The recipe prices will vary based on fluctuating grocery costs. Please use what is posted as a guide.
These No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are thick, dense, and fudge-like. They’re always a family favorite, and you only need five ingredients to make them.
This recipe serves 24 and costs about $7.30 to make. That’s just 31¢ per serving!
Looking for more peanut butter and chocolate recipes? I recommend trying my Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with Dark Chocolate Chunks, my Frozen Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie, or my Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge recipe.
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
These bars taste like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup but better! They are an easy dessert to make when you want something sweet.
I love making these in the summer when I do not want to heat up the kitchen, but they are delicious any time of the year. Eat these tasty No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars one square at a time or take them to a party to share.
Remembering My Time In Seoul
These Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars bring back memories of living in Seoul, South Korea. I moved to Seoul back in 2006 to spend a year teaching English there. I lived in a tiny 300 square foot apartment where the bathroom was the size of a telephone booth, and the sink doubled as my shower. Who doesn’t love showering next to their toilet, right?
Then there was the kitchen, which consisted of a small fridge, sink, and two gas burners. The bathroom took some getting used to but grew on me after a while. But the kitchen…I loathed that kitchen and missed an oven dearly.
Cooking and baking are ways I like to exercise my artistic abilities, and in Seoul, I seriously struggled! The less than adequate kitchen combined with foreign and unidentified ingredients at the market made for a culinary challenge.
Thank goodness for Costco, though! I went there monthly and stocked up on as many comforts from home as I could carry on the subway.
What a spectacle I must have made: a tall (by Asian standards) blonde schlepping bulk American products like butter, peanut butter, blocks of cheese, cereal, chocolate chips, etc., onto a crowded Seoul subway…awesome.
With my limited American products and a barely functioning kitchen, I needed to come up with a dish to bring to potlucks at church. And so, an old recipe my roommates and I used to make in college was reborn. The best part is that these Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are no-bake! Woo hoo!
These homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars are always a hit and taste so good! And here is the other great secret about this Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars recipe: it only has five ingredients!
We all love chocolate and peanut butter but put it into layered bars, and it is next-level deliciousness.
INGREDIENTS AND COST
Per Serving Cost: $0.31
Recipe Cost: $7.30
- 2 cups peanut butter $2.82
- 12 Tablespoons butter, softened $1.20
- 2 cups powdered sugar $0.58
- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs $1.98
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips $0.72
NOTE: The recipe prices are calculated by using grocery store websites. The actual cost of the recipe will vary depending on what ingredients you already have.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- First, grease a 13×9-inch baking pan then beat 1¼ cups peanut butter and butter in large bowl until creamy.
- Next, slowly beat in powdered sugar.
- Add in graham cracker crumbs.
- Press the mixture into the pan.Then, smooth the top with a spatula.
- Melt the remaining peanut butter and chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat stirring until smooth.
- Spread the chocolate over the graham cracker and peanut butter mixture in the pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Slice and serve.
RECIPE VARIATIONS
- Instead of graham cracker crumbs, you can crush up digestive crackers. I’ve used those before in this recipe and they’re super yummy!
- Instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips you can use milk chocolate chips.
STORAGE TIPS
SERVE: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator before cutting these into bars to serve.
STORE: Store the no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
FREEZE: Place the bars in a freezer-safe container with layers separated by wax paper or parchment paper. Frozen this way they will keep for about 2 months.
DEFROST: Defrost at room temperature for about 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
COOK’S TOOLS
- 9×13-inch baking pan
- Stand mixer OR handheld mixer
- Wooden spoon
- Rubber scraper
- saucepan
Recipe FAQs
You can easily melt peanut butter in your microwave. Just heat it in 30-second increments. Then, stir it in between intervals and continue until smooth and melted.
No-Bake Peanut butter Bars are made with two of the best ingredients: peanut butter with chocolate on top! The bottom of these bars is made with a thick layer of a peanut butter mixture. The mixture consists of peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs. The top layer is made of a rich and smooth chocolate combo. The combination consists of semi-sweet chocolate chips and more peanut butter!
See my list below of more desserts that all use peanut butter. I also recommend making this delicious Peanut Butter Frosting and these Butterfinger Scotcheroos.
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Desserts
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle
- Brownie Bites with Peanut Butter Frosting
- Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups Cheesecake Dip
- Butterfinger Scotcheroos
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- Deep Dish Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pie
- Loaded No Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with Dark Chocolate Chunks
- Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies
- Reese’s Rice Krispie Treats
- Peanut Butter Swirl Brownie Recipe
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups peanut butter divided
- ¾ cups salted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
PREP PAN:
- Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
MAKE PEANUT BUTTER LAYER:
- Beat 1 ¼ cups peanut butter and butter until creamy and lightened in color with a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer.
- Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Mix in graham cracker crumbs.
- Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Smooth top with a rubber scraper.
MAKE CHOCOLATE LAYER:
- Melt the remaining ¾ cup peanut butter and chocolate chips in a medium, heavy-duty saucepan over the low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth.
- Spread the chocolate over the peanut butter mixture.
CHILL AND FINISH:
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until chocolate is firm.
- Cut into bars.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Ashly@Moon Walk says
yum yum!
cupcakegirl says
They look tasty the flat looks cute and made me smile reading about your stocking up trips to costco
Bella says
This was such a great post! I loved reading about your tiny apartment in Seoul! And I loved the pictures! 🙂 I live in Europe and trust me when I tell you that I too have a phone booth bathroom. There are days when I don’t know how I’m able to avoid hitting my head on the sink when I use the toilet!
Jillian says
@cupcakegirl: We were seriously a site to bee seen on the subway after our shopping trips. =)
Jillian says
Bella, I’ve been there and done that!
Allison @ Alli 'n Son says
I make a very similar recipe. They are to die for aren’t they?
I’d love to have you share this recipe with Sweet Tooth Friday! http://alli-n-son.com/2011/02/24/cream-cheese-brownies/
Allison @ Alli 'n Son says
I make a very similar recipe. They are to die for aren’t they?
I’d love to have you share this recipe with Sweet Tooth Friday! http://alli-n-son.com/2011/02/24/cream-cheese-brownies/
Allison @ Alli 'n Son says
I make a very similar recipe. They are to die for aren’t they?
I’d love to have you share this recipe with Sweet Tooth Friday! http://alli-n-son.com/2011/02/24/cream-cheese-brownies/
Allison @ Alli 'n Son says
I make a very similar recipe. They are to die for aren’t they?
I’d love to have you share this recipe with Sweet Tooth Friday! http://alli-n-son.com/2011/02/24/cream-cheese-brownies/
shopannies says
so many of my favorite items in one delicious recipe has to be great
Mrs Bishop says
sounds delish!
carla says
These look wonderful. Although I was interested in the photo and name on the blog party, I was a bit skeptical about whether the recipe would sound good.
It does!
Summertime here in Texas is awfully hot and I’m always on the lookout for a good dessert that I don’t have to fire up the over for.
(And your apartment looks cozy.)
I Like To Cook 222 says
Those peanut butter bars look yummy! And I love the pictures of your first apartment! What great stories you’ll have from there to tell your kids!
Alana in Canada says
Love the peanut butter bars–but love the pics and the story of Seoul even more.
Lauren @ YoungNester says
These look delicious!
Jillian says
Carla, I’m glad you like the recipe! I hope you try it!
-Jillian @ Food, Folks, and Fun
Jillian says
@ I like to Cook 222: Thanks for the comment. My hubby and I have fond memories of Seoul and that apartment.
Courtney says
I make this recently and LOVED IT!!!! I took pictures and featured it on my blog today, sending everyone to you for the AMAZING recipe 🙂
3/16 What’s Cooking Wednesday
Janet Price says
Looks yummy
Cheryl Markle-Bomar says
These look awesome!! Where could you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter?!!
Jodi Hunter says
These look and sound awesome.