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
This is one of my favorites! Work mates love it and it’s easy and quick!
★★★★★
This recipe should be illegal, outlawed, banned. It stole part of my heart!!
Okay but really, if you have a spare 20 minutes you need RUN to the kitchen and make them. They are SO good!
Easy. Made for a bake sale for my children’s swim team.
★★★★★
So easy and even more delicious! Perfect recipe, only change was I accelerated the finish time by putting them in the freezer for about 20 minutes instead of the refrigerator for 2 hours. My family loves me more than they did before I made them! 🙂
★★★★★
Can you use almond or other nut butter?
Hi Lee, absolutely, you can use your favorite nut butter here.
I see that you said almond butter could be substituted for peanut butter but the almond butter should also have no oil in it?
I would’ve liked a suggestion on how to break up the graham crackers into
crumbs. I used a wooden spoon and it took 15 mins just to do that.
Putting the crackers in a plastic bag, you can crush them easily with a rolling pin. Or food processor works fast.
I use to make this and absolutely loved it!! Then I did it with finely crushed pretzel crumbs instead of the graham crumbs. Game changer!!
Hi, Sally. Do you think this would work with crushed ginger snaps? Thanks!
What an interesting idea! We can’t see why not – please let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
A keeper!!!! I only used a cup of sugar and was perfect, we like desserts to not to be too sweet. Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Wow, you knocked this recipe out of the park! Hubby, son and the baby I watch are extremely pleased with these. Only problem? How to stop eating them, lol. Thanks so much for your website. Now, we need an app to just click on.
★★★★★
I agree! An app would be awesome. I’d give it pride of place on my homescreen
OmgoSH! Sally these are amazing
★★★★★
Hi Sally, I’ve just got to say that you do so great on all of your recipes! Big shout out to you. I’m the 11 year old who has sent an email for my business. I know this may sound silly. If you just give me a chance to try, I’d be on. I’m very motivated, but I don’t want to take up any of your time. Your probably too busy. I would adore it if you give me some advice. Thank you, hopefully talk to you soon.
P.S. Keep up the good work!
Hi Leah! Thank you so much for the comment. I don’t recall seeing an email from you! If you’d like to reach out again, we will watch for it.
Holy heaven. It tastes (might I dare say) better than that popular brand name peanut butter cup! Easy delicious treat. I used dark chocolate because I like it in most recipes.
★★★★★
So easy. Looks great and tastes even better. Was wiped out by my family so quick. Ty
★★★★★
I have made these bars 5 times already for this holiday season and have heard nothing but rave reviews. Family friends and coworkers love them and ask for them EVERY year. Thank you so much
★★★★★
Just tried making these. Followed the recipe to a ‘T’ but it came out with a base that is WAYYYY too sweet and gritty. I suspect the 2 cups of sugar is responsible. I will try it again as I see some people suggested 2 cups instead of 1 cup of graham crackers and this might help dilute or even out the heavy, heavy sugar taste. I highly recommend editing this recipe so it doesn’t fail for everyone the first time around.
Hi Cat, Thank you for the feedback. If you try these again, you can try adding a pinch of salt to help cut the sweetness and also use dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet.
It sounds like you used granulated sugar instead of powdered. I imagine that WOULD make a grainy mess. 🙁
My auntie made this exact recipe for our family get togethers when I was a child about 8 years old I am now 55 I love this recipe grew up loving it making it for my family today thank you hi honey
★★★★★
What would you recommend as a decoration/topping on the chocolate? Crushed roasted peanuts, Maldon salt, or peanut butter chip drizzle? Just trying to “dress” them up a bit for cookie trays.
Hi Tania, any of those toppings would be fantastic on top of the chocolate later. Have fun!
I made the recipe, it was great. Two questions?
Is there a version that I can scale up to an 11×7 or a 9×13 pan?
Is there anything I can add that will make the peanut butter batter more firm? It seems to soften the longer it sits out.
Thanks
Hi John, you can double the recipe for a 9×13 pan. To keep the bars firm, we recommend keeping them refrigerated until serving. Glad you love them!
Personally, I always use an 11×7 for this recipe! The square inches come out to just a few less than a 9×9. I think 8×8 usually doesn’t make enough (for any recipe)!
Great recipe! My daughter is Glutton Free, so I used crushed rice crispies in place of the graham crackers. I also reduced the sugar a lot! They are great! Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★
How much rice krispies did you use in place of the graham crackers? I love this recipe, but I am making two pans and I need to replace the graham crackers in one with a substitute.
I use GF Graham cracker crumbs, I feel the GF crumbs need an extra tablespoon of butter to keep them from being crumbly.
Just made these for the confirmation kids’ Christmas party at church tonight. What I tasted was delicious! I imagine these are what Puppy Chow would be like as bars! (I added a bit of plain Rice Krispies to bulk them up) Thank you for the recipe!
Hi,
I followed the recipe exactly, and they were delicious, but could not bring them to the party as the
chocolate topping even after 15 minutes or more out of the refrigerator was a solid brick, and it cracked when i tried to cut them. They were a mess.
My husband is loving them, but I needed to bring a chocolate dessert to an event. any idea what happened?
★
Hi Pam, the peanut butter should keep the topping on the softer side so you can neatly cut them. Did you use the 2 Tbsp of peanut butter in the topping? If you try the recipe again, you can also add a teaspoon of coconut oil to help keep it softer, or just a little more peanut butter.
Could I use this recipe to make Buckeyes? Aka peanut butter balls?
Hi Christine, here’s our peanut butter balls recipe. Enjoy!
I loved this so much!! The crunch from the graham crackers raises it to the next level. Loved it so much that I tried this recipe to make peanut butter balls and coated them the way Sally recommends in the regular PB ball recipe (but with milk chocolate). They were outstanding!! I highly recommend! Thank you for so many delicious recipes, Sally!
This recipe is so simple and my two year old grandson helped me make them. They turned out so good. Thank you for making such a simple recipe that we could experience this together.
★★★★★
I am disappointed as I followed this recipe and realized it is a very, very thin layer in the pan. Looking at other similar recipes they call for 2 cups of graham crackers, which I wish I had done. They do not look anything like the picture and I’m surprised that no one else mentions this in their reviews.
★★
Hi Jen, are the other recipes you are seeing also calling for 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar and an 8-inch or 9-inch pan? I’ve seen larger scale recipes, for sure, and those are for larger pans.
so easy and so delicious…made for a party yesterday and they were devoured
★★★★★
Wow these knocked my Reece’s loving family over! We all agreed it’s way better than store bought candy.
★★★★★
I made these last night, so delicious like eating a giant Reese’s cup! The filling has that nice, almost grainy texture. And the chocolate layer gets nice and firm.
★★★★★
Just made these last night and we couldn’t believe how delicious they are. It’s better than Reece’s! So easy to make too.
★★★★★
I made a double batch of these for my coworkers and they loved them!!!
So easy to make…so yummy to eat!!
Making them for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!
★★★★★
Made these today. Perfect. Easy. Gone.
★★★★★