Oats and I are having a moment.
I’ve probably eaten about a dozen cups of oats in the last few days alone. I recently discovered a deep-seeded love for them, and I’ve been indulging ever since. Oatmeal for breakfast, overnight oats, oatmeal smoothies (post coming soon!), and my latest obsession, oatmeal bars.
I had a craving for a good oatmeal bar the other day. One that was dense and chewy, slightly sweet, possibly with a bit of chocolate, and loaded with oats. The only problem was, all the recipes I could find contained a fair bit of butter and sugar. While they would undoubtedly be delicious, I was looking for something healthier.
Oats are SO good for you – they’re packed with fibre and minerals that do wonders for your health – so the idea of combining them with a ton of butter and sugar seemed to negate the whole point of eating them.
Since nothing I found seemed to do the trick, I set out to make my own.
A bit of peanut butter, for flavour.
Coconut oil (in lieu of butter), for some healthy fats.
A bit of raw honey for sweetness.
Some medjool dates to bind it all together.
Vanilla extract to deepen the flavour.
A heck of a lot of oats, for texture and chewiness.
And chocolate, of course. Just because.
Oh my. These bars turned out fantastic. They taste so delectable, you won’t even know they don’t contain ANY butter or refined sugar!
Grab one for breakfast; the peanut butter packs a bit of protein and the oats will help you stay full for longer. Or, snack on them throughout the day. The naturally sweetened bars will give you a boost and help you carry on until dinner time.
The only problem is, it’s hard to just eat one. They’re irresistibly chewy!
They’re also really simple, containing pantry staples that you most likely have on hand. There’s no need to bake them, just combine everything, press into a baking tray and chill for a few hours until they firm up.
You could skip the chocolate, if you wanted to be extra healthy. But really, who can say no to peanut butter and chocolate?
My one tip: when you melt the chocolate, melt it with a bit of the peanut butter. This gives the chocolate a chewy, fudge-like consistency, so you won’t break your teeth biting into it.
Store these bars in an airtight container in the fridge for best results. You can keep them on the counter, but the coconut oil and peanut butter will soften at room temperature. I find it’s best to store them in the fridge and just let them warm up for a minute or two before eating.
As a bonus, these bars are wonderful to freeze! Once you cut them into bars, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place them in a zip-lock bag in the freezer. Simply remove them from the freezer and let thaw for about 10 minutes before eating.
I wanted to call these Wonder Bars, because they really are wonderful!
| Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars | | Print |
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp raw honey, or maple syrup
- 10 medjool dates, pitted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Line a 9x9-inch baking pan with wax paper, leaving an inch or so hanging over the edges.
- In a food processor, add ¾ of the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, dates, and vanilla, pulsing until smooth. Add in the oats and pulse until well-combined. The mixture will be crumbly, but it should hold it's shape when pressed into a ball.
- Press ¾ of the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Pour the chocolate onto the crust layer and spread evenly with a rubber spatula or spoon.
- Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate, gently pressing it in.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Once firm, remove from the pan by lifting the wax paper by the edges. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Oh these would be a welcome snack after my evening runs! I am in love with oats too! I recently found out that I am not celiac, just intolerant so oats are back on the menu in a BIG way! I can’t wait to make these, but I can’t wait to eat them even more!
Yay, Team Oats! These would be a great post-workout, evening treat. Plus, they kind of taste like dessert, so that’s just a win all around. Thanks Amy!
Do you know then nutritional value per serving?
These look so good! And you can feel good about eating them since they are refined sugar free. Can’t wait to try these!
Thanks Stephanie! Let me know how you like them. Enjoy! 🙂
Just so I understand this – the oatmeal is raw?
These do look delicious
Hi Abby, yes the oats are mixed in raw. They lend a wonderful texture and chewiness to these bars!
Delicious, instead of honey I just used 15 dates, and put 1 banana between the first part of mixture and chocolate 🙂
Oh yum, what a fantastic idea Sara! I was just about to make these again, and you can bet I’m going to try adding a banana!
These are delish. I used no sugar dark chocolate (half cup) chips and fresh almond butter. I added about 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup to the chocolate mixture. Love them. Thanks for the recipe.
Great modifications! Yum!
Hello! This recipe looks amazing, I am excited to try it. Do you have the nutritional information for these bars?
Thanks Zaina! There’s a handy website (here! https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php) that can sum up the nutritional information, however, the results will vary largely based on the type of peanut butter, coconut oil, etc you use.
Awesome, thank you so much!
These look delish!! Do you have the breakdown of the macronutrients and calories?
Thanks Michelle! I don’t have the exact breakdown, as it will vary depending on the type of peanut butter etc. that you use. This handy website allows you to enter in the information to get an approximation.
Hi Chelsea! Can i subtitute the coconut oil with olive oil? Wanna try this recipe (looks yummy and easy) but lazy to go to the groceries ?
Hey Ade! If you don’t have coconut oil, just omit it completely. The benefit of the coconut oil is that it congeals when at room temp, helping the bars keep their solid form. Don’t replace with olive oil, as it will just make the bars really runny. 😀
Any suggestions for a replacement for the dates?
Perhaps prunes would work.. they have a similar texture to dates. Good luck!
Can I use prunes instead of dates?
Hi Rach, prunes should work, as they have a similar sticky texture.
Did anyone get the nutritional information to share? These are fabulous!!!!
These sound gorgeous. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Thanks, Simon!
Could you possibly substitute the honey or maple syrup with agave syrup? These look divine!
Hi Caron, you can certainly substitute agave syrup. If you don’t like things extra sweet, I would even try cutting down on the syrup a little bit, see if you still enjoy the recipe.
Hi, my coconut oil has turned into liquid. Can I still use it for this recipe? Thanks
Hi Dave, you certainly can! The only caveat is that using melted coconut oil is akin to using melted butter (have we mentioned we’re super jealous you’re somewhere it’s melting right now??). So- I would suggest popping your coconut oil in the fridge for 5-10 minutes until it is just barely congealed and then including it. Baking is a funny chemistry and it’s certainly imperfect, but that would be my best guess 🙂