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, the same size pan we use for these homemade brownies. 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
I make this at least once every 2 weeks, freezing half and rationing myself to a piece a day. Sometimes I had flaxmeal or collagen powder, and sometimes substitute the peanut butter with almond butter. I also reduce the sugar to 1.5 cups, and always sprinkle some salt flakes on top. It is, in my opinion, pure bliss and one of the best recipes of all times! Thank you!
These were easy to make and a huge hit at a July 4th cookout!
Love this recipe. It was easy to make and turned out great! I used milk chocolate chips, as that is what I had. Perfect!
They are very sweet and rich. Next time, I will cut the bars into smaller pieces.
This is a keeper!
Thank you.
I made this easy recipe but they were really gritty.
Hi Steve, it sounds like the graham crackers may not have been crushed enough. An easy fix for next time!
Next time I will cut back the powdered sugar to 1.5 cups or less; the level of sweeteness in the PB layer really masks the PB flavor plus the choc chips add extra sweetness.
Do you think I could use a tub of chocolate frosting instead of melting chocolate chips for the frosting?
You definitely could, if you would like. The texture will be softer and it won’t set as firm. It will also be sweeter. Let us know if you try!
This is a great recipe! So delicious! Didn’t have graham crackers, so I used Nilla cookies. Put ’em in a zip top bag and crushed them with a rolling pin. Worked out fine.
Can I double the recipe for 9 x 13 pan?
Hi Angie, yes, you can double the recipe for a 9×13 pan.
I like to substitute 1 cup of peanut powder for powdered sugar (making it a half and half mix of peanut powder and powdered sugar) to reduce the carbs and bump the protein. It’s by no mean a healthy dessert, but it’s HEALTHIER. A bonus, is that makes it taste even more like Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Also, you can get graham cracker pre-crumbed and peanut powder at pretty much any online grocer.
Hi! These look fantastic. Can you substitute melting wafers for chocolate chips?
Hi Shannon, we’re sure you could, but we recommend sticking with chocolate chips for the best flavor.
First off- made these last night and they are YUM. I’m sorry if this question has been asked and answered… but was wondering about substitutions for the confectioners sugar. 2 cups is a lot, and I was hoping you had a suggestion that would make these less sweet. Is there an ingredient that I can use as a substitute for at least half of the sugar?
Hi Christopher, the confectioners sugar is an important ingredient here and we’re unsure of the best substitute. But let us know if you try anything!
I can see how easily this can be used to make homemade Easter eggs. Cut shapes, chill and dip or drizzle chocolate topping!! Yum! Loved ‘em.
These are sooooo good! I’m wondering what the nutritional information is ? Thanks!
Hi Amber, 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
I made these for Easter and took another commenter’s advice and reduced the powdered sugar to 1 cup. I also added chopped pretzels to the top for some salty crunch! Excellent!
I make these bars all the time but I reduce the powdered sugar by half. There’s plenty of sugar in the Graham crackers and peanut butter so the reduction isn’t even noticeable less. You can taste the peanut butter in the bars and they are not overwhelmingly sweet.
OH MY FLAP! These are delicious! I just made these after having this recipe in a tab for months on my phone haha. Really similar to peanut butter cups and so easy! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’ve made these many times since Super Bowl and everyone loves them. I haven’t used graham crackers but instead have used Town House butter crackers and they’ve turned wonderfully. Yesterday, I used Trader Joe’s multi-grain crackers (in the green and white box) since I had a box that got crushed coming home from the store. I must say, they are the best version, so far, that I’ve made. The peanut butter layer tastes exactly like the peanut butter cups we all love so much (my favorite candy!). I made the recipe as written using JIF pb and Nestles semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I have made these so many times, I have lost count! I have swapped the graham crackers for rice crispy cereal a few times to make them gluten free and both ways have been a huge hit! When using the rice crispy cereal, I add vanilla to the butter before incorporating the butter with the cereal, and I leave half of the cereal aside and put that half of the cereal in when I mix the peanut butter into the mixture. It gives crunch without getting all of the cereal soggy from the melted butter. Again, I have made it that many times that I was able to figure that out, but it was thanks to Sally’s recipe that I was confident to make those tweaks!
We love reading these reviews, Angela! Thank you so much for trusting our recipes.
This recipe is a winner! Graham crackers are not available where I live (Korea), so instead I used Lotus/Biscoff cookies. An excellent complement to the chocolate/peanut butter!
This recipe is outstanding! Just the right amount of peanut butter and Thank you, Sally.
This was very good. Tasted just like the peanut butter cups (which is one of my favorite chocolate candy). I did use a store brand Natural peanut butter and my chocolate was 75% cacao chocolate. I put is a little bit of sugar, less than a teaspoon, and it came out great.
It was so simple to make. I do plan on making it again.
These look amazing! Can I make these without any added sugar?
Hi Lety! The powdered sugar keeps everything together, we don’t recommend leaving it out.
These are so good! I’ve been making a similar recipe for many years, but this is my new go-to — so much better than the other one. I’m thrilled to know that they can be frozen too. Thank you!
This recipe is a “10.” It was a hit. Very hard to practice self-control. Haha!
Delicious! WOW! Brought these to a superbowl party and they were a big hit! I doubled the recipe and found it helpful to use a hand held mixer for the peanut butter base. I also sprinkled peanut butter chips on top. So good! Thank you for the recipe!
I love anything chocolate and peanut butter, and these are a quick fix when I have a craving! This time I used buttery Town House crackers in place of graham crackers, and I think I always will from now on! For me it elevated the taste and texture of the peanut butter layer.
Can you just use Graham cracker crumbs in lieu of doing Graham crackers in food processor?
Absolutely.
Love this recipe, my go to for late night snacking. I am dieting & don’t want to give these up completely but need to portion properly. What are the nutritional facts?
Hi Kristin! 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
So easy to make and just so DELICIOUS. Definitely one to make again. Thank you so much for this great recipe.
This is so quick and easy for a weekday indulgence. I have wondered however, could I use “Nutter Butter” cookies instead of Grahams, for an extra kick of flavor. I dont think that would mess up recipe really. What is your opinion on that.
Hi Dana, we haven’t tried it ourselves, but it may take a bit of experimenting with the other ingredient ratios since the Nutter Butters have a creamy filling. Let us know if you try anything!