednesday!? Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was a tasty one! xxT
The topping was delicious, but like others- I found the base to be a bit dry, but then again they are a “healthier” version with no butter, so I may add a little next time- as the overall taste was great!
Hey Meghan,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! Hope you’re having a great week! xTieghan
Is that 12 full ounces of dark chocolate? So four of the bars linked
Hi David,
Yes, that is correct:) You don’t have to use the exact chocolate that is linked, you can use any brand that you like:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
The peanut butter didn’t really adhere to the cookie part and they were a little too crumbly, but taste was 10/10. Next time I’d let the cookies cool fully before adding the peanut butter layer and see if that makes a difference.
Hey Kristen,
Happy Monday! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing your feedback!! Have the best week:) xx
Hi T ! Love your recipes so much but found the bottom layer a bit dry (though tasty) and compared to your finished pic my middle and top layers were much thinner ! Maybe should double next time ?? Also, could regular flour be subbed at like amount thanks 🙂
Hey Margie,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! What size pan did you use? I would add 1/4 cup additional melted coconut oil to moisten it. Sure you can double the chocolate and peanut butter if you like! If you want to use all purpose flour I would reduce slightly.