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.
No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
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.
Nutrition
OMG!! Those look so delicious!!! I’m going to have to make them!!!
Looks good! Will have to make some!
Your recipes look good!
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
Chocolate bars are delicious
Do you know if these would freeze well? So I could prepare ahead of time and freeze till needed? Thanks!
As a fellow baker, anything that has dairy, especially butter freezes well. You should defrost completely due to the oats. Hope this helps.
These are wonderful, tasty and so easy to make. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Great recipe. Quick and easy. Delicious too!!
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.
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!
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
Is it possible to use less butter ?
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.
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
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
Very yummy and so simple, Thanks!
Very easy to follow directions. I did use a 9 x 13 pan and feel like I should have used a smaller pan. Not very much “crust” and a very thin layer of chocolate. In the refrigerator now chilling so I have no idea how they taste yet.
I don’t like oats, al all ! Is there something I can substitute? Thanks
Wow, this is a delicious and easy recipe! Next time I’m going to add some coconut flakes
I have made them 2 time already! My family loves them!!!
love the receipies
can i add coconut to the oat mixture? perhaps chopped pecans and chocolate chips on the top layer? They seem absolutely delicious!!!
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!
Hi
What kind of oats? Old fashioned, quick?
They look so delicious.
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.
Thank you very much for answering the oatmeal question!!!!
Info helped me. Thanks so much.
I know what I’ll be making tonight!
This looks so good! It is so nice to have a no bake recipe so you don’t heat up the house!
Do they need to be stored in the fridge ?
I just love this recipe my question would be how many servings how many calories per serving as I use a 8 x 8 pan to make this
These are very sweet! Delicious! Chewy and very chocolatey! these freeze nicely but in my opinion have to eat them in small portions so they last longer,as they are expensive to make if you make them all the time.
These are so delicious! My son was diagnosed with celiac disease a few months ago and I have been searching for all foods gluten free for him. These are his go to treats now My whole family are in love with these. Thank you for a great recipe!!
Just made these so cant wait to try them!!
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.
Use a plant-based butter and this becomes vegan!! Yum!
oh my at the goodness; i’m about to make my third batch. so easy and so delicious. the oatmeal gives it such a chewy texture. we use dark chocolate and are simply in love with this recipe.
I substituted gluten free oatmeal & found them to still be delish.
Oh,myOMG,I will definitely making them look delicious fun bars,for Xmas as abreakfast treats.
Actually… I mentioned that I had added in a ripe banana to the mixture. I also used only one stick of butter. So they remain moist and are also a bit healthier.
Made this a couple times and it is really good. Easy to follow instructions!! Thanks for sharing!!
Made this a couple times and it is really good. Easy to follow instructions!! Thanks for sharing!!
I made using gluten free quick cooking oats. There is no way in the world you could make it stretch to a 9×13 pan!
However they are good and will be made again.
Everyone LOVED them, easy with ingredients in my cupboards.
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.
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.
These oatmeal bars were delicious. I would use a little less butter than is called for though. Will make again
Love it! Quick and easy and sooooo good!
These turned out great. I might try to make them with white chocolate next time.
These are delicious…
Will definitely make these again. My guests loved them, and went back for seconds. They’re fast and easy to make, an added bonus.
I have no word’s! This recipe was the best one i tried and i recommend everyone to try it.
Delicious!!!!!
This is one of our favorites in our house!
Just made these! Delish! I’m not much of a baker but your receipe makes me look like I am lol. Good instructions too!
I made these low sugar with brown sugar Splenda blend, and sugar free dark chocolate chips. Turned out great!
These are quite wonderful! Very similar to a special treat we like to get at a specialty coffee shop near us. My husband wants me to experiment with adding nuts and raisins to it as well.
I also needed to make a dairy free version for our crowd. It also worked well, with only switching in df Chocolate and Vegan Margarine, although it did seem greasy with the df margarine.
So delicious! Great combination, hit the spot.
Very tasty! My husband loved them. I made them with old fashioned oats as we like a chewier texture and natural snickers creamy peanut butter.
Living in the northeast and we’re having a nor’easter!! I was reluctant to heat the oven in case we lost power. I used quick oats and 1 1/2 sticks of butter. Easy delicious recipe.