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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 treats.
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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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.
This post was originally published on February 4, 2022
Crust a little crumbly and very healthy ingredients. The biggest problem is there isn’t very much flavor.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed!
Turned out PERFECT!! I had to wait a little longer for the chocolate to set, basically just until not glossy. Cutting was a breeze. Not dry at all and the peanut butter layer stayed well!
Hey Lauren,
Happy Friday!! Thrilled to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and taking the time to comment!
very good!
Hey Laura,
Happy Friday!! Thrilled to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and taking the time to comment!
They taste great BUT the oatmeal cookie doesn’t stick to the peanut butter with chocolate. The cookie crumbles. Eat on plate with fork.
Hey Robyn,
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your thoughts, so happy you enjoyed the flavors!
Can I use something other than coconut oil?
Hi Meg,
Sure, another neutral oil will work nicely for you!
I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
Hi what can you sub for coconut oil? Thanks
Hey Paul,
You can use another neutral oil that you enjoy. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Have a great week!
What about using AP instead of almond flour? Or can I use my own oatmeal cookie recipe since this one is turning out so crumbly?
Hi there,
Sure, you could try either or, neither have been tested so I can’t speak to how it will turn out.
Let me know if you give this recipe a try!
Do you have a substitute for Maple Syrup. Not a fan of it. Thank you
Hi Jen,
You could try honey in place of the maple syrup.
I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
These taste delicious! I neglected to read the reviews until I had made these and they were chilling (before cutting). Oops, should have read first because these were for a party. I have such faith in Tieghan’s recipes normally. This one was difficult but I pulled it off. Because most reviews agreed that the base was crumbly, I used mini muffin cups and cut them in bite size pieces while they were about 20 mins chilled but still soft on the bottom and moldable. My base turned out okay but the messy, finicky part for me was the slicing! Chocolate was everywhere since it is recommended to slice before hardened. It was comical. But in the end I prevailed with a final product that was well appreciated by all. I even sprinkled light crushed candy cane topping on with light sea salt.
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, Diane! I am so glad you were able to salvage them:) I appreciate your feedback!
Happy New Year!
Tieghan, you’re so welcome! I also forgot to mention I used Almond meal so maybe that made a difference in the base staying more melded? I
And thank you for the amazing recipes and beautiful images you continue to share.
We made these yesterday. The base is extremely crumbly and tastes strongly of coconut. In reading other reviews, perhaps butter would be better in the base rather than coconut oil. The peanut butter layer is very thin. Perhaps PB in the base would be a good add. These look delish but just aren’t a great recipe.
Hi Kelly,
I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t love it. xx
Man. I really hoped these would turn out, but sadly, the reviews were right:( I’m not sure how her layer of peanut butter would ever be that thick with only 1 cup of peanut butter. And the oatmeal base was so crumbly, I couldn’t hold the bar without spilling everywhere. The picture is definitely deceptive.
Hi Katie,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, I’m so sorry to hear they didn’t turn out for you!
They are addicting and so delicious, but I agree with the crumbly. The crust falls apart.
Based on comments I expected a dry dough that could be pressed into the pan, but my dough seemed wet? Your comment to add more maple syrup seems like it would create more of a cake texture? But the photo makes it seem more like a bar?
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear yours was crumbly as well. My guess is the maple syrup would hold the dough together a bit more. xx
I made this tonight, and used Smucker’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter (ingredients are peanuts and salt) in the peanut butter layer. It did not turn out well at all. Very grainy and dark and thick. Not smooth and creamy like the video. I haven’t tasted them yet, and they might turn out okay taste-wise, but the texture is definitely going to be weird. For sure, use a smoother peanut butter.
Hi Camry,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear about your peanut butter! I hope they still taste delicious! xx
We made these yesterday and my husband and I have managed to eat most of them already! We used butter instead of coconut oil and also used Lily’s chocolate chips to keep it cane sugar free. SO GOOD AND ADDICTING!!
Hi Lily,
Happy Friday! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, love to hear it was enjoyed! XxT
I made these and they have a very nice flavor. However,the oatmeal crust is extremely crumbly and falls apart quite easily. Is there anything that can be done to avoid this? I followed all the steps you provided etc. Sounds like others experienced the same issue with the crust.
Thanks so much, Michele! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Next time, you could try adding more maple syrup to the crust layer to see if that helps! xx