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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This is the best recipe ever. I won’t ever make another bar again. It is my husband favorite and mine. Thank you!
This recipe is absolutely amazing!! It’s one I regularly make when I have a sweet tooth. Nothing beats peanut butter and chocolate together.
I made them e peanut butter chocolate bars and they were so easy to make. I followed your recipe and for some reason they have a bitter after taste? I used Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter, a fresh opened jar, and I did add the milk that was optional. I used Almond milk, not sure if that caused the bad taste or not. Any suggestions?
Hmm, the only thing I can think of is maybe did you bite into a clump of baking soda that didn’t get fully stirred in? Or is the baking soda old? Does the peanut butter taste ok if you try it on its own? (If not, maybe the nuts went rancid?)
Jason
Katie you are a Godsend! I’m neither vegan or a healthy eater but I have vegan family members. I wanted to make a vegan dessert this year and stumbled on your blog. I’m glad I did! Your chocolate cupcakes are to die for. I couldn’t resist trying these bars. They rose really well and are currently firming up in the fridge. I can’t wait to dig in. Makes me want to explore more vegan recipes. Thanks for all of your hard work. You certainly saved me a lot of research! Can’t wait to try a few of your other recipes. Thanks again
Just made these and oh my wow! My husband loves peanut butter cups and he said these were better! The texture is lovely, I used a local peanut butter that does a half creamy-half crunchy (peanut only) peanut butter and it turned out amazing. Husband said he was ready to quit low carb but after these he said he can soldier on!
Loved this. So simple and delicious. Husband loved it and he is normally quite fussy.
Hi can I substitute erythritol?
First I’d like to say that I made the chocolate peanut butter ice cream with the banana and it was amazing so I decided to try another one of your recipes. Unfortunately this one didn’t come out as well. I use yogurt instead of applesauce, coconut sugar for my granulated sugar and substituted white chocolate. I cooked it for 10 minutes as stated and let it sit for 2 hours. It will not cut into a cookie, falls apart and seems very undercooked. It is still moist and more like batter. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Tried to upload pic but for some reason it wouldn’t load. Thanks!
Hi what did you sub white chocolate in place of?
Also, let them sit in the fridge overnight and they firm up! Let me know if that works! 🙂
Jason
Amazing!!!!!!! So yummy!! I made them exactly as shown except added a little more chocolate chips. I made them with vegan chocolate chips, and didn’t have to use the optional 2tbsp of milk. I also chose to use the applesauce vs the yogurt since I was out of non dairy yogurt. My parents were over for dinner and I hadn’t had a chance to make dessert. This was so quick and easy, I made it after we ate dinner. Everyone loved it!!!! All the vegans and non vegans. I’m ready to make a second batch this morning. I’m not sure how to add the star ratings but this gets 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ from me.
It would be really helpful to incorporate metrix measurements ?