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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yummy! You can never go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!!
Hey, contrary to what everyone else is saying, mine were too firm – they weren’t gooey at all but more like a super-dense cake texture. The flavour was good but they weren’t at all what I was hoping to make – I’m wondering if I should have used commercial peanut butter (mine was the type that is literally ground peanuts with no additives, and it was the last bit in the jar, so it was the least oily because the oil tends to separate and float to the top) OR I’m wondering if I baked them too long? I didn’t set a timer, just looked at the clock, and it was roughly 10 minutes but might have been 12…
I used natural pb too and my batter was super firm – like peanut butter cookie batter firm. So I added the milk (almond milk). Did you add the milk? I baked mine for probably 15 min because they looked too jiggly after 10. I would guess that it was the lack of oil in your pb like you suggested. Try it again with a new jar – cuz it’s way too good to give up on.
Loved these! I made them with sorghum flour and used 1/3 cup coconut sugar and 1/3 cup of Swerve (erythritol) for the sweetener. They turned out amazing! Probably too good, because I wanted to eat them ALL. I always know when I make one of your recipes that they are going to be fabulous!
Made these today and these are super yum in the tum! I used truvia baking blend, spelt flour, and I did end up using the milk. Mine are still a little gooey – which isn’t bad at all – but I did put them in the fridge to firm up a bit more. Fantastic flavor – very peanut buttery. And since these don’t lack for fat they are rich and indulgent but so full of nutrition. Thanks Katie!
Hi Katie, These bars looks great! But I was just wondering if you could tell me what kind of peanut butter you use in your recipes.
For Non-Vegans: I made these with an egg in place of the applesauce, Bob’s gluten free flour, and Wholefoods 365 creamy peanut butter. Turned out awesome. Perfect texture. I did bake for 20 minutes. They disappeared quickly so I made another batch. Again I subbed the egg for applesauce, but I used a cheap peanut butter that had added oil and corn syrup. Bars turned out greasy and heavy. Quality PB really made a huge difference in this recipe!
yay! I can’t use applesauce, so your comment was really helpful!!!!
A lifelong peanut butter and chocolate lover, I am obsessed obsessed obsessed with this recipe! They are one of the best things I have ever made. Thank you for introducing my favorite new dessert into my life!
These peanut butter chocolate chip bars are wonderful! Perfect!
I just made two pans of these- one “almost” according to the recipe and the other sugar free.
“Almost” means I used 1/4 cup unbleached white flour and 2 tbsp spelt in both batches.
For the sugar free version I used 1/3 cup erythritol and 1/4 tsp plus 4 drops of plain liquid stevia. I added the liquid stevia to the wet ingredients. If you use stevia recommend you taste the batter on the sugar free version to make sure it is as sweet as you want it to be. If you have a sweet tooth you might want to add a few more drops of stevia.
I tried the sugar-free batch because I’m diabetic- it was good! The texture is gooey and warm cookie-like, even when they cool down. My kids can taste erythritol on its own as a sugar sub, but the stevia addition throws them off a bit. They gobbled the sugarless ones down, leaving a perfectly whole “sugar added” pan for company coming over tomorrow! Thanks for a great recipe, Katie! 🙂
Katie these are a house FAVORITE!!! We used almond flour and these bars are amazing!! We have made them 3 times in less than a week!! Thank you
Bridget
OMG, these taste incredible!!! I couldn’t wait and they aren’t quite set yet but they taste so good and goopy right out of the oven
Ooooh.. definitely making these. Look fabulous!
I have made these atleast 4 times for my husband, he loves them. I have used bananas instead of the apple sauce, raisins and coconut instead of the chocolate chips. I also used half protein powder and half flour for the dry. They are yummy!
How could you adjust for using peanut butter powder rather than peanut butter? Add more liquid?
I made these with peanut butter powder and it turned out great! I just mixed 1 cup of powder with 1/2 cup of water, then added the rest of the ingredients.
I don’t normally Comment on these but I had to this time because it was absolutely delicious! & i changed a few things and thought it could be helpful for anyone. I used whole wheat pastry flour, and 1/4 cup of coconut sugar plus 2 packets of truvia, also omitted baking soda. And also used a 9 by 9 inch pan and still baked it for 10 mins and they came out perfect. I only waited 10 mins before I could resist digging in and they were perfectly firm! Thanks so much for the recipe Katie! 🙂
I made these tonight and they’re delicious! My daughter is allergic to wheat and peanut butter (top 8 allergens) so I used sunbutter and oat flour instead. Absolutely love them!… But I wouldn’t expect anything less from Katie. You’re recipes are awesomely delicious