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Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bars. Made with a no-bake chocolate cookie base, layered with creamy peanut butter, and topped with sweet salted chocolate fudge. These bars are sweet, salty, heavy on peanut butter, and extra chocolatey. Absolutely delectable!
The beginning of February is always a nice little post-holiday perk-up. We’ve got the Super Bowl, quickly followed by Valentine’s Day. I never know what type of content to share exactly: fancy dinners for two or game day recipes. Ideally, I try to have a good mix of the two. Or even better, I’ll share a recipe that works well for both occasions.
Today’s chocolate peanut butter bars are delicious for both Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day!
When it comes to game day recipes, my mind almost always goes to appetizers. I never think much about desserts unless, of course, it’s a buckeye. As an Ohio girl, I grew up making and eating Buckeyes (chocolate-covered peanut butter balls) every fall with my mom.
We certainly loved peanutty buckeyes on a game-day Sunday afternoon and happily enjoyed the leftovers all week long.
Living in Colorado now, I realize that not everyone knows what a buckeye is. But they’re still a dessert I often think about. This year, I decided that I wanted to create a Buckeye Bar. I love traditional Buckeyes, but when in a time crunch, bars (based on our love for those sweet chocolate-covered peanut butter balls) can be best.
They’re a layered bar with a chocolate cookie crust, creamy peanut butter filling, and fudgy chocolate topping. They turned out delicious!
These are the details
Step 1: make the chocolate crust
To make the crust, you need chocolate wafer cookies, or use Oreo cookies with the filling removed. Then, chocolate chips, salted butter, instant coffee, and vanilla.
Crush the cookies into a fine crumb. Next, melt the chocolate and butter together. Mix in the cookie crumbs, instant coffee, and vanilla. Then press the cookie crust into the bottom of a square brownie pan.
Step 2: the peanut butter layer
Simply mix peanut butter, maple syrup or honey, and coconut oil together and stir. 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/spread the peanut butter layer over the chocolate cookie crust, then freeze the bars. You only need to freeze them for 30 or so minutes. This helps the peanut butter set up quickly.
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Step 3: the chocolate fudge
Now, the 3rd layer, chocolate fudge!
Warm about a cup of heavy cream on the stove until it’s steamy. Then pour the cream over about two cups of chopped chocolate. Let the heat from the cream slowly melt the chocolate and create a creamy fudge-like sauce.
Spread this mixture over the chilled peanut butter, then sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Chill the bars until the chocolate is totally set. Once chilled, you can cut into bars and serve them up!
Be sure to keep these in the fridge. They can get a little melty when left at room temperature.
Final Review
Slightly crunchy and crumbly on the bottom, with the creamiest, perfectly salted, peanutty filling. And the chocolate top adds a nice fudgy layer with every bite.
Delicious! And great for parties too – these can really feed a crowd!
Looking for easy party desserts? Here are a few ideas:Â
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies
Homemade Vegan Peanut Butter Twix Bars
Caramel Butter Cake with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Lastly, if you make these Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge 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!
Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Servings: 16 bars
Calories Per Serving: 444 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Crust
- 40 chocolate wafer cookies or Oreos without filling (filling removed)
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Filling
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 2 cups semi-sweet chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- sea salt (if desired)
Instructions
- 1. Line a 9×9 inch baking dish with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the cookies into semi-fine crumbs. 2. Melt the chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave. Mix in the cookie crumbs, instant coffee, and vanilla. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan, packing it in tightly.3. To make the peanut butter layer: mix the peanut butter, honey/maple syrup, and coconut oil. Pour over the chocolate layer. Freeze 30 minutes until firm.4. Warm the cream over medium heat until steaming. Mix in the chopped chocolate until melted. Spread the chocolate over the peanut butter layer. Sprinkle with sea salt (if desired). Return to the fridge to set for at least 1 hour. Cut into bars. Keep in the fridge.
Have made this for my family and for friends a few times and it has quickly become a favorite!!
Hey Arla,
Awesome! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xT
What is the equivalent of 40 wafer cookies into cups? (I have a box of oreo crumbs to use!)
Hi Christine,
So sorry, I do not have that information, my guess would be 2-3 cups. Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
My husband and I loved this recipe! They are rich and delicious! I used thin Oreos and left the cream in, other than that, followed the recipe, easy.
Thanks so much Vivian!! I am so glad you and your husband have been enjoying this recipe, thanks for making it! xT
These are so delicious!! Don’t skip the instant coffee, you can find little individual packets at the store of them. It adds the best flavor. I also used an 8×8 pan and liked the thickness. So so good and easy!
Yay!! Thanks so much Claire:) Love to hear that these turned out well for you! xT
This recipe is awesome! I made it for my husband and he really enjoyed it! I didn’t have any issues with the recipe, everything firmed up as it should. I even messed up and forgot the vanilla in the crust so I threw it in with the PB layer, still worked! I used chocolate teddy graham crackers for the crust! Took quite a few of those little crackers but it worked!! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Shauna,
Amazing! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xx
I’m not sure why I’m the only one who this recipe didn’t work for. The chocolate “fudge” or “ganache” didn’t firm up at all. It was just a gooey mess on top, so when I cut the squares the fudge just spilled over and filled the space where I cut the square from. Then on the plate, the fudge spilled around the squares making them gooey and messy. I had to freeze them for 15 mins to be able to cut them properly. They taste good but don’t have the clean edges shown in the photo. I double checked that I followed the recipe correctly so not sure what happened.
Hi Robyn,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you had some issues! Did you freeze for 30 minutes or longer? It sounds like they just needed more time to set in the freezer. I hope this helps! xT
I had the same experience. The ganache layer was way too runny and I had to keep them in the freezer to cut them without the topping going everywhere.
They tasted great but I wouldn’t make again because of this issue. I also double checked the recipe multiple times to see if I’d made a mistake
Hi Chez,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear your fudge layer was too runny. I think just keep them in the freezer a tad longer would solve this issue:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
I am wondering if the type of peanut butter people are using makes the difference. I know that I buy natural peanut butter (only ingredient peanuts) and it is much more runny than the types of peanut butter with added things to keep it no stir. I haven’t made this recipe yet, so I don’t know…just a thought?!
Hey Rachel,
That’s a thought! I also use natural peanut butter so that’s what works for me:) I would think any peanut butter is fine though!
Do you think gluten free Oreos would work for this recipe?
Hi Amanda,
Yes, gluten free Oreos should be just fine for you to use! I hope you love this recipe! xT
Is there a substitute for coconut oil?
Hi Lynda,
You can use another neutral oil in place of the coconut oil:) I hope you love this recipe! Xx
Would vegetable oil work?
Yes, that would work well for you!
Delicious! I loved having a sweet treat in the fridge; the textures and flavors were so good.
Thanks so much Jessie!! Love to hear that these bars were enjoyed, thanks for making them! xT
Found Dewey’s Brownie Crisp Cookies on Amazon. These are just like the Nabisco version only a tad smaller. (much better than scraping icing) Reduced the serving size to 12 bars from 16. When doing this, remember to use a smaller baking dish (8×8 vs 9×9)as the printed recipe does not automatically adjust. The result was beyond delicious. Thank you for a providing a unique mix of favorite flavors
Thanks so much Annie!! Love to hear this recipe turned out well for you! Have a great Friday! Xx
For this recipe, do you not make the peanut butter layer on the stove top like in the oatmeal cookie bars recipe?
Hi meg,
Nope, no need to do it on the stove top, you can follow the recipe as written:) Please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Delicious! I recommend using a cup and a half of peanut butter as a cup as suggested did not cover my cookie layer. I also used Oreos with the filling and it turned out perfectly!
How long would you keep these in the fridge for? Can they be frozen?
Hi Phoebe,
Fantastic! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment! So glad it turned out well for you:) These are great in the fridge up to 1 week. I would not freeze them. xT
The recipe is very clear on the FILLING apart. It includes the peanut butter part with the chocolate top layer. I put it all together. It won’t look as pretty but I’m sure it will taste great. Maybe separate into 2 steps not one. Love the recipes in this site
Hi Kathryn,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear you mixed both of the chocolate and the peanut butter! I hope it still tastes yummy! xx
We made these for the Super Bowl and they are delicious! I can’t wait to make them again. The crust did crumble easily, but I’ll try a little more butter next time.
Thank you for another amazing dessert.
Thanks so much Catherine!! So glad to hear that these bars turned out well for you:) Have a great day! xT