Next Post
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
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.Â
Like other commenters noted, this recipe is not good. The final outcome does not have the layer of peanut butter as represented in the beautifully staged photos. Somehow the taste of peanut butter barely comes through, and the bottom layer of oats is neither a cookie nor granola bar, and doesn’t really taste like anything (and this is after I added cinnamon based on other comments about the lack of taste).
I’m increasingly underwhelmed with this site’s recipes – they are pretty on Insta and dull in the mouth. It’s unfortunate, but I have the impression that whomever is developing the content here isn’t actually eating it.
I really wanted to love these. I wish I would have read the comments first. I found the oatmeal base too dry and crumbly as other poster’s mentioned. They are difficult to eat without something to drink. Maybe they will be good with a cup of coffee in the morning.
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try! So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. I’m not sure why the base is coming out so dry for some, it definitely is crumbly from the oatmeal. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
i think one additional step might be helpful…..when the cookie base is finished baking it should be cooled a bit before the PB mix is added on top. my pan stayed so hot when poured directly from the oven. it might help to cool it for a few minutes?
Hi Pam,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Sure, having them slightly cool a bit is a great idea! xx
This was a great idea but unfortunately was a miss. Instructions and method were great but as others have said, the base seemed like .. it didn’t know what it wanted to be? It wasn’t a cake or a cookie or crust, so unfortunately was bland and dry. I’d be interested to see it reworked with a crunchy crust.
Hey Hayley,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear about the base, maybe try using a glass baking dish next time, that seemed to have helped others! xT
I was so excited to make these, but was very underwhelmed with the results. I followed the recipe exactly and used the correct size of pan. The cookie layer was very dry and crumbly and the peanut butter layer was much thinner than the photos. My husband and I had a hard time finishing a serving without needing a large glass of water. I won’t be making this again. I love many other recipes from HBH, I just think this one is a miss.
Hey Sarah,
So sorry to hear that this recipe did not turn out for you! Thanks so much for making it and let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
These look and sound delicious! Sadly, my daughter has a peanut allergy. What can you recommend as a sub for the peanut butter? Probably an annoying question but worth an ask for an allergy.
Hey there,
Can you use almond butter? Even cashew butter or sunbutter would work well for you too! Let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Love the idea of these, but I found the cookie layer too thick compared to the pb and chocolate layers. Would have preferred less cookie or thicker top layers personally. Bottom was also crumbly for me too, but overall enjoyed the flavor!
Hey Rachel,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Glad to hear the flavors were enjoyed but some of the layers you didn’t love! xx
Hi! How do I store these? I’m going to make them for a baby shower & would love to make them a few days before.
Hey Jo-Ann,
You will want to keep these in the fridge:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope this turns out well for you! xx
HUGE fan of the ingredients, this is a dessert I don’t mind letting my kids have. And was AMAZED at how good it tasted. Perfect combination of salty and sweet. The base cookie complemented the gooey peanut butter and sweet chocolate perfectly. I think some of the other commenters may have missed a step. 10/10
Hey Rachel,
Happy Sunday!😃 Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, I am so glad it turned out well for you! xx
These bars are delicious! I ran out of coconut oil and subbed in vegetable oil for the base layer and butter for the PB layer. I did not add the extra oil and while the bottom is maybe *slightly* crumbly it’s not detrimental to the recipe, not sure what these reviews are talking about? I did use a glass pan and baked for 30 mins, kept in the freezer for a little longer than specified to harden the bottom layer up which may have helped! 🙂
Hey Cynthia,
Happy Sunday!😃 Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, I am so glad it turned out well for you! xx
Great flavor! The crust was a little crumbly like others said. I followed the recipe to a T. Definitely going to try again and tweak it to get the crust firmer. Thanks!
Hey Kathleen,
Perfect!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:) xx
I made them in a 8×8 dish, and I cut the cookie ingredients in 1/2. It actually made perfect ratios of the cookie, PB mix and chocolate top. We just didn’t want that many bars (bc we would eat allll of them). Also added a bit of cinnamon to the cookie part, a bit of cardamom to the chocolate, & used 1/2 almond butter + 1/2 PB to fulfill my but butter amount. Half the bars are in our freezer and half are in our fridge to enjoy this week but not get too plump over lol. Try them!
Have you tried making these with gluten free flour? I’m not a fan of almond flour
Hey Deidre,
Sure, gluten free flour will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
I really enjoyed these bars! I ended up halving this recipe and baking in an 8×8. They turned out great! The cookie layer was a little crumbly but I liked it that way!
Hey Leslie,
Awesome!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:)
I didn’t love this recipe. The directions are wonderfully written and easy to follow which I appreciate so much in a dessert recipe as I am not a great baker. Unfortunately for us the cookie part was very crumbly and lacked any flavor so this won’t be something we likely make again. If we do I may try and bake the cookie layer much longer.
Hi Katy,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear you didn’t love it, let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
Hey…. I’ve made these twice .. today!… the base is really crumbly… can’t eat as a bar… need fork and plate … this seems to be a common theme.. any chance of adjusting anything? Mixture was not at all dry going into oven. Thanks! Andrea
I am sorry to say that this is not a keeper. Cookie base is dry and crumbly will little to no flavor. I will try to drop my kids into eating them but I worry about the mess they may leave due to the crumbling base.
Hi Leslie,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear they were not enjoyed. Was there anything you may have adjusted or anything that I can help with? Let me know! xx