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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.
Can I half this recipe?
Hi Molly! Yes, that should work just fine! 🙂 xT
I made these today and they turned out fantastic!! I am no pro baker and all I did was follow the recipe. No crumbling and they taste like I’m eating a Reece’s but healthier! Definitely going on my rotation list!
Thank you sooo much for trying out the recipe! So glad you enjoyed it! xT
Thanks for the recipe! Followed exactly as written and when first cut and tried one it was crumbly on bottom as others mentioned BUT after I put back in refrigerator and when chilled they were PERFECT!
Thanks for this input! I really appreciate this! 🙂 xT
My family loved these bars. The flavor was excellent without being too sweet. The cookie layer did crumble a bit as others have said but I just kept them in the fridge I will def make again.
Thank you SO much for trying out this recipe! Loveee to hear that you enjoyed it! 🙂 xT
After reading other comments about the layers not being thick enough, I used a 9×9 tin. They turned out perfect, not crumbly at all. My sons love them, I can see this recipe being on repeat for a while.
Thanks!
Hi Tara! Thank you SO much for trying out this recipe! Loveee to hear that you enjoyed it! 🙂 xT
Repeating what others have complained about – the oatmeal “cookie” layer is so dry it breaks in half if you try to pick up a square. Barely tastes like peanut butter. What a waste of really expensive ingredients. It was the beautiful photos that got me, but what I made turned out nothing like them. The site being half moving ads is another huge turn off.
This recipe gets a 5 on flavor, but 3 on finished product. I’d love to know how you got your cookie layer to stick. Mine completely crumbled once it was cut and no longer freezer hard. The peanut butter layer didn’t stick to it at all. My family loved eating it, but it was a mess and we ended up pressing the cookie into the chocolate/pb layer to eat. It wasn’t dry at all, it just didn’t hold! Please tell us how to make this work!!
Thank you for the feedback Amy! Hmm is there anything you did differently with the pb layer? xT
The flavour of these bars is fantastic. I love that they’re made with coconut oil rather than butter, and that they’re sweetened with maple syrup rather than refined sugar. But I agree with many others. The bottom layer of ours was crumbly – a bit too cake-y, rather than cookie-y. It doesn’t stick to the peanut butter layer so the bars fall apart when cut. Definitely have to eat with a fork, but even then, the top two layers are denser so it kind of squishes the cakey cookie layer. I’d love to try a modified version of these since the flavours are amazing. This is the first time a halfbakedharvest recipe hasn’t worked out for me!
Hi Robynn! Thank you for letting me know, I appreciate this input! xT
Followed recipe precisely but the bottom layer was all crumbs. Going into the pan, the base was not dry at all. Not sure what happened. ☹️
Great treat for a snow day! Oatmeal cookie layer came together quickly and baked well. Making and adding the other two layers was a cinch…and since the temp here is well below freezing, I left the pan on the deck to chill 🙂 Facepalm for completely forgetting to sprinkle on the Maldon. Once ready, the bars sliced nicely- and yes, the oatmeal cookie layer is a tad crumbly, as stated in the recipe- and the taste was indulgent without being overly sweet. The textural contrasts are fantastic. Thanks, Tieghan!
Hi Jane! I’m so so glad you enjoyed these bars! xT
Followed exactly as written and it was delicious. Cut it into serving sizes and put back in the fridge for whenever you want to grab a piece.
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have a great rest of your week! 🙂 xT
I did half a batch in an 8×8 pan and the bottom was dry and too thick. I used white flour instead of almond flour. Not much of a peanut butter or chocolate layer. I had such high hopes for this recipe.
The oatmeal cookie layer was too thick compared to the chocolate and peanut butter, so I’d recommend lessening the ingredients for the oatmeal cookie recipe for a thinner bottom. I had no problems with it coming out too crumbly. The pb layer comes out perfect and the sea salt on top of the chocolate is a nice touch. Overall- I thought this was an OK low-sugar dessert that would be much better with less oatmeal cookie layer! Will try again.
Hi Milly! Thank you for your input on this recipe, I really appreciate it! xT
The “cookie” layer turned out cake like and crumbled immediately once cut. I added more oil like the recipe suggested, which I think lent to the cakey texture. Couldn’t eat it. What a waste of time.
Oh no! I’m so sorry about that! Thank you for letting me know! Is there anything I can do to help? xT
I’d agree with a lot of other comments that say the bottom is too crumbly and thick and doesn’t stick with the other layers. I’d recommend halving the cookie layer so it’s not as thick and maybe adding more oil.
Thank you for the feedback Amanda! I appreciate it! xT
While very tasty, the cookie bottom was just complete crumbles, making it difficult to eat. It did not stay cohesive. Trying to freeze them to see if that helps. Liked the ingredients though- healthier.
Hi! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe! xT