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, 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
- Monster Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies
- Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie
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.
Keywords: no bake chocolate peanut butter bars
I made these yesterday (following the recipe exactly), and while they taste very good, they are very soft when fully at room temperature—if I pressed down on one, I could almost spread it like butter. Are they supposed to be that soft and squishy? They almost melt in my hand.
Hi Dorothy! The bars are best served chilled and kept in the fridge. They can be left out for a couple hours for serving, but cold is best here!
These are soooo good and so easy to make! They’ve become a staple in my house.
★★★★★
I really liked these bars. A few people were expecting something sweeter and smoother like a peanut butter cup. I like them both equally and would definitely make these bars again! Thank you.
★★★★★
It is like a sin to alter an SBA recipe but I started making these with Ritz crackers instead of graham and my family goes crazy for them that way! I think the addition of the buttery saltiness balances out the sweet even more and it’s super good! Love this recipe!
★★★★★
Sounds amazing, thanks for the tip, Janel!
I just made myself a note to try ritz crackers next time. Thank you for sharing!
I made these gluten free by using Honey Nut Cheerios crumbs instead of graham cracker crumbs and they were still very good, just like they are with graham crackers. Thank you for the easy recipe, Sally!
Great Idea! I will give that a try for my gf family. 🙂
i need to mail cookies would these work or are they too sticky? thanks!
Hi Carol, unfortunately these aren’t ideal for mailing where you can’t control the climate. These should be kept refrigerated. We do share some of the best cookies to ship in this post, if you’re interested!
I’ve made these several times. I use a couple of extra sheets of graham crackers to make them hold up a little better when it’s warm. They freeze very well. No need to thaw (if they are already cut). I’ll be making them again soon for graduation. I made them for our last son’s graduation and put them in the freezer. Guess where we found them the next day!? We still enjoyed them.
★★★★★
O!M!G! Can not believe how deliciously wonderful these are. Had a Dear Friend turn me on to this recipe. Made a batch early (3:00 a.m.) this morning for my kind neighbor and had to force myself not to eat any more than one little slice. I made it as exactly to the recipe as I could and I cannot imagine changing a thing. You don’t mess with perfection!!
★★★★★
These taste amazing! Made them several times and all my friends and family love them. I do however think that they are too sweet. When I make them, I usually make the recipe twice and instead of 4 cups of powered sugar, I substitute 3 cups of oat flour and only use one cup of sugar. This helps it give it the same texture while making it healthier and less overpowering. They still turn out sweet, give me less guilt, and because they are still sweetened even more by the chocolate on the top taste amazing!
Entirely too sweet! The confectioner sugar took away from the taste of the peanut butter. I recommend using less sugar unless you love insanely sweet items.
★★★
Yum ! just like Reese’s peanut butter cups !!
Made them exactly as recipe stated – no need to change a thing 🙂
My family and I are obsessed! I’ve made so many pans of these over the years and they are gone in a blink. I was just thinking do you think I could turn these into buckeyes? Instead of pressing into a pan I could perhaps roll into balls then refrigerate and dip in chocolate? I would think they would stay firm enough.
★★★★★
Hi Janel! We recommend using our very similar recipe for peanut butter truffles instead!
Do you think i could use rice crispys instead of graham crackers?
Hi Fenna, We haven’t tested it but you can certainly try. You might also be interested in this Scotcheroos recipe.
yes, tried it and they were DELICIOUS
★★★★★
Easy and addictive. (Dangerously). Would love a way to make these slightly healthier. Ideas?
★★★★★
Seriously delicious! Made these for my large family one day and they lasted a day and a half before they were gone. Made them again tonight and realized too late that I didn’t have graham crackers, so I used Nilla Wafers instead and I liked them better! Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
I made these today and my husband loves them❤️
★★★★★
Thanks Sally! I substituted graham cracker with Biscoff cookies and peanut butter with Biscoff cookie butter. Substitutes were 1:1 and followed recipe exactly. It’s not better than the PB version, just different and delicious. Highly recommend!!
★★★★★
Brilliant idea. Note to self: buy Biscoffs and cookie butter!
My husband took the first bite and proclaimed these in the TOP 3 desserts of all time. Nuff said. Thanks again Sally!
★★★★★
I just made these but needed to do a few substitutions due to what I had on hand. We don’t have Graham crackers in the UK so I used digestive biscuits which are similar, I had caster sugar so I blitzed it to make it finer. I had light butter,which was fine and I only had milk chocolate chips but did have some dark baking chocolate so mixed them. All those subs and they’re still delicious! Will make this bar again.
★★★★★
We have a restaurant here in Kalamazoo, Michigan (Texas Corners) called Rykse & Co. that make these bars and they call them “Sin Bars”. They are my favorite desserts that Rykse’s makes. I will buy four of them and put them in the freezer and spread out the time to enjoy them. Thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious, I melted the Peanutbutter & butter together for the 2nd batch, seem to mix better. Definitely making again
★★★★★
Our family loved these!!! Next time I’ll double the batch and put in a 9×13 pan.
★★★★★
DOUBLE THE FUN
Hi Kim, I double the recipe just as you’ve said. A single batch is just not enough, and we like to share. They’re well-received when taken to a pot-luck or barbeque. Haven’t met a person who doesn’t like them!
★★★★★
Just made these as a last-minute dessert and we were not let down! I made a few substitutions though, I swapped the graham crackers for saltines and used unsalted butter (mostly because that’s what I had on hand) and they turned out fabulous. They were pretty sweet from the sugar and chocolate, so the saltines really cut through the sweetness. Will make it again!
Can you make these with chunky peanut butter? I love chunky peanut butter.
Yes! We love them with crunchy/chunky peanut butter. If you enjoy those extra little pieces of nuts, you’ll love them too.
I’ve made several of your recipes and have never been disappointed! I made these bars today and they’re SO GOOD. Thank you, Sally, for another great recipe!
★★★★★
I agree!!!
Sally your recipes are the best on Pinterest, just so you know!! I look at other recipes & make them just to try s difference, and always find something went wrong. I make j way back to yours!
Do you have any idea of carb count or grams of sugar per square?
Hi Corinne, 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://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Hi Sally! This is one of my fave recipes of all time.
How much sugar did the old recipe call for? I love the new peanut butter ratio, but find these a bit too sweet.
Thanks!
Hi Maddy! It was 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar and 3/4 cup of peanut butter.
has anyone tried subbing out the graham cracker crumbs for something else? Maybe ground oats??
Last time I made these with Swerve confectioners sugar for a lower carb / sugar count and it was fantastic.
Hi Diana! We haven’t tried these bars with ground oats — it would take some tinkering to ensure they don’t come out too dry. If you decide to give them a try, let us know how it goes!
I was short of graham crumbs, so subbed quick oats for half of the base mixture. They turned out beautifully, and my husband claims the oatmeal addition means they count as breakfast (nice try).
I tried Oreo cookies instead of graham crackers. Reduced the sugar to 1 cup. Was great!
I use almond flour with perfect results.
i subbed half the graham crackers for rice crispies and it made a fantastic crisp crunch! also cut the sugar in half which was perfect for us!
★★★★★
Almond flour would be great since it’s just almonds ground!
Great idea!
Regular flour , no since it’s raw.
I am going to try that!, and I want to try it also with gluten free grahams
Has anyone tried adding toppings to the chocolate while it’s still melting? I was thinking of topping it with mini M&Ms.
Hi Susan, we can’t see why not! Sounds like a fun and delicious addition.
Thanks I use to eat these at school but couldn’t figure out the crunch part I thought it might if been oatmeal but seeing this recipe this makes Moore sense. Just made then crossed hope it’s like the one from school. I love them.
I’ve made this recipe numerous times, comes out great every time! I also add chopped peanuts on top for a little crunch sometimes, right after I’ve spread the chocolate topping out and it’s still wet/sticky.
★★★★★
They look so delicious so I will make them very soon but I live in France, so can I use other biscuits instead of Graham?
Thanks !
Hi Catherine, We have heard from other readers that they use digestive biscuits instead of graham crackers. Hope this helps!
We make these all the time! I use natural, “oily” peanut, almond, or sunflower seed butter and omit 1/2 – 1 cup of powdered sugar and they turn out delicious every time! Easy, fast, can’t mess it up kind of recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks for mentioning that you tried the recipe with the natural kind of peanut butter. I’m planning to make these and I won’t buy Jif or Skippy – yuck! Did you omit some of the powdered sugar because you thought the recipe contained too much sugar?
Did you try these with the natural peanut butter? That’s what I’d prefer to use also.
My husband LOVES them and he’s not usually a cake man. I’ve already made a second batch for him. My problem is keeping away from them as I’m on a diet!
★★★★★