Hello friends, so happy to be sharing this quick and easy recipe for homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars with you all. These just might be an answer to prayer if you’ve already burned through your quarantine stash of Reese’s. I’m pretty sure my elementary school lunch ladies made something like these, and I probably only bought my lunch hoping it’d be the day they were on the tray.
I’m still working on using up a jar of Costco natural peanut butter that my family has deemed inferior to a more familiar brand. Still have half a jar of peanut butter left, but I know these Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars will be gone in no time!
I can tell by the sweet comments you all are leaving me that you too are spending so much time in the kitchen. Between not eating out, and having everyone home all day, it feels like the breakfast mess just gets cleaned up as the eternally hungry children start asking about lunch… Amen? I hope that Lovely Little Kitchen is a helpful resource for you in these crazy times. Please always feel free to reach out with questions and I’ll do my best to answer.
I’m so inspired by the comments you all are leaving telling me how you made a recipe work substituting ingredients with what you already had on hand in order to avoid going out. This is so helpful for other readers who may have the same dilemma.
For this recipe, you can use natural peanut butter, regular peanut butter, crunchy peanut butter, or smooth. If you have natural peanut butter that separates in the jar, here’s the best way to mix it in. Be sure to store it in the fridge upside down to keep it well-mixed.
Typically these Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars would be made with graham cracker crumbs, but I just ran some Belvita biscuits (which we have plenty of) through the food processor and they worked fine. You can use milk chocolate, semi sweet, or dark chocolate chips. In addition, you could use salted or unsalted butter. They are very forgiving. I liked a light sprinkling of Maldon sea salt, but they are perfectly delicious without it.
We are definitely keeping these treats in the fridge, cut into little squares so we can snack on them all day long. They will be pretty soft at room temperature, especially if you use natural peanut butter. I like to add a bit of peanut butter to the melted chocolate chip top layer because it helps the chocolate set a little softer so it doesn’t crack when you cut into them.
Hope you will stay home as much as possible and make these creamy, comforting Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars. Happy baking!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
These delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars come together quickly with ingredients you likely have on hand! Keep them in the fridge for happy snacking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon peanut butter, divided (smooth, crunchy, natural or regular is ok)
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (salted or unsalted)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used 8 Belvita biscuits)
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Maldon sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 9 by 9 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer. Add the powdered sugar and crumbs, and mix again on low speed until the mixture is uniform.
- Press the peanut butter mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Tip: Another piece of parchment paper can be sprayed with nonstick spray to press down over the peanut butter mixture to avoid having it stick to your hands. The butter wrapper also works well!
- In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir and add additional 10 seconds of time, as needed until smooth, stirring in between.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle with salt if desired, and then chill until set, about 2-3 hours or 30 minutes in the freezer. Cut into bars and keep refrigerated.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 281
- Sugar: 22g
- Sodium: 153mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 7.3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8.8g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Fiber: 1.8g
- Protein: 4.6g
- Cholesterol: 15mg
Joan says
I only have ritz crackers, can I use that?? What do you think?
It’s not that I could just run to the market now.
It could turn out to be another great recipe, more salty than sweet.
Awaiting your response first.
Julie says
Hi Joan, I think that could be a good substitute and I understand you definitely want to use what you have on hand. Maybe you could make a half recipe with Ritz to see what you think. That way you aren’t using as much if they aren’t what you were hoping. I also think you could add a little more powdered sugar if needed to make up for the sweetness that would come from the graham crackers. Taste as you go and adjust as needed. The chocolate topping adds sweetness too. Thanks for your question! Let me know how it goes.
Mark Thibodeaux says
I just want to say I plan in making these. I had to comment about the scale adjustment. I love it
Julie says
Hope you enjoy! Glad the scale adjustment is handy!
Bonnie says
When you go up to 2x the recipe is that a 13×9 pan? What would the next size pan be for 3x batter?
Julie says
Hi! 2x would be good in a 9 by 13, and 4x in a half sheet pan, but I’m not sure about 3x.
Phyllis Knott says
Just made these with Graham crust on bottom. Hope they turn out. Lol