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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Wow, I love chocolate and peanut butter!
These look super yummy, although the recipe seems similar to any bar recipe on google/pinterest. The only thing different really, is the absence of egg, which you can do in nearly any recipe. I would totally love a version with no flour or sugar. Anyone know if you can sub oats?
I have read a lot of recipes that use chickpea rather than flour. Perhaps that would work?
Chocolate and peanut butter – 2 of my favorite ingredients!! Definitely making these for the next get together I go to! 😀
Ooh, chocolate + peanut butter and it’s SUPER healthy?! This is fantastic! I’ll have to try it ASAP!
Chocolate and peanut butter is my nirvana and the gold standard (especially with some delicious dark chocolate)!! I love making your chocolate PB desserts, and I have to make these soon, as they are easy to make. Plus, I already have all of the ingredients 🙂 Thank you Katie, and keep up your amazing desserts, cookbooks, and website! I love the Hello Kitty by the way.
This mixture tastes amazing! It’s in the oven now and it smells amazing! One question: I need to go sugar-free on this if I’m going to make it for my grandparents again later this week. Would you recommend replacing the granulated sugar with raw honey or maple syrup? If so, would I have to reduce the apple sauce so that I don’t have too much liquid? Also, how much honey/syrup would you recommend? Thanks, Katie, for another amazing recipe! I always get excited to see another Chocolate-Covered Katie recipe in my inbox!
Honey and maple syrup are not sugar-free. 🙁 They’re not all that different from white sugar if you look at the metabolic impact. If you have diabetes, it’s crucial to steer clear of “natural” sweeteners (maple syrup, honey, dates, etc) in addition to table sugar because it’s the carbs that affects blood glucose levels.
Here’s a great post from a scientist explaining it–
http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/03/is-sugar-paleo.html
For diabetics make this recipe with almond flour and erythritol, also sub oil (or puréed zucchini) for the applesauce to make it truly low carb!
Oh my goodness!! Those look so good. I’ll try them for sure!
I wonder how one would go about making this with coconut flour..probably not that much of an easy substitution. Still going to try this though!
Katie- thank you for an egg-free, paleo friendly recipe! These looked so amazing to me, that I made them last night with almond/cashew butter instead of the peanut, almond flour, and 1/3 c. coconut sugar/1/3 c. xylitol. The issues I had were that they didn’t set, and they are too sweet. I was thinking of using 1/4 c. almond flour and 2 tbsp. coconut flour next time, and reducing the sweetener to just 1/3 c. coconut sugar. Has anyone tried this with any amount of coconut flour? Also, should I bake them longer than 10 minutes? Thanks!
Hi! I just saw your comment about trying out coconut flour in these Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Brownies. Did you ever give it a try? If so, how did they turn out? I was hoping to find a way to use coconut flour in these also. Would love your insight. Thank you.
I made these with almond flour and they fall apart; they crumble.
Because coconut is very absorbent, I think they may help bind the ingredients. I am going to re-do this recipe (ONE more time) and let you know what happens!
These look amazing! I love how healthy they are, especially the use of applesauce 🙂
Applesauce is not really a healthy alternative, as a half cup of unsweetened still has the equivalent of three teaspoons of sugar! Double that if it’s sweetened. That said, I’d like to try these using low carb ingredients. Not holding out much hope, as other recipes I’ve tried just end up gooey, crumbly messes. Will comment later if it turns out okay.
Just made these, and wow are they great! Thanks for sharing Katie!
My bars never really “firmed up.” However, I don’t care. I ate the peanut buttery, melty chocolatey goodness with a spoon!
If you put them in the fridge overnight (or even if you leave them out), they firm up even more! 🙂
WOW this is literally amazing I’ve probably read this post five times as I am a big fan of your blog it’s so cool!!!! I was just wondering if I could somehow sub in a liquid sweetener or blend some dates instead of granulated as I really prefer more natural sweeteners,thanks!!!
I had the SAME issue. They completely fall apart; they crumble.
I think they need more binding agent – maybe flaxmeal with water or something else.
They tasted good though…
I had the same experience. Alrhoufj they’re great tasting, they did crumble. Did you ever get feedback on this?
Mine didn’t firm up either they are way too mushy.
I’m going to try putting them back in the over?
Just stick them in the fridge overnight and they are fine the next day, no need to bake longer, which could risk drying them out!