The classic melt-in-your-mouth chocolate oatmeal no bake bars are popular for a very good reason – they’re impossible to stop eating!
At first glance, traditional chocolate no bake recipes—made with wholesome oatmeal instead of flour—might seem like a healthy choice.
But with half a cup of butter and two full cups of refined sugar packed into traditional no bake bar recipes, they’re really not even close.
These homemade chocolate oatmeal no bake bars offer the perfect healthy alternative:
You get all of the wholesome ingredients, without all the extra butter and sugar.
I swapped out the sugar here for pure maple syrup and have also cut way back on the sweetener in general, and I substituted peanut butter for the butter, for an added protein boost you won’t even realize is in there.
Also Try These Buffalo Cauliflower Wings – Just 6 Ingredients
The recipe first came about during the Snowpocalypse 2016, when my then-boyfriend and I were trapped in my apartment while the snow relentlessly slammed down outside.
After watching about seven Daredevil episodes in a row, he looked at me and said, “So where are all the famous Chocolate Covered Katie baked goods?”
With no grocery stores open, I took stock of my pantry and pulled out every one of my favorite ingredients that I always have on hand:
Chocolate.
Peanut Butter.
Oatmeal.
Combining so many delicious ingredients into one easy-to-make and heart-healthy dessert was pretty much a guaranteed success right from the start.
I formed them into no bake cookie balls and put them on a plate.
The boy proceeded to eat eight of them… So I took that as a good sign!
Then we watched even more Daredevil, and ate pasta with jarred Ragu from 7/11 for dinner.
And swore we’d never tell.
Also try the recipe in cookie form –> Chocolate No Bake Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate No Bake Bar Instructions
Step One: Prepare an 8-inch pan by lining it with parchment or wax paper.
Stir together the liquid ingredients, then combine with the oats and stir until evenly mixed.
Step Two: Smooth into the prepared pan, and press down with a spoon as hard as you can.
Really press down as hard as you can.
Transfer the pan to the freezer until the bars are firm enough to cut.
Step Three: Slice into bars, and enjoy!
Leftovers can be left out at room temperature for a few hours, but for optimum freshness I like to keep them in the fridge or freezer, where they last a few weeks…
If you don’t eat them all first!
Above, watch the video of how to make chocolate oatmeal no bake bars.
Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or allergy-friendly sub
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey or agave
- 1/4 cup butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups quick oats (Here's a keto version)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment or wax. Set aside. Stir together the first three ingredients. Gently heat until the oil is melted and peanut butter is easily stir-able. Whisk in the vanilla extract and salt, stirring until completely smooth. Stir in the quick oats and cocoa powder until evenly coated. Smooth into the prepared pan, and press down with a spoon as hard as you can. Really pack it in. Freeze until firm enough to cut. Leftovers can stay out a few hours, but I like to keep them in the freezer for optimum freshness, where they last a few weeks.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy No Bake Recipes
Or this Avocado Chocolate Mousse
This is my second CCK recipe today…! I added some unsweetened shredded coconut on top and it is SO good. It also helped the spoon not to stick as much when I was patting it down. They’re in the freezer now and I’m sitting here licking the bowl…mmm! I love this recipe because:
1. it’s DELICIOUS, and
2. I always have all of these ingredients on hand. So easy!
Perfect!
Here’s a question if anyone is still reading this post (and isn’t already too lost in the chocolate/peanut buttery goodness of this dessert), what is your favorite brand of peanut butter? I’ve been using Crazy Richard’s for a while and I really like it (only ingredient is peanuts). Any other must try brands? 🙂
Katie’s go-to brand is Harris Teeter crunchy natural. It’s ridiculously cheap (1.99 when on sale). It’s a store brand, so not available everywhere. But I personally like Whole Foods crunchy as well, the one with salt but no sugar.
Jason (media relations)
I substituted 2 tbsp of applesauce instead of the additional 3tbs of sweetner—adds a really nice flavor with the peanut butter and chocolate! Would recommend to anyone looking to cut down a bit on the sugar in these!
Hi! I made the recepie exactly the way u said and it turn out that the bars aren’t crunchy they are all goey why??? They have been in the freezer like 3 hours I live them all day there? Thanks in advance!
Hmmm what coconut oil did you use? Unless it’s gone bad somehow, coconut oil always solidifies when chilled!
I am a Celiac who lives to eat. I was VERY happy with these bars. Like another user, I used tahini. I find Peanut Butter to be a little overpowering sometimes. Using coconut oil and tahini made this reminiscent of an Almond Joy, especially with a glass of almond milk! I was feeling lazy when I made them, so I measured everything using a digital scale (Bye, measuring cups!) and instead of the 8 x 8 dish, I just dumped the mixture onto a piece of Parchment paper and folded over the side and “smashed down” the mixture with a rolling pin. No dishes, and delicious fat snacks for me! I liked them better the second day. I would recommend letting them sit for a while before eating. Those oats are really dry and need time to soak up the ingredients. Thank you very much for an under 200 calorie bar that tastes delicious! Next time I’m adding chopped almonds!
Made these using sunbutter. So very addictive. I absolutely love them!
I made these with silan/date syrup- the sugar free kind and they came out AH-MAZING!!!!! I don’t think I’ve eaten something so good and perfect in my life!
Def my fave recipe on this blog!
Soooo delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I guess I’m the only one who doesn’t think they r anything like the original. It tasted too strong of coconut oil and very little of anything else. I substituted coconut nectar for the maple syrup, which should be a one to one substitution for sugar. Oh well, it was worth a try. I won’t make these again.
Sounds like you probably used a bad jar of coconut oil. I’ve found that a lot of brands have a strong coconut taste that is unpleasant, and Katie has said the same thing in some of her posts and that she uses Whole Foods 365 brand or Artisana because those do not have the unpleasant coconut taste. What brand did you use? I know I hate the one from Trader Joes!
Jason
When do you add the coconut?
Is it possible to cut down on the oil and replace some of it with applesauce?