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Simple and delicious no bake Chocolate Oat Bars are a great dessert to enjoy any time of year without heating up the house!
These easy no bake chocolate oat bars are simple, and full of oat and chocolate yummy-ness. For more oat goodness try Almond toffee bars, Oatmeal Pie, or Banana Oatmeal Cookies.
chocolate oatmeal bars
We recently tried some No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars that the entire family loved, and I wanted to share the recipe with y’all today.
These Oat bars were like a more chocolate-y and delicious granola bar, which means they were loved by all. Layers of oat and chocolate all topped off with a drizzle of even more chocolate made up this yummy dessert.
The best part? NO BAKING involved!! Not only are these perfect for summer time, but they’re great all year long and can give you the feel of a delicious baked chocolate and oat treat without actually having to bake them!
The thick layer of chocolate in the middle is definitely my favorite part (how could it not be?)!! We hope you can give these a try and enjoy a delicious treat without heating up the house. ๐
Making No Bake Bars
PREP. Grease a 9×9 inch pan and set aside.
OATS. In a medium pot, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Add oats and cook on low for a few minutes. Pour half of this mixture into the greased pan and press down with spatula. Set aside reserve.
CHOCOLATE. In another pot, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter on low. Stir until smooth and pour over bottom oat layer. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently.
DRIZZLE. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over top.
ENJOY! Cover, and refrigerate for a few hours. Bring bars to room temp before cutting and ENJOY!
Tips + Variations
We used quick cooking oats, but you can use rolled/old fashioned oats. Quick oats are the most processed of all the oat types and also take the shortest amount of time to cook. If you wanted to use old fashioned/rolled oats add a couple extra minutes of cook time in step 2 to soften them up.
Unlike some layer bars these donโt need extra time to set before piling on the next layer. This is because you want the oats to really be a part of the chocolate layer, which is only possible when they have the opportunity to meld together.
Line the pan with parchment paper. Once the bars have set, all you have to do is lift them out using the paper and cut them. Easy Peasy.
Dress ’em up: We topped these delicious bars with a chocolate drizzle. You can get creative with what you would use such as:
- Caramel Drizzle
- Butterscotch Chips
- Mini M&Mโs
Storing Info
STORE the bars at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-5 days. They will last even longer if stored in the fridge. Finally, they can easily be wrapped and stored in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Wrap the entire bar with plastic wrap or cut it into individual bars and wrap those. Fold top sandwich baggies also work for the individual sizes. FREEZE either wrapped again with foil or place them together in a freezer Ziploc. Thaw before eating.
These would be a great thing to pack into your kiddosโ lunches. Just make sure to send them with an ice-pack so it doesnโt melt all over everything else in the lunchbox
For more great no bake desserts:
- No Bake Cheesecake With Strawberry Topping
- No Bake Snickers Cheesecake
- No Bake Cookies
- No Bake Cheesecake Bars
No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- ยฝ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ยฝ cup creamy peanut butter
- chocolate chips, for drizzle
Instructions
- Grease a 9×9 inch pan and set aside.
- In a medium pot, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Add oats and cook on low for a few minutes.
- Pour half the mixture into the greased pan and press down with a spatula. Set aside reserve.
- In another pot, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter on low. Stir until smooth and pour over the oat layer.
- Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently.
- Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over top.
- Cover, and refrigerate for a few hours. Bring bars to room temp before cutting and ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried these for the first time and certainly will make them again! They were a hit!
Thanks so much for the recipe. Canโt wait to try it . Those bars look wonderful,
The bottoms come off of mine after I made these. Any idea as to why? I buttered the pan before putting in the first layer so it shouldn’t have stuck like that ๐
Sorry to hear the bars stuck. I’m not totally sure why if the pan was greased well. I love to use a metal spatula/turner to help get mine out. Maybe using something like that might help keep them together when cutting/removing from the pan.
What can I sub for peanut butter?
You could probably swap for a different type of nut butter… maybe almond or cashew butter? I haven’t tried, so if you do swap it out, you’ll have to let us know how they turn out.
Since tiffany asked – just wanted to let you know I swapped the peanut butter out with sunbutter and it turned out great (our family has nut allergies). You could use oat haus granola butter, wowbutter soy butter, or lotus biscoff cookie butter too ๐ all of those are guaranteed nut free
Oh thank you for the feedback! That is so good to know!! I’m glad it turned out well swapping with different butters.
So good and so easy!
Sounds so yummy!!! I canโt wait to try this desert :).
It is important to let the layers sit before building, because unlike some layer bars these donโt need to sit before piling on the next layer. This is because you want the oats to really be a part of the chocolate layer, which is only possible when they have the opportunity to meld together. This tip is a contradiction, unless I’m just missing it here.
We’ll get that updated! Thanks for pointing it out.
I have to try this recipe. Looks so yummy.
Mmmm it is a good one! Hope you enjoy!
Way too much butter. Very fatty. Needs something else as well. A great foundation though.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try.
These turn out great every time, and are so yummy!!!