No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

The only thing easier than making these No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars is eating them….
 The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....

Craving some chocolaty and/or peanutty deliciousness, but so not in the mood to slave over a hot oven? It’s a common conundrum.

The perfect answer ? My No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars!

No-bake Chocolate  Oatmeal Cookies and I have a bit of a special relationship. I love how easy they are to make, and how rich the chocolate and peanut flavors can be.
After such a great response from No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, my brain started churning with other similar ideas. When I ran across these no-bake bars, I couldn’t believe I’d never thought to try making the cookies into bars.

Conclusion – I’m going to be flat out honest here and tell you that I almost licked the saucepan clean as I was waiting for the bars to harden in the refrigerator. There are good no-bake bars, and then there are really amazing no-bake bars that people gush over and remember for months to come. These are most certainly the latter. Take my word on it for now, but one bite and you’ll become a believer.

 The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....

 The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Sarah Kozowski
The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....
4.72 from 14 votes
Prep Time 15 mins
Chill Time 2 hrs
Total Time 2 hrs 15 mins
Servings 16 -20

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter

Instructions
 

  • Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. Overhangs the edges of the foil to lift the bars easier from the baking dish. (You can use a 9x13-inch if you want thinner bars.)
  • Melt butter and brown sugar in large saucepan over medium heat, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Stir in vanilla. Mix in the oats.
  • Cook over low heat 3 to 4 minutes, or until ingredients are well blended.
  • Pour half of the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread out the mixture evenly, pressing down. Reserve the other half for second layer.
  • To make the filling, melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips together in a small microwave-safe bowl and stir until it’s smooth.
  • Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust in the pan, reserving about 1/4 cup for drizzling and spread evenly.
  • Pour the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently and drizzle with the remaining chocolate mixture.
  • Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars.
  • Note: Like any no-bake cookie, the final texture of these really depends on how long you boil the sugar mixture. If it doesn't boil long enough, the cookie/bars mixture will be too soft, if you boil too long, they could turn out dry and crumbly.

Notes

Keyword no-bake, oatmeal, peanut butter
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

 The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....

 

 The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....

 The only thing easier than making these no-bake chocolate oatmeal bars is eating them....

 

 

About Sarah Kozowski

Hi! Welcome to my blog! I’m Sarah– I do part-time job at a kindergarten and in my free time i love to cook, take photos and go jogging. I'm recipe developer, photographer, writer, and taste tester behind this blog. I develop my recipes and photos through good old fashioned trial and error, some days I have more success than others, as you can judge by the photos here. Grab a cup of coffee (or beverage of your choice) and stay with me awhile, poke through recipes, pick your favourite and reach out to me if you have any questions!

40 thoughts on “No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

  1. Hi
    Just wondering if you should use old fashioned oats or quick cooking oats for this. Since it’s no bake, seems the old fashioned may be a bit too chewy, but that’s what I have so I am hoping they’ll work.
    It’s a hot day today, searching for a cool dessert. This looks yummy.

    Thank you,
    Monie

    1. As a fellow baker, anything that has dairy, especially butter freezes well. You should defrost completely due to the oats. Hope this helps.

  2. I do not like Oatmeal but i love these. My daughter makes these for a friend took a pan this past Sunday she has ate them all.

  3. Thank your for this recipe! These are so delicious I have to be careful. Out to make them too Faron advance of the intended event, as I WILL eat them all! Just scrumptious!

  4. I didn’t follow the instructions well. I’m allergic to PBJ so I totally skipped the line that said to heat the chocolate. So I had to heat out in the oven. They are delicious!. I drizzled some fatfree chocolate syrup on top…..Ummm

    1. I was thinking the same thing. They are delicious, but I think I’m going to try one stick of butter next time. That’s a crazy lot of butter! When I made them it was dripping with butter so maybe one stick would still work.

      1. It says to not boil to long or too short but the recipe just says melt the sugar and butter and cook fir 3-4 minutes it didn’t say over a boil .. ugh

        1. Yup! A little annoying for that note to be at the end instead of the start! Doesn’t say boil, says medium heat, dissolve sugar melt butter and cook for 3-4 minutes or till well mixed 🤦🏼‍♀️ hopefully they turn out

  5. can i add coconut to the oat mixture? perhaps chopped pecans and chocolate chips on the top layer? They seem absolutely delicious!!!

  6. These are great! I made a batch and a half and they fit perfect in a 9 x 13 pan. My family (3) ate these in two days. If I make them again I’ll have to hide them.
    Thank you!

    1. Found this info on another web site: “ There are two types of oats that I generally see in recipes when I bake, old-fashioned rolled oats and quick cooking oats. I prefer quick cooking oats because they mix in quickly, but you can substitute with rolled oats if you want a chewier texture. Quick cooking oats are smaller and absorb the liquid easier which makes the cookies more soft and chewy.” Hope this helps. I was looking for the same info.

  7. I made these and they are fantastic! Easy recipe and I really like the oatmeal bar for a change. Followed the recipe exact.
    Thank you! This one is a keeper.

  8. Wow, these bars truly are amazing, very hard to stop taking one more bite, something about the melting chocolate peanut butter filling against the rich oatmeal crumble is addicting. Reading other comments, I made sure to cook the oat/butter/sugar mixture for a full 3 1/2 minutes, and I might have added a tablespoon or two extra brown sugar and oat texture was great. Thanks for this great recipe.

  9. These are delicious, fast and easy to make. I made mine dairy free, using becel vegetarian butter and ‘Enjoy Life semi-sweet choco chunks’. Shared them at work, they were a hit and no one knew the were dairy free until I told them.

  10. These oatmeal bars were delicious. I would use a little less butter than is called for though. Will make again

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