No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Recipe + Video
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No Bake Peanut Butter Bars are a delicious treat for peanut butter lovers! This simple dessert has a scrumptious crunchy peanut butter base topped with a glorious chocolate ganache that will blow your mind!! Make this easy peanut butter bars recipe for your next picnic or potluck.
I think that these taste like Reese’s peanut butter cups but with simple ingredients.
The key to making this new recipe and easy dessert is to get a smooth chocolate layer paired with the creamy peanut butter.
The hardest part of this recipe is not eating the entire pan!
I love to make these sweet treats on a hot day because I don’t have to turn on the oven.
The first time I made a batch, my sweet tooth kicked into overdrive, and I couldn’t stop snacking!
The chewy peanut butter texture paired with the rich chocolate flavor makes the best no bake dessert recipe to have on hand.
I use a square pan for this no bake peanut butter bar recipe because it makes it super simple to cut into squares.
And the best part is that you can keep them at room temperature in an airtight container to enjoy later.
The only thing that I have to warn you about with this great recipe is that they’re not going to last a long time.
Literally, in my house, the pan is over half gone in just a half hour because everyone loves the yummy twist of this no bake dessert.
Since this is the easiest dessert, I’m making a double batch the next time that I make it!
Table of Contents
No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
There is nothing I love more than no-bake desserts in the middle of the summer. I don’t like to wait in front of a hot oven for dessert, do you?
No bake chocolate peanut butter bars come together without turning on the stove and with just 5 ingredients. That is my kind of recipe!
Recipe Video
To see us make no bake peanut butter bars from start to finish, watch the video in this post!
Have you tried my No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake yet? It’s the perfect seasonal dessert to kick off summer.
Or try our scotcheroos — they’re loaded with chocolate, peanut butter, and butterscotch! You also have to try these graham cracker brownies!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Graham Cracker Crumbs – You can make your own from graham crackers, but they really need to be fine crumbs to work properly in this peanut butter bars recipe.
A food processor will get the job done right. - Peanut Butter – Use creamy or crunchy peanut butter for no bake peanut butter chocolate bars — it really depends on the texture you prefer.
If you use natural peanut butter, the bars will need to be refrigerated to stay firm. - Chocolate Chips – I think milk chips taste really nice with the peanut butter, almost like a Reese’s cup!
Feel free to use semisweet or dark chocolate if you prefer. - Powdered Sugar – This adds sweetness and helps get the consistency just right.
You cannot substitute another type of sugar — it must be powdered for this peanut butter bars recipe to work!
Tips for Making No Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Use a rubber or silicone spatula.
These ingredients are sticky!! Spatulas are sturdy enough for stirring but easy to wipe clean so every last bit gets in the pan.
For even easier spread, spritz the spatula with cooking spray first.
- Line your pan for easy slicing.
You can use aluminum foil or parchment — just tear off a long enough piece so some hangs over the longer sides of the pan.
Once the no bake peanut butter bars are set, lift them straight out of the pan and onto a cutting board.
Run a large knife under hot water, then dry completely. It will glide through the dessert easily, creating perfectly clean squares!
- Plan ahead.
Once assembled, no bake peanut butter chocolate bars need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 to 2 hours to fully set.
Feel free to make them the night before or morning of a party so it’s one less thing to worry about!
Peanut Butter Bars Recipe FAQ
Yes! If you don’t have a microwave, you can still make these no bake peanut butter chocolate bars.
Melt ingredients together as directed using a nonstick pan on the stove. Keep the heat on low so nothing burns, and stir constantly.
If you want to make these no bake peanut butter bars a little bit healthier, you can use a one-to-one stevia blend instead of the powdered sugar.
That will help cut the sugar content. And, you can use PB2 made into peanut butter to cut the calories and the fat. It’s still a delicious treat!
You will need to have some type of cracker or cookie crumb for the base of these crunchy peanut butter bars.
If you prefer not to use graham crackers, you can try any of the following instead:
Nilla Wafers
Oreo Cookies
Gingersnaps
Chocolate wafer cookies
Nutter Butter cookies (for the REAL peanut butter lover!)
And, you can make gluten free peanut butter bars by using gluten-free graham crackers.
Or, for a slightly different taste, you can try crushed pretzels for a pretzel crust — the salty and sweet combination is delicious!!
Storing and Freezing Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars
You will want to keep no baked peanut butter chocolate bars in the refrigerator. The layers will soften or melt if they are exposed to warm temperatures.
Crunchy peanut butter bars can stay out for a few hours while you plate and serve them, but for longer periods, keep them in the refrigerator.
They’re also freezer friendly! Slice and place in a freezer container that’s been lined with foil. Don’t stack, or they’ll stick together.
Freeze no bake chocolate peanut butter bars for up to 6 months and thaw them in the refrigerator when you’re ready to eat them.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Recipe + Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, 2 sticks
- 2 1/2 cups honey roasted crunchy peanut butter, divided
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add butter to a large microwave-safe mixing bowl. Heat in the microwave until the butter is completely melted. Stir in the peanut butter. Once combined add the graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar. Stir until everything is completely incorporated.
- Pour mixture into a 9×13 baking pan and spread evenly. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the ganache topping.
- Heat the chocolate chips and remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat 30 seconds at a time and stir between intervals.
- Pour the ganache over the peanut butter layer. Smooth into an even layer.
- Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Cut and serve. Store bars in the refrigerator.
Video
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published October 2017, updated and republished August 2024
Disclosure: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link your price will remain the same and The Slow Roasted Italian will automatically receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting us, it helps us keep creating new recipes.
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We’re Donna and Chad, the dream team behind The Slow Roasted Italian. Our focus is on taking complicated OUT of the kitchen. Life is busy enough, making meals should be fast and easy, to help make your life as simple as possible. Read More >>
SO GOOD!!!! If you are a peanut butter/chocolate fanatic like me, then you will love this. I followed other reviewers suggestions to make the recipe easier by melting the peanut butter with butter, then mixing with graham crackers and powdered sugar. Also, chill the peanut butter base for 15 minutes before topping with chocolate mixture.
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When I was a kid, my favorite treat was the peanut butter squares we got at lunchtime in elementary school. I've tried this recipe with creamy peanut butter and the graham crackers just didnt do it for me, so I tried it without the Graham crackers and it was much better, more like what I enjoyed as a kid.
So do can we just follow the same recipe but leave out the crackers. I’ve been looking for a recipe for the peanut butter bars from school for ever. Those were my favorite and sometimes the only thing I wanted at lunch.
The gramcracker takes place of the flour. You cannot use raw flour. Leaving it out without replacing, I will make it running and not thick. I imagine you could probably put some vanilla wafers in a blender and use that as a substitution. Unless you have an allergy, I doubt that you would even taste the graham cracker.
I’m in Australia and a couple of ingredients are foreign to me. The crackers have me scratching my head. The only one I can find here are Oreo’s which I think will make the bars ! too rich. Aha! I’ve just seen that I can use normal peanut butter so that solves that problem.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Try wheatmill biscuits
The same crackers as for s'mores. Digestive biscuits or granita biscuits. Have fun!
Instead of graham cracker crumbs could you use like rice krispies?
Yes i do these all the time just use the 1/2 cup PB with the melted chocolate chips on top . They are yum.
how long does they stay fresh?
I put peanut butter in the melted chocolate chips for extra yum factor and sometimes use rice crispy as a bottom as well. 3 different ways right there to play with my food lol.
My mom makes these and she gets compliments on them all the time. They are so good and so much better than reese’s. I beg her for them all the time!
can I use semi sweet chocolate chips instead?
Hi Bonnie,
You can use any kid of chocolate chips, I have even used dark chocolate and it was delicious! Enjoy and let us know how it goes!
TSRI Team Member,
Holli
does it HAVE to be crunchy peanut butter??
Hi Ann!
No it does not! I personally use smooth peanut butter instead.
TSRI Team Member,
Devlyn
Oh my gosh, these peanut butter bars were an absolute breeze to make! Just followed Donna’s recipe, and voila! A decadent treat ready in no time.
Hi Mira!
We’re so glad that you enjoyed our recipe!
TSRI Team Member,
Devlyn