Ooey gooey chocolate chip peanut butter bars…
The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
These chocolate chip peanut butter bars are one of the top most popular recipes on my blog – and for very good reason!
When you need a recipe that both meat eaters and vegans love, these bars are an absolute must-try, because they will never let you down.
Of every dessert I’ve ever made, these peanut butter bars are still one of my go-to recipes for parties, because they’re easy to transport, get rave reviews even from guests who aren’t into healthy eating, and you’re pretty much guaranteed no leftovers by the end of the night.
People go crazy for the soft, gooey, peanut buttery texture and melty chocolate in each delicious bite, and they taste like the lovechild of a chocolate chip cookie and a Reeses peanut butter cup!
*There’s now also a chocolate brownie version, so be sure to try the Brownie Batter Bars!
Above – watch the video of making the peanut butter bars!
The peanut butter bars can be:
Vegan
Keto
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Sugar Free
Egg Free
Grain Free
Soy Free
Paleo
And Oil Free
(For high-protein peanut butter bars, make these Protein Bars.)
Homemade Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
With chocolate and peanut butter, is it any surprise how good these are?
If Nestlé and Hersheys were to collaborate on a dessert, I’m pretty sure they’d come up with something along the lines of these gooeylicious chocolate chip peanut butter bars.
The recipe was originally adapted from my Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies, and I’ve changed it over the years to make it even better (which I didn’t think was possible, because the original was so good!).
Below is the newest version, which now includes a keto friendly option for those who need it. Everyone should be able to enjoy these crazy delicious peanut butter bars!
(Above, bringing the bars to a party earlier this year. They did not last long!)
If you want a bigger batch, try the popular Ryan Reynolds Blondie Bars.
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup applesauce, or yogurt such as coconutmilk yogurt
- 1 cup peanut butter OR allergy-friendly alternative – nut-free recipe here
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour – you can use spelt, white, sorghum, oat, almond, even or buckwheat (50g)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar of choice or xylitol
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips, optional
- up to 2 tbsp milk of choice, only if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch pan, or line with parchment. Gently heat nut butter if not already stir-able, then stir in the applesauce and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, stir baking soda, salt, flour, sugar, and chocolate chips. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and keep stirring—it will seem very dry at first, so you’ll need to break up the nut butter and stop occasionally to scrape it off your spoon. If needed, slowly add up to 2 tbsp milk of choice as you stir. Don’t add more milk; it will eventually get gooey like cookie dough. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth down evenly. (I press a second sheet of parchment on top to smooth, then remove this sheet.) Press some chocolate chips into the top if desired. Bake 10 minutes. When you take the peanut butter bars out, the top will look set but they will still be very undercooked underneath. This is okay! Leave them to cool for at least 20 minutes, during which time they will firm up. (They also firm up even more overnight.)View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
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These look amazing and I want to make them tomorrow. However I don’t want to use sugar and don’t have xylitol. Any success making them with agave or honey? How about finely chopped dates – do you think that would work?
Hi. I want to try these, but I wanted to ask others who tried it if the milk is really needed. I’m trying to make these dairy free, but I don’t have any milk substitutes on hand.
I used agave instead of sugar and I think the extra liquid kept me from having to add any milk.
I made these last night – amazing!!!
I used gluten free flour and 1/4 cup agave instead of sugar. I added a few more chips probably, but still not overly sweet, perfect texture and beyond yummy! Bringing them to a home church meeting and don’t expect to bring any back home.
Thank you for another delicious guilt free recipe!!!
Oh my god I just made them and they are absolutely delicious. I think I’m in heaven! 😀 Thank you so much Katie! I’m from Germany and I love your recipes so much 🙂
I loved the flavor, but they had a gritty texture. I used granular swerve, do you have any ideas on how to make them less gritty?
Swerve is not called for in the recipe. That would be your difference.
Katie,
First off, let me say that I just made these using erythritol and the sweetness was perfect paired with some dark chocolate chips. THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING. I love how it tastes just like eating cookie dough but with a fantastic buttery richness. You and this blog have inspired me in my baking to make healthier choices for me and my loved ones. I am in college and used to find myself reaching for candy bars and oreos when my sweet tooth struck but now I just whip up one of your delish healthy desserts. Thank you 🙂
These taste just like my Grandma’s peanut butter blossom cookies! But these are healthy and they’re in bar form so they are much better!
Made this yesterday! I thought it was really yummy. Because I didn’t have applesauce I used an egg like another reader suggested. WIth the medium egg I had to add the optional two tablespoons of milk (I used coconut). Seeing that other readers said it was on the sweet side I added 1/3 plus a couple tablespoons of sugar. The overall sweetness can depend on the nut butter used so I suggest starting with less and adding if needed (:
How much butter did you use when you made these?
I made these, let them cool overnight, and they are a giant crumbly mess and need to be eaten with a spoon. Thoughts? I would love to be able to make these into a bar…
Did you make any changes to the recipe? I’ve made these bars at least 5 times and they are as far from crumbly as you could possibly get, if they got any more gooey you wouldn’t be able to cut them. Can you list specific ingredients such as flour and sugar and pb type that you used?