Next Post
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
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
I was disappointed in this recipe. I don’t think the measurements for the peanut butter filling are correct. In the picture it’s very thick but when you make it at home is extremely thin. Also, the oatmeal bar part is sooooo crumbly. It’s not substantial enough to hold the peanut butter and chocolate toppings at all.
Hey Rebecca,
So sorry to hear the recipe was not enjoyed, all of the measurements are correct and the bars are meant to be crumbly:) xTieghan
May I substitute King Arthur’s Gluten Free flour instead of Almond flour?
Hey there,
Yes, that will work well for you. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hands down this tastes great, but like a lot of others my oat bottom is almost cake like and falls apart. I did follow the recipe to the T – but there is something a bit off with the bottom – it’s so good though.
I agree!! My bottoms feel apart too and was a little salty for me. I also had issues with the pb middle melting into the cookie. I read the instructions multiple times to make sure it didn’t say anything about letting the oat bottom cool before adding. Maybe I should’ve done that instinctively. But I didn’t. Sadly it isn’t as thick.
Hey there,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! The bottom is meant to be crumbly. xTieghan
ok after seeing this recipe on tiktok i thought it looked delicious and wanted to make it but after reading all the comments i was concerned. i cut the amount of cookie base mixture I made in HALF and baked for only 15 mins until golden brown. removed the coconut oil and subbed a fill stick of butter to make it less crumbly. This was STILL a very thick base compared to the other layers, and a little crumbly so it’s difficult to hold in your hand, I can’t even imagine what a the full recipe would look like. made the other layers as directed – the peanut butter layer is very thin, as others have said, and doesn’t look at all like the pictures. I think the recipe is tasty with these modifications but be warned that the ratios are all way off if you want a bar that looks like the picture at the top of the recipe.
Hi Emma,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try and sharing your feedback. xTieghan
What are the calories and protein in this per bar?
Hi there,
Sorry, I do not know about the protein, the calories are 380 per bar. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Just made this~ You had the peanut and chocolate all under me section so I mixed it all together before I realized the direction meant to split the 2, anyway turned out great~ just skipped a part
Hey Shannon,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! Have the best weekend! xxT
Can the base layer be made as cookies, without the other layers?
Hey Suzann,
Yes, that will work well for you! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
So glad I tried these despite some of the reviews… Not sure what those are about!? Maybe some folks had the wrong pan size or measured ingredients incorrectly.
These turned out perfectly for me and look mostly like the photo, though I could have done a better job cooling layers in order to get even more defined layers. The bottom was not too crumbly at all, just the perfect chewy texture for an oatmeal base! Taste totally nostalgic yet in a healthier way (I am celiac so I was so happy to see this recipe was naturally gluten free!). These are especially great to share with others because the recipe makes a big pan.
I’ll definitely be making these again. Thank you for another super yummy recipe, Tieghan!
Hey Allie,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! Thanks so much for your kind message:) Have the best weekend! xxT
Vegetable oil instead of coconut oil?
Hi Sharon,
Yes, that will work for you! I hope this recipe turns out amazing, let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Bummed because it looks SO good, but my oatmeal bars were gritty? Not sure if it’s the brand of almond flour I was using (Kirkland’s), but I didn’t care for the texture. The chocolate and peanut butter, of course, are delicious!
Hey Brenna,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xTieghan
I love these bars–made them twice already! LOL
My notes:
I, too, printed the recipe before it was corrected and have made it twice with chocolate chips in the cookie batter. oh well…tastes great. For me, the cookie layer did not fall apart. The first time I made these the peanut butter layer was very thin as well–I know the creator of the recipe insists the measurements are correct, but even when I increased the amount peanut butter by an additional 1/2, the second time, it was thicker, but STILL not as thick as the pictures. None the less, I like these bars a lot. For those who say these are bland, I wonder if they typically eat traditional bakery items and consistently eat a diet with lots of sugar? If a palate is used to eating a lot of refined sugar on a daily basis, these bars will definitely taste bland. I limit refined sugar in my diet and these are quite flavorful!
Hey Sharon,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks sos much for making it! Thanks for sharing your feedback! xTieghan
Made this recipe today! excellent, I used butter in the oatmeal base, and three eggs. It is very tasty i like that it’s not overly sweet! I didn’t have extreme crumbling will cutting, I was able to cut them in beautiful squares and package them for my neighbors.
Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Hey Retha,
I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a try!! xxT
As always, I love, love, love your recipes. I made your recipe today after reading the comments about the “crumbliness” of the bottom layer. I took a chance and added a third egg and I must say it really worked.
Hey Angela,
Happy Wednesday!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Just made these for my kiddos after school snack, and YUM!
I was nervous after reading the reviews but I think the key is you have to let each layer cool (or freeze) completely before adding the other. I let the cookies cool, then poured pb, froze (took closer to 45-50 min), then added chocolate and let sit in fridge for 45.
My layers were perfect, didn’t run together, and were SO good! I agree with subbing butter for coconut oil. Just tastes more luxurious. These are a winner in my book! Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Kelli,
Happy Wednesday!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Made these as a valentine’s treat and we enjoyed them! Really appreciate new recipes with Almond Four – the layers looked different than the photos but got all the flavors in each bite. Keeping them in the fridge is the move, they are so delicious! Just really excited to have recipes without refined sugar and flour – thanks!!
Hi Lindsay,
Happy Wednesday!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Hi! Could I make this with honey instead of maple syrup? I know sometimes things don’t bind as well. I live in Spain and it’s hard to find maple syrup (so sad). Thanks:)
Hey Lindsey,
Yes, honey would work well for you. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan