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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
Amazing recipe but I think the oatmeal base measurements are off. It only filled up half of my 9×13 pan (around 0.5 inch high) so I ended up using a 9×9 instead.
Hey Grace,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! All of the measurements are correct:) xTieghan
Made these today. My cookie layer was very crumbly and I didn’t get a thick layer of PB like the photos show. Otherwise these were delicious!
Hey Shelby,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! Sorry to hear these were crumbly. xTieghan
Base was a bit crumbly but tasty. There wasn’t enough peanut butter center so I had to double it. Recipe needs fixed— there’s no chocolate in the cookie base.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback!! xTieghan
Love this recipe! I switched out the maple syrup for honey on the peanut butter mixture. All of my family loved it. The “cookie bar” portion wasn’t overly sweet and balanced nicely with the peanut butter and chocolate layers.
Hey Brennon,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
If you read the recipe, there is no place to put the second lot of chocolate. Does it go in the cookie part?
Hi Jennifer,
So sorry, there is no chocolate in the cookie part, just follow the instructions in step 4 for the chocolate topping. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
These are good! Relatively easy and quick to make. Not too sweet either
Hey Melissa,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
Good Morning! I just realized I don’t have enough almond flour ☹️ I have about 1 cup. Can you suggest a substitute?? Please
oh my gosh same here…wondering if I can sub regular flour…
Yup, just won’t be gluten free.
Yes, that should work well for you!
Hi Lisa,
You can use some all purpose or GF flour. I hope you love the recipe, let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
The recipe is confusing. You have chocolate chips listed in the ingredients for the cookie but they are not included in the directions. You have 12 ounces of chopped dark chocolate in the ingredients for the PB chocolate mix and this is used in step 4. I am assuming we fold in the chocolate chips for the cookie recipe. It would be much less confusing is you would clarify this in the recipe as many of us have the same observation. Thanks
I saw the insta story and couldn’t these out of my head so I finally caved today and made them. Pretty disappointed. Cookie base was so crumbly that it didn’t hold up at all. And I assume the chocolate chips weren’t supposed to be added to the cookie base? I had to double the peanut butter mix and still only got about a 1cm layer. Never a fan of melting chocolate in the microwave so I used the double boiler method. They taste good but are a bit underwhelming – won’t make these again.
Hi there,
So sorry to hear the recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
Hi Marnie,
So sorry for the confusion, there are no chocolate chips in the cookie portion of the recipe, you can ignore that! Just follow the instructions in step 4 for the chocolate layer. I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
The cookie crust ingredients include 1 cup of dark chocolate chunks or chips, but are not mentioned in directions for the cookie portion? I guess they’re to be adnothing. Oven is ready,, as are my ingredients. Here goes nothin.
Hey there,
Sorry for the confusion, there are no chocolate chips in the cookie portion. I hope you love the recipe, let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
Once again the salt wasn’t included in the directions. So again I left the salt out, and now the chocolate is hardened.
Hi Janet,
The salt is just added at the end, the chocolate can be hard, no big deal:) xTieghan
Could you please reply to Marnie’s question above? Many of us have the same confusion.
Hi Lynn,
I did respond to Marnie’s questions:)
My base was crumbly too and did not have enough peanut butter middle. My ratio was way off compared to your pictures.
Hi Diane,
So sorry to hear this, was there anything you may have adjusted? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
These are sooooo delicious. Took them to a neighbors to share … none were left! Might use a little less chocolate on top next time.
Hi Nancy,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! xxT
Can I use honey instead of maple syrup? Thanks!
Hey Norence,
Sure, that will work well for you! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hmm. I don’t have the crumbly oat base issue (go light with the flour), but there is nowhere near enough of the middle peanut butter layer in a 9 x 13 pan. It almost looks like the peanut butter layer was measured for a 9 x 9 pan and the oat base for a 9 x 13.
In general, using weights for recipes is much easier to follow, especially when you are dealing with sugar and flour. When no weights are given, I start with a very fluffy cup (literally scoop the flour and dump it back in a few times) – it’s always easier to add more than deal with too much.
Hey Mary,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, all of the measurements are correct. If you wants measurements in weight, just click “metric” below the list of ingredients. I hope this helps! xTieghan
These taste delicious in spite of the bottom part being super crumbly. And I’m confused….are they supposed to have choc chips in the dough? The video doesn’t show them. I would like to try making them again!
Hi Dorinda,
Happy Sunday!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it!! Sorry for the confusion, there are no chocolate chips in the dough, just in step 4. xxT