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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
Love the no added sugar desserts! All the flavors are delicious. I followed the recipe and instructions exactly. My only complaint is the cookie part is very crumbly. Otherwise, I love it!
Sorry but the recipe is confusing!
Hey Katie,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
Yummmmm! Agree with the comments that the cookie layer is crumbly but that just gives me an excuse to eat this with a spoon (and ice cream).
Hi Laura,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
Yummmmm!
Since a lot of people are asking, in step 2 you fold the dark chocolate chips in after mixing the cookie dough. I exported this recipe into my recipe app and that step is there, not sure why it is missing on the website!
Hey Laura,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
Love these. Made them today, very rich
Followed recipe exactly.
Do you think they’ll keep in the fridge for a week?
Hey Sharon,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! Yes, you can totally keep these in the fridge. xxT
My daughter and I bake a HBH recipe almost every weekend and usually can’t get enough…this one just didn’t quite do it. The proportion of cookie to PB and chocolate layers wasn’t right and the cookie was generally pretty dry. Certainly not inedible but didn’t live up to our expectations.
Hi Emily,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try. xTieghan
Am I missing something? Where do both the chocolates go. Are they both for the top portion?
In step 2 you fold the dark chocolate chips in after mixing the cookie dough. I exported this recipe into my recipe app and that step is there, not sure why it is missing on the website!
Hi Sandra,
Sorry, you are only going to use the chocolate in step 4. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
There is chocolate listed in the first oatmeal layer but nothing to say when to add, I’m assuming I add at the end of the 1st oatmeal layer?
Hey Wendy,
Sorry for any confusion, there is no chocolate in the oatmeal layer, just the chocolate in step 4:) Let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
The bar is delicious, but it was so crumbly. Maybe I need to cook it longer?
The instructions are a little confusing. I realized I had combined the chocolate and peanut butter mixture (instead of making them separately). It’s setting now….I’m sure it will be good but not nearly as pretty as your pictures! ?
Hi Jen,
So sorry for the confusion!! Thanks for trying the recipe:) xTieghan
Hey Sara,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? I probably wouldn’t bake longer. Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
I can’t eat Almond flour; what other flour would work? Also, I can’t eat eggs, would flax seed eggs work?
Hi Mary Lu,
You could use GF flour. Sorry, I have not tested this recipe without the eggs, but let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I was super excited to try these, chocolate, peanut butter and oatmeal is a trio made in heaven! They turned out very rich and creamy. Talk about yummy!
Hey Stephanie,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
Made exactly as directed. Delicious! I have never used coconut oil or almond flour before. Can they be frozen? More than my husband and I need.
Hey Lisa,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! Yes, you can totally freeze these. xxT
Hello. Am I able to use something else besides coconut oil? I’m just allergic to coconut.
Thank you!
Hey Anaiza,
You can use butter in place of the coconut oil. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope it turns out amazing for you! xTieghan
Just made these and they taste amazing but my cookie base crumbled apart as I was cutting them – I followed the recipe exactly (including freezing for 30 minutes). Any thoughts on why this might be?!
Hey Meredith,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! So sorry to hear this!! I would say maybe freeze for a little next time, that should help with the cutting. xxT
Instead of peanut butter I did almond butter, I can’t really do peanut butter so I thought I’d try it. I’ll let you know how it goes:)
I hope you love the recipe Kayla!
Very good. I don’t normally bake with almond flour or maple syrup so I was hesitant to see how they would taste (they look amazing) and I was not disappointed.
I used all the listed ingredients and it worked out just fine. I think I will leave out the chocolate chips listed in the cookie next time; it’s good enough without them!
Thanks for the recipe and pushing me into baking with these ingredients.
Hey Melissa,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
Hi! You have chocolate in 2 parts of the recipe but no instructions to mix them into the cookie part. Is it only the 1 cup for the topping? Thanks!
Hey Jessie,
Sorry for any confusion! There is no chocolate in the cookie part, you can just follow the instructions in step 4 for the chocolate:) xTieghan