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These peanut butter oatmeal bars are the best trick! They’re no bake, easy and healthy; and the flavor is out of this world.
Here’s our new favorite trick for healthy treats: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars! These are everything you want in a treat: irresistible sweet peanut-y flavor, chewy texture, and a little drizzle of chocolate on top! These no bake oatmeal bars are like our famous bliss bite cookies, but easier and healthier (if that’s possible). And we can’t get enough of them! Our son Larson often asks with a sly smile if he can have an oatmeal bar: and we’re happy to indulge him. This sweet treat optimizes whole grain oats while hitting it big in the sweet, salty and satisfying department. Let’s get cooking! Though really…there’s no real cooking involved.
Ingredients for peanut butter oatmeal bars
There are only 5 ingredients you’ll need for these peanut butter oatmeal bars…and two are in the recipe title! That’s the ultimate easy recipe, right there. We love these no bake oatmeal bars for treats, but they’re also great for snacks since they’re mostly just whole grain oats. For breakfast bars, we prefer our straight up Oatmeal Bars: but you could also eat these for breakfast as well. Here’s what you’ll need for these babies:
- Old Fashioned rolled oats: Use plain old oats here: not steel cut or instant oats!
- Peanut butter: We like natural peanut butter with no added sugar or salt, but use your favorite brand.
- Honey: Honey has the best warm flavor and sticky texture. See below for a few vegan options!
- Cinnamon: This spice adds just the right nuance.
- Dark chocolate: All you need is a 1 ounce of dark chocolate — it’s just a hint of the good stuff!
Chocolate drizzle is optional
The dark chocolate is optional here: but it’s a great addition! Just the small amount of chocolate adds a great punch, but still keeps the treats on the healthy side. How?
- Dark chocolate adds just 8 calories per bar! That’s for the large sized bar (see more on that below). We’re not in the habit of counting calories, but we were pleasantly surprised to note that the drizzle doesn’t take it into decadent territory.
- Also try milk chocolate, peanut butter, or white chocolate. Some variations? Melt semi-sweet chocolate, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips into a drizzle. White chocolate and dark chocolate together would also look lovely.
Cut them into large or small servings
Serving size is helpful when you’re looking at healthy treats! These peanut butter oatmeal bars have two size options depending on what you’re looking for:
- Cut them into 20 bars, 4 x 5-inches. We like small rectangles vs the standard large squares you get if you simply divide a 9 x 9 pan evenly into 16. Call us crazy, but it’s more fun to eat this size!
- Or go smaller: cut those in half to make 40 bars! Love curbing a sweets craving with a little morsel? Go for 40 small bars: they’re perfect for little nibbles.
Vegan no bake oatmeal bars
Want to make vegan peanut butter oatmeal bars instead? The honey in this recipe is important for creating a nuanced, warm flavor and the sticky texture. Typically we use maple syrup as a vegan sweetener, but it doesn’t have quite the same texture and sweetness here. We recommend using agave syrup: it’s slightly stickier than maple. But you can use maple syrup if it’s all you have!
How to store peanut butter oatmeal bars
These peanut butter oatmeal bars are the perfect treat to throw in the fridge and gobble up on moments notice! They keep very well in the fridge or freezer; here’s what to know:
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you do the drizzle, wait for it to dry, then place wax paper between the layers. Or just don’t care and stack them, like we do!
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. They also freeze well…and honestly taste great popped out of the freezer too.
More healthy bars & balls
We love these healthy bars as a sweet treat that’s not decadent and fills us up with whole grains! Here are a few more healthy bars that taste amazing:
- Easy Oatmeal Bars The original! These are perfect for breakfast or snacks.
- Homemade Granola Bars Made at home, they’re full of amazing flavor.
- Peanut Butter Energy Balls or No Bake Energy Bites Try these tasty and easy energy bites that use similar ingredients.
- Pecan Energy Bars More like a granola bar meets a Larabar.
- Cashew No Bake Energy Bars Same idea, but with cashews and dates!
This peanut butter oatmeal bars recipe is…
Vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free. For vegan and plant-based, see the notes above.
Print
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 20 bars (or 40 small bars) 1x
Description
These peanut butter oatmeal bars are the best trick! They’re no bake, easy and healthy; and the flavor is out of this world.
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (no sugar added, or sunflower butter for nut free)
- ½ cup honey (or ½ cup agave syrup* for vegan)
- 4 cups Old Fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 to 2 ounces dark chocolate (1/8 to 1/4 cup chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Mix together the peanut butter, honey, oats, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. (If the mixture seems dry and not sticky, add a bit more peanut butter and/ or honey; different peanut butter brands perform differently.)
- Add a sheet of parchment paper to a 9 x 9 pan. Place the ingredients in the pan and press it into an even layer. Use a small glass to roll over the top to get it smooth.
- Freeze the bars for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the freezer and use the parchment to lift it out of the pan. Cut into 20 rectangles (4 x 5 rows) or 40 small rectangles.
- In the microwave with short intervals or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate, stirring until it comes together into a glossy chocolate. If using the microwave, use short bursts of 10 seconds or so and stir after each: be careful not to overheat the chocolate or get any water in the chocolate, which will cause it to seize up. When melted, drizzle over the bars and allow to cool. You can eat right away, or refrigerate for about 1 hour for a more solid texture. Store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks (or frozen for several months, placing wax paper between the layers).
Notes
*Maple syrup is generally our sweetener of choice, but the flavor and texture of honey really make these bars. Since maple syrup is not as sticky as honey, for vegan substitute we recommend agave syrup.
**We typically use about 1 ounce for a very light drizzle, but you can use more if you’d like more chocolate.
- Category: Dessert or Snack
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: Peanut butter oatmeal bars, No bake oatmeal bars, Healthy bars
More with peanut butter
Who doesn’t love nutty peanut butter? There’s nothing it doesn’t make better. Here are a few more peanut butter recipes to enjoy:
- Make up a batch of homemade peanut butter
- Wake up to Peanut Butter Oatmeal or Peanut Butter Pancakes
- Throw together 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies or Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Blend up a Peanut Butter Smoothie
- Make our famously easy Peanut Butter Dip
I made these yesterday with the chocolate drizzle. I know it’s there as an accent but we couldn’t taste it at all. No worries though, we just added MORE!! My all time favorite no bake granola bars call for mini chocolate chips. Next time I will add them in place of the drizzle. Oh, and I like a thin bar so I pressed the mixture onto a parchment lined quarter sheet pan.
Question, not reply. Just wondering how you integrate the dark chocolate square. Is it chopped or shaved?
The chocolate is melted in step 3!
willies
★★★★★
We absolutely love these! So quick and easy! It is a great and healthy snack!
Can you use quick oats in this recipe?
That should work fine!
The taste was good, not labor intensive so that was good. However, I found these bars to be dry and crumbly. Possibly next time, I would reduce the amount of oatmeal by 1 cup. Using 3 cups instead of 4 cups. Anyone else have this issue?
★★★
Every peanut butter brand performs differently, so you can add a bit more peanut butter and/or honey if the mixture seems dry before you place it in the pan. We have added a note in the recipe to account for that! Thanks for letting us know.
I’ve made these MANY times. The first two times they were great but now they consistently fall apart. And of course I have trouble “drizzling” the chocolate. I’m going to try a different recipe – one where it’s done on the stove. I’m also going to put the chocolate IN the mixture.
★★★
You said they were great the first 2 times but now they are falling apart. What have you done differently between then and now? And secondly, you could always fold the chocolate in with the mixture instead of adding it on top.
★★★★★
I warmed up so syrup and added it to the mixture and added lots more PNB since it turned crumbly.
I like to keep these in the freezer. They are delicious (warning, also addictive!)
★★★★★
This recipe was not good. The “bars” fell apart!!! I’m so disappointed. I added honey and pnut butter to make them more moist before freezing. Now, what do I do with this mess I’ve created? What could I add to make them roll into balls and then dip in chocolate? Add to pancakes, perhaps? Create a granola recipe? HELP!
★
I’m so sorry they didn’t work for you! We’ve never had this issue. I would just use it as a crumbly topping for oats or cereal.
This happened to me too. SO dry and crumbly — I even added more peanut butter and honey. So bummed!!!!!!
Amazing loved it!
★★★★★
We love these! I made the first batch with the drizzled chocolate. They were really great (despite my not being a big chocolate fan), so the new double batch I just made were with raisins instead. So versatile! We will eat them for breakfast, for snacks, and for desserts.
★★★★★
Love your recipes do you have a recipe for a healthy oatmeal cream pie alternative .my husband is addicted to them and I need to switch him to a healthy one …thanks
We don’t but that’s a great idea!
Are you supposed to wash the oats before adding them?
No
I make these peanut butter oats bars frequently. I’ve never melted the chocolate and instead space evenly a nestle toll house morsel across the oats after flattening and place in freezer, this way each bar after cutting has a chocolate chip. It’s a great and easy recipe’
★★★★★
These bars were so good that I almost finished them before even putting them on the pan 😅. Thank you so much for this recipe, it flipped my day around for sure.😁
★★★★★