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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I really like having the metric weights added to your recipes. As a UK reader I am unfamiliar with using cups as a measurement and where there are no equivalents I shy away from using what look like amazing recipes.
Thanks for offering a better option to less healthy sweets
Flour grams are listed in the recipe. For everything else, such as peanut butter etc, just look on the label and it should say!
I think that’s what Kim was thanking Katie for – having the metric measurements.
Hi Katie! I’ve been following the blog and happily baking for a while now, but never commented because I was too chicken…anyway, I made these lovely peanut butter bars, and they turned out SO TASTEY, but a bit too gooey. I think it might be that I converted measurements to grams wrong. So I was hoping you might be able to add grams to the recipe?
Thanks for all the awesome food!
Flour grams are listed in the recipe. For everything else, such as peanut butter etc, just look on the label and it should say 🙂
I made them for work, and they are UNREAL! You’d never guess they have so little flour and no oil or butter in the recipe!
Thanks for keeping us all well fed. You are our favorite person at the office. 😉
I made these as soon as you posted them, and boy oh boy, they did not disappoint! Excellent recipe!
These look delicious!
Hi Katie! I made this recipe using sorghum flour (SO excited to see you offering that in a recipe!!!) and it was AMAZING! I’m gluten-free, and so many of the recipes I try from other sites are tasteless (and don’t get me started on store bought gluten-free baked goods!). I don’t know what I’d do without your site. I’ve turned on a lot of my friends to your recipes as well.
thank you very much 🙂 wowowow
thank you very fantastic 🙂 wowowow
Whipped these up 10 min before heading to bus to get kids. By the time we got home they were ready. So so delicious! Thank you!
Whoah– just whoah! These bars look AMAZING! 🙂