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 love these! I am making them again for the umpteenth time since you posted this recipe. Love, Love, Love peanut butter and chocolate and how you can make something that tastes devilish but in actuality is on the healthy side. Thanks!
Made these for a late night study session and they were a huge hit! No one could believe they were vegan 😀 I just wanted to say how much your wonderful recipes inspired me to start my own cupcake blog/website! alysascupcakerie.weebly.com
Just made these as a replacement for my usual garbanzo beans blondies due to my lack of chickpeas, and am really happy with how they came out! My variation used 1 cup flax and chia seed peanut butter from TJ’s, 1/2 cup maple syrup, gf oat flour and 1/4 cup dark chocolate Rasinets. Another great CCK recipe to fuel me for lacrosse 🙂
Made these first w almond butter and then made them w p butter. Both very good.
Can I add oatmeal to this recipe?
First, peanuts are legumes not nuts! I’m allergic to legumes and it astounds me that people have no idea what the difference is between a bean (legume), nut (there are few true nuts) and drupes (walnuts, almonds, etc.) are.
Part of the problem is the English language! A coffee bean isn’t a bean and a coconut isn’t a nut. Rooibos tea…yep…a legume along with licorice.
Katie – is the applesauce you used unsweetened?
These looked so delicious so I made them right after I saw the pictures! I was out of peanut butter so I only put about 10 tablespoons of it and I also tweaked up the amount of sugar in it by 4 tablespoons and a packet of NuNaturals stevia. It came out just like I hoped it would! The sweetness was just right for my taste. 😀
Can the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bar recipe be doubled & baked in a 9″X13″ pan (or jelly roll pan?)? Recipe looks amazing!
Yes, I’ve done this several times! Who wants a single batch of cookies when you can have a double batch? 😛
Katie- I run an after school program at our public library. Every Friday I bake for the kids. My son and I are gf/df and we were missing out! You have brought us back to the sweet side and we are very, very grateful! You da bomb (learned that from the kids).