When you’re craving a Reese’s but want a healthier treat, make my reader fave recipe for homemade chocolate peanut butter bars! Made in no time with salted pb, chocolate chips, oat flour, flax, and sweetened with maple syrup. And they’re no bake! Just freeze, slice ’em, and serve ’em.
Chocolate smushed with peanut butter…is there anything more magical? Five ingredients and done in 15 minutes? Yep. Topped with flaky salt, mind you! Healthy chocolate peanut butter bars are indeed a thing and we’re making magic today!
I swear these peanut chocolate squares of heaven totally remind me of Reese’s cups but BETTER! And when they’re frozen? You know I have lots of healthy snack recipes, but these are seriously up-leveled.
The best part about these is that they’re *actually* a delish, nourishing snack (over 5g protein and 3g fiber)! But don’t take my word for it…
Reader Gretchen commented, “I’m OBSESSED with these bars!! I made them about a week ago and am already thinking about making another batch! ★★★★★”
Reader Steph commented, “An absolutely delicious frozen treat–no substitutions but I always add a little more flax for a health boost…I made them all summer long but am on my way to make some right now. Far more satisfying to eat than a peanut butter cup! ★★★★★”
Reader Kati commented, “Super good! Always skeptical to make ‘healthy’ desserts but I’ll be making these weekly now!! ★★★★★”
Reader Katie commented, “I love this recipe so much! I’ve made it so many times recently. I will say that I do prefer it with almond flour, and the flaky salt on top definitely makes them! ★★★★★”
Let’s make ’em!
Pour topping over bars. Freeze, slice, EAT!
I learned a thing or two during recipe testing…
- Salt is a game changer. When I tested this recipe I purposely didn’t include salt in the dough because the salt in the PB plus flaky salt on top makes them the perfect salt level to balance the sweet chocolate.
- Natural PB is best. I developed this recipe specifically with natural, drippy PB that doesn’t have added sugar and oils because it really yields the best texture. Hard PB will not work here–trust me, I tried it! P.S. If you want a morning version of this recipe, don’t miss my baked oatmeal breakfast bars with nut butter!
- Peanut butter makes the chocolate topping easier to bite: When I recipe tested the topping with just chocolate, it got super hard and would break when you bit into it. The fat from the PB makes it a smoother bite! Other recipes call for more peanut butter in the topping, but I intentionally did less since the entire bar is peanut butter.
- Almond flour works, too! I made several batches of these with almond flour for a grain-free option and they were totally delish.
Storage
Once frozen, store sliced bars in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can store them in the fridge, but I prefer frozen. At room temp, they get super soft and the chocolate melts. No thank you!
Three cheers for the flawless union that is chocolate and peanut butter!
5-Ingredient No Bake Chocolate PB Oat Bars
-
Prep Time:
15 minutes -
Cook Time:
0 minutes -
Total Time:
15 minutes -
Yield:
16 bars 1x -
Category:
Muffins, Bites and Bars -
Method:
No-Bake -
Cuisine:
American -
Diet:
Gluten Free
Description
When you’re craving a Reese’s but want a healthier treat, make my reader fave recipe for homemade chocolate peanut butter bars! Made in no time with salted pb, chocolate chips, oat flour, flax, and sweetened with maple syrup. And they’re no bake! Just freeze, slice ’em, and serve ’em.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the bars:
For the topping:
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper. Combine peanut butter, maple syrup, oat flour, and flax in a medium mixing bowl. Mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until smooth. Press mixture evenly into the lined pan.
- Make topping by placing chocolate chips and peanut butter in small bowl. Microwave for a minute in 30 second increments, stirring each time until smooth.
- Pour chocolate on top of bar mixture and use a rubber spatula to smooth. Top with flaky salt.
- Freeze for an hour or overnight. Once solid, slice into 16 bars. Store in a freezer baggie or air-tight container in the freezer.
Notes
*This recipe was tested with drippy natural peanut butter. If your peanut butter is hard/refrigerated/needs to be scooped out, you won’t need as much flour for these to come together. I have not tested this recipe with conventional peanut butter spreads like Skippy or Jiff and cannot verify the results. Add ½ tsp fine sea salt if your peanut butter is not salted.
Readers have tried this recipe with almond flour instead of oats and reported that it worked great!
Inspired by these bars.
