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Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars. Doughy, soft, and fluffy peanut butter base, layered with sweet, fudgy chocolate. All made with simple ingredients: almond flour, maple syrup, peanut butter, eggs, and rich dark chocolate. These bars are sweet, salty, made with just the right amount of peanut butter, extra chocolatey, gluten-free, and butter-free. Every last bite is truly delicious, they really are quite magical!
There’s nothing my family loves more than chocolate and peanut butter paired together. It has always been the family “vice”. Universally, it’s a flavor we all love and could easily enjoy weekly – and sometimes we do!
With the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day both on the horizon, I have two focuses for the month when it comes to desserts…recipes for a crowd, and all things chocolate.
If they happen to be easy, and even somewhat wholesome, that’s just an added bonus!
Excitedly, these peanut bars, have all of the above. They’ll feed a crowd, chocolate is involved, and they don’t require a lot of effort. They’re low in sugar and even gluten-free!
So you see, these really are kind of like a magic chocolate peanut butter bar. I’ve made probably six batches in the last few weeks and we haven’t tired of the recipe yet. I’m even looking forward to sharing these on Super Bowl Sunday, they’re the perfect game-day dessert.
The peanut butter bar details
Nothing fancy here, just mix the wet ingredients with the dry and simply bake the bars in a baking dish. One bowl – nothing complicated. As mentioned, I used almond flour for these bars, so they’re naturally gluten-free.
And then, I used maple syrup as the sweetener, which I really love. Sweet dessert bars are, of course, delicious, but I hate the “sugar” headache you can get when they’re overly sweet. Don’t worry though, these peanutty bars are still plenty sweet!
The glazes
The glaze, or glazes, I should say, make these bars, and both are so simple. Just chocolate chips and either oil or milk.
Using milk gives us a really creamy, dark, and rich glaze that stays softer on the bars. It’s delicious and will leave you with chocolatey fingers.
Using oil gives us a more stiff glaze that really sets up and hardens after some rest time.
Both are equally delicious, it’s more of a texture thing. The chocolate + milk glaze is creamy and fudgy. While the chocolate + oil glaze is more firm, like milk chocolate. Using both gives you the best of both, so you don’t have to pick one.
And we love that! Each bite is filled with sweet, fluffy, almost cake-like peanut bars and extra fudgy chocolate glaze. Yummmy!
Looking for easy old-school-style desserts? Here are a few ideas:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies
Giant Salted Espresso Hot Fudge Cookies
Lunchroom Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Lastly, if you make these Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter 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!
Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Servings: 24 bars
Calories Per Serving: 261 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Chocolate Glaze
- 2 cups mini chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1/3 cup whole milk
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. In a bowl, stir together the coconut oil and peanut butter, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Add the almond flour, baking powder, and salt.3. Spread the dough out into the prepared dish. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, until just set in the center. Let cool completely.4. Meanwhile, make the glaze.Glaze 1: Microwave 1 cup chocolate chips and oil on 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.Glaze 2: Microwave 1 cup chocolate chips and milk on 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.5. Spread glaze 2 over the cooled bars, let sit 15-20 minutes, then drizzle over glaze 1, using a butter knife to swirl the 2 glazes together (note the order you add the glazes does not matter). Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour until set. Slice into bars and enjoy! Keep stored in a cold place or in the fridge.
Excellent! Used coconut oil instead of avocado as I didn’t have any avocado oil – worked out great. Really loved the combo of flavours. I understand why someone might find it not sweet enough but I liked the slightly reduced level of sweetness. Would definitely make again.
Hey Kathy,
Happy Monday!!💐 Thank you so much for making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was a winner! xx
I love to bake and enjoy having healthy options for my everyday sweet tooth. Sometimes I’m looking for buttery and rich, but I typically prefer darker chocolate and less sweet. This recipe is delicious. The base is moist and nutty. The 2 chocolate toppings…yum! I used dark chocolate chips with the oil and semi sweet with milk and they worked well together.
Hey Jan,
Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for making it! xT
Good but the avo glaze was way too avocadoey for me. I think if I made it again, I would just use olive oil or maybe coconut…?? But I did like the bar and the glazes were a good combo. It was very easy recipe!
Hey Lisa,
Wonderful!!😊 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was delish! Sure, you could totally use another oil! xT
These weren’t sweet enough for me. My base is piecey and nothing to rave about. The chocolate glaze turned out great though!
Hi Caitlan,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love the recipe! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
These are incredible! Made for Valentine’s Day, followed the recipe exactly but cut it in 1/2. I love that you don’t make your recipes overly sweet so you can really taste the flavors. Soooo yummy!
Hey Paige,
Amazing!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was a hit! xT
Made this recipe and I like the healthy choices. The only issue I had was that the icing was very runny. I had to put them in the freezer for awhile. I will use less milk next time for the icing. Either way, they are yummy! Thank you also for your recipes. I’ve tried a few.
Hey there,
Happy Monday!! 💘 Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
Wow Tieghan!! These are so fudgy and yummy! The only change I had to make was to switch out the whole milk to almond milk to make them dairy-free. Another keeper 😋
Hey Donna,
Happy Monday!! 💘 Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
Changed the recipe to 12 servings, then when I came to do the chocolate it had flipped back to 24, so I used double the amount if milk! 🤦🏻♀️
Hopefully it sets ok….
So sorry to hear this Lynne!! I hope they turn out okay, let me know! xT
Not nearly as delicious and the Lunchroom Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Hi Carrie,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it wasn’t enjoyed! xx
Hi! I am hoping to make these this weekend – do you have any good substitutes for whole milk?
Hey Dani,
Any other milk that you enjoy will work here. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
Not my recipe obv but Coconut milk works great for stuff like this bc it has a high fat content like whole milk. I’m talking about the canned stuff.
Thanks so much Abby!!
My son has a peanut allergy. Is there another nut butter I could use? Or maybe Wow butter?
Hey Hannah,
Sure, another nut butter that you can use will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Can coconut flour be substituted for the almond flour? I know you’ve only used almond and AP flours. Thanks
Hey Katie,
So sorry, unfortunately I’ve not tested this recipe using coconut flour so I can’t say for sure what the results would be! Let me know if you give this recipe a try! xT
Hey Tieghan! Made the bars tonight, and they are super quick, and yummy! Thank you. Bonus for a healthier treat! As a seasoned cook, I realize when you don’t have the proper ingredients, ESPECIALLY when baking, choose another recipe. Baking is exacting in that way. I don’t know what kind of personal issues some of you are trying to work out here, but this is a food blog. Let’s make an effort to be a little less nasty, hmmm?
Hey Kris,
Happy Friday!!❤️ I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad it was delish! xT
Hi Tieghan. Can I replace the coconut oil in the batter with butter? Similarly with the chocolate glaze, can I replace the avocado oil with butter as well? If yes, do I use the same quantity i.e. 1/2 cup melted butter in the batter and 3 tablespoons butter in the glaze?
Hi Beatrice,
Yes, that will work well for you, you will want to use an equal amount of melted butter. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
These are fantastic! A huge hit with my family, thank you!
Hey Betsy,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for giving it a try! Have a great weekend:)
How long do these last without refrigeration? Thinking to make to mail to my son for his birthday!
Hi Sophia,
So sorry, I definitely would not recommend shipping these. Here are some other recipes that would work better for that:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/creme-fraiche-chocolate-chunk-cookie-bars/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-pretzel-blondies/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/milk-chocolate-peanut-butter-truffle-brownies/
I hope this helps! xT