No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
A no-bake bar that comes together in no time.
If dessert is in need, look no further than these No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars. A simple base of oats, butter, and brown sugar forms to make a crust and topping bookending a decadent chocolate peanut butter filling. When pulling out a million ingredients and turning on the oven seems like a chore, then no-bake recipes are a lifesaver. This recipe transfers simple ingredients and makes them into a sweet, salty, chocolatey delight.
A lot of no-bake recipes have little to no structure, meaning that a slice will crumble in your hands. Luckily, that’s not the case with No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars. A quick simmer on the stove top dissolves the sugar, creating a bond that keeps the butter, oats, and sugar-packed together.
After the butter is melted, add the sugar and oats, cooking on the stovetop for a few minutes to ensure everything is combined. While the oats cook on the stove, melt the chocolate and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl until completely melted.
Press half of the mixture into a parchment-lined 9-x-9 pan, making sure the oat mixture is evenly distributed.
Pour the chocolate mixture on top of the base, using a spatula to push the melted mixture to all corners of the pan. Finally, crumble the remaining oat mixture and gently press the oats into the melted chocolate-peanut butter mixture below.
These bars need a minimum of two hours in the refrigerator before serving. This chill time hardens the bars and makes them easy to slice. Once cut and served, these No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars are ready to enjoy!
The texture of the oats is a wonderful contrast against the smooth and creamy chocolate peanut butter center. Nuttiness from the peanut butter enhances the natural, earthy notes of the oats and the rich caramelized notes of the brown sugar. Since they’re easy to slice and stack, these bars are great to bring to events or make a nice gift to give.
Either way you slice them, they’re a great treat that takes little effort to create!
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips, melted
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Preparation
- Grease a 9-x-9-inch baking pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium pot melt butter. Once melted add in brown sugar and oats cooking on low for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add in vanilla.
- While the oats are cooking, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter in the microwave in 30-second intervals until the chocolate chips are melted.
- Pour half of the oat mixture into the prepared pan, pressing to distribute evenly.
- Pour the melted chocolate-peanut butter mixture on top of the oat layer.
- Top with the remaining oat-mixture. Gently press the oat-mixture into the chocolate-peanut butter mixture.
- Cover the pan and let the mixture cool for 2 hours, after 2 hours it should be very firm.
- Remove the bar from the pan by lifting up the parchment paper. Remove the paper and cut the bar into smaller bars.
Recipe adapted from Lilluna.