No-bake chocolate peanut butter bars are thick, rich, and decadent. Originally published in 2013 and made from only 5 simple ingredients, these are a delicious treat anytime of the year. No oven required!
It’s no secret that many bakers love baking with peanut butter. Like these peanut butter cookies, a recipe that has lived on my site for years and serves as the base for so many of our other peanut butter favorites like peanut butter blossoms. But what about NO BAKING with peanut butter? No bake chocolate peanut butter bars combine an alluring flavor combination that we all love: chocolate and peanut butter. In this easy dessert recipe, velvety smooth chocolate sits on top of a thick layer of peanut buttery goodness. The peanut butter layer tastes remarkably similar to the center of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
The best part of all? They’re made from just 5 simple ingredients!
These no-bake peanut butter bars are a family favorite recipe. Every Christmas, my mom made a large tray of mini pecan pies, coconut macaroons, snowball cookies, and these glorious peanut butter bars. The competition was high, but you can imagine which dessert disappeared first.
I look forward to these bars every holiday season, so I quit limiting them to December. We make these no bake chocolate peanut butter bars all year long and they always cause a frenzy. In fact, I’ve never regretted making a double batch!
Why You’ll Love These Peanut Butter Bars
- Taste like peanut butter cups
- Only 5 ingredients
- Quick to make and even quicker to disappear
- Cut them as large or small as you want
- Freeze beautifully
- No oven needed
- Chocolate + peanut butter (!!)
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar Ingredients
There are only 5 ingredients required for no bake chocolate peanut butter bars and I bet you have each one in your kitchen right now.
- Butter: Butter binds the powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs. You can use salted or unsalted butter. If using unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt when you add the peanut butter.
- Graham Cracker Crumbs: Graham cracker crumbs add structure and texture. You need about 8 full-sheet graham crackers for 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs. If desired, use gluten free graham crackers to make these a gluten free dessert recipe.
- Peanut Butter: Peanut butter is the main ingredient and it’s actually used in both layers. For best texture, I suggest a processed creamy peanut butter such as Skippy. (I do not recommend oily or natural style peanut butter for this recipe, though I do make homemade peanut butter all the time! If you are looking for a recipe to use natural style peanut butter, these peanut butter cookies are for you.)
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar keeps everything together and adds sweetness.
- Chocolate Chips: Because we can’t have chocolate peanut butter bars without chocolate!
How to Make No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
The first step is to melt the butter. Mix the butter with the graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. Press into a 9-inch square pan. Melt remaining peanut butter with chocolate chips. Pour on top of the peanut butter layer. Chill in the refrigerator until set, then cut into squares.
That’s it. You’re done. This is probably the easiest dessert you’ll ever make. Even easier than peanut butter balls and peanut butter eggs!
These 5 ingredient no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars are so easy. They’re fudgy, creamy, absolutely irresistible, and taste like peanut butter cups! Step away from the computer and run (don’t walk) to the kitchen to get started. Like, right now.
More Peanut Butter + Chocolate Recipes
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Scotcheroos
- Peanut Butter Cup Tart
- Peanut Butter Balls
- No-Bake Cookies
- Soft & Thick Monster Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies
- Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie
- Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles
More 5 Ingredient or Less Recipes
Print
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 20-24 squares
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars are incredibly decadent and made from only 5 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) salted butter, melted*
- 1 cup (120g) graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full sheet graham crackers)*
- 2 cups (240g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (280g) creamy peanut butter, divided
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Mix the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, and confectioners’ sugar together in a medium bowl. Stir in 1 cup (250g) of peanut butter, then press evenly into prepared baking pan.
- Melt remaining 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter with the chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove. Stir until smooth. Spread over peanut butter layer.
- Chill in the refrigerator until completely firm, at least 2 hours. Allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve chilled. Setting them out for a few hours at room temperature for serving is OK.
- Cover leftover bars tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Cover bars tightly, as a whole or cut into individual squares, and freeze for up to 3 months. I simply line the squares in a freezer-friendly container between sheets of parchment paper. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan or 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Rubber Spatula
- Butter: Unsalted butter can be used instead. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the peanut butter in step 2.
- Peanut Butter: For best texture, I strongly suggest a processed creamy peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy. I do not recommend oily or natural style peanut butter for this recipe. You can use chunky-style peanut butter, though the bars can get a little crumbly.
- Graham Crackers: Don’t have graham crackers where you live? Use 120g ground digestive biscuits instead (about 8 biscuits).
- This recipe was updated in 2019 with more confectioners’ sugar and peanut butter to produce thicker bars.
Reader Comments and Reviews
absolutely love this recipe! just like a reese’s cup but so much better. i absolutely love the graham cracker crumbs in this
I had to butcher the recipe to accommodate food allergies, but it still turned out great. I used sunflower seed butter (consistency of natural peanut butter), half cup oatmeal flour and half cup quick oats, and added sunflower seeds for some crunch. The base was was sweet and creamy like a Reese cup with some crunchy bits and it was easy to slice into bars. Never thought to melt a nut/seed butter into the chocolate instead of butter or oil – thanks for the tip!
My daughter told me about this recipe . Just finished making them and found it was easy to make and if I can keep my husband out of them until they firm up, it will be a miracle.
Delicious and easy. However mine softened to the point where we couldn’t get them off the platter easily. Complete mush. Can someone please tell me what might have gone wrong?! I followed the recipe as written, but I did use gluten free graham crackers. I want to make them again. Help!!
Hi Mary! These should be kept and served cold (but a couple hours out is fine, usually). We haven’t tested these with gluten free graham crackers, but imagine that they may have a different texture. Sorry you had trouble with these!
Thank you for responding! They really are so delicious. I will try them again using regular graham crackers.
DELICIOUS! Perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate.
Can I add some rice crispies to the chocolate peanut butter bars for a little extra crunch?
Hi Carol, absolutely! Enjoy!
I’ve made this to give away as gifts and my friends all loved them. So delicious! Who doesn’t love pb & chocolate 🙂
Hi,
I made these a second time, but unfortunately this time wasn’t as successful as the first. The peanut butter layer was a little crumbly; bits broke off as I was cutting out the squares. I did use ground digestive biscuits, but I have a feeling I didn’t grind them well enough as I saw larger crumbs amid the finer ones. Do you think this could be responsible for the crumbliness? I think the butter can’t bind larger crumbs as well as the fine ones, hence the final PB mixture won’t hold together as well.
Hi Tony! Yes, it sounds like large crumbs were the problem.
Thank you so much! One more question: Is it possible to cut the bars when they haven’t fully set yet? Both times I’ve made this recipe, the chocolate layer cracked as I cut the bars. Not fun. If they haven’t fully set, then it shouldn’t crack. But I’m not sure how long to wait before cutting in this case.
Hi Tony! Let them fully set, then when you’re going to cut them, let them sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes so they don’t crack.
This is such a wonderful recipe, I tweak mine a bit. I use Milk Chocolate chips melted on bottom of dish, then add the pb mixture and then top it off with more melted chocolate on top. So the squares have a chocolate bottom and top! Definitely any way you make these, they are ALWAYS A HIT!!
I made these for my college son to share with his teammates. They were a huge hit! I used dark chocolate chips to cut down on the sweetness. Sally’s recipes are always a big success!!!!
Hi, would it be possible to cut down some on the powdered sugar (if so, by how much?) – and the recipe still works? I know the sugar is important to give “structure”. Planning on bringing it to family Thanksgiving. Thanks!
Hi E, you can try slightly reducing the powdered sugar, but the bars may get a bit crumbly. Some readers have reported success with reducing the sugar to 200g, so that may be a good place to start. Enjoy!
Love the taste. Why is the peanut butter gummy.
Hi Jerry, Is your actual peanut butter, or the entire peanut butter layer, gummy? Make sure you are using processed creamy peanut butter such as Skippy (not natural style).
OK, so I just realized that I tried two of the recipes from Sally this weekend because we have an over abundance of peanut butter. I absolutely enjoyed this recipe. The only thing that I think was more user error than recipe error was the grittiness of the graham cracker bottom. also, I’m not a fan of semisweet so I just opted to switch to milk chocolate worked just just as well. Ended up tasting like a Reese‘s cup. 10 out of 10.
I was going to freeze what we didn’t eat over the weekend but the 8 x 8 tray was fully eaten by the time it was ready to pack them up!
Also, if it helped, I don’t use measuring cups. I just put whatever mixing bowl I’m going to use on the kitchen scale and weigh /measure out my ingredients.
Good recipe. can be made healthier with slight variation in ingredients…less sugar, more taste
Wow!! These are FABULOUS—-even BETTER than a Reese’s peanut butter cup!!! Love the slightly crunchy texture the graham crackers provide! I did add a little salt to the filling to cut the sweetness a little (similar to the peanut butter cups). So easy and quick to make!!!
We’re so happy these were a hit, Danette!
Do you think it would be ok to substitute oats for 1 of the sugar cups?
Hi Lydia, we don’t recommend that.
I love this recipe… I even tried to change it up a bit and replaced the graham crackers with puffed wheat and it tastes sooo good also
Very good recipe and easy to follow.
Thank you!
Everyone at work loved this one and said, You really knocked it out of the park with this one!”. I altered the recipe by using an organic version of Golden Graham cereal instead of graham crackers (only because I don’t care for graham crackers). Everyone said it should be made like that every time I make it!
You can also substitute Nilla Wafer cookies for the graham crackers
The recipe, as is, is great — the bars firm up, etc. Our family really likes pbutter and chocolate combinations. However, for those that prefer less sweet (as I do), you can substitute Ritz type crackers for the graham crackers to create a salty-sweet taste and use dark chocolate – I usually chop two 87% or 95% dark cocoa bars and add couple Tablespoons of peanut butter as I am melting the chocoate- I am not a fan of the sweetness of Reese’s cups and my family (all of whom love Reese’s) really likes the variation.
Super delicious and peanut buttery. Only used 200 g sugar ..still too much I think. Maybe more graham cracker to make up for less sugar. And I used some natural PB and it’s fine. Especially since you have to store in the fridge. I used a 9×9, so I felt like the amount of chocolate wasn’t enough…need a thicker layer for my taste. Will make again! I’d like to try with crushed pretzels like someone asked about… probably would use unsalted butter in that case. Or half pretzel/graham cracker
I loved this recipe too much! I need to know how many calories, please? I want to eat even while dieting 🙂
Hi Maria, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Very sweet next time might put less sugar in
You didn’t mix it well enough. They are not too sweet!
I’ve made these, as is, a few times and they’re delicious! Has anyone tried crushed pretzels in place of graham crackers and leaving sugar as is??
Hi Lauren, We haven’t tested that, but it sounds delicious! Let us know if you give it a try.
I used ritz crackers and unsalted butter and they turned out perfectly sweet and salty!! I’m sure pretzels would taste great with it!
These were amazing!!! I made part of it into pb cups. I plan to make a large batch for a fundraiser. Any additional advice for utilizing this recipe for mini peanut butter cups?
Hi Lisa, you can double the recipe for a 9×13 pan.
This recipe was so easy and when done it tasted just like a Reese’s peanut butter cup! So so good! I did 5 times the recipe and made 3 9 x 13 pans. Might have been a little thinner than expected but still great!
These little bars were wonderful as written.
A personal aside: Put the creamy peanut butter away and load up the crunchy. I used crunchy on both the chocolate topping and the interior and the additional crunch is amazeballs. . I would reduce the sugar by about 1/4cup -1/2cup and add some cornstarch, or sub out the semi-sweet chocolate for extra dark to lessen the sweetness.
I’m 85 and I still love chocolate and peanut butter. What a treat, thank you. Will share your site with my granddaughter.
I use this recipe all the time (and so many others on this site) and it’s great every time!
Delicious! I understand these need refrigeration to maintain the texture however is it safe to leave them out for a few days? Thank you!
Hi Debbie, Setting them out for a few hours at room temperature for serving is OK, but we recommend storing them in the refrigerator.
I want to make these to bring to an outdoor bbq this weekend but I’m afraid they will melt in the heat. Has anyone had this issue?
Hi DeAnna, it really depends on the exact temperature, but if you keep them out of the direct heat, they should hold up well.