Vegan No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Incredible vegan no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars made with simple ingredients like natural peanut butter, dates, chia seeds, flax and rolled oats. These healthy no bake peanut butter oatmeal bars make a wonderful snack or healthy dessert and are delicious straight from the fridge. Freezer friendly and gluten free!
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy natural drippy peanut butter* (just peanuts + salt)
- ½ cup packed pitted Medjool dates (about 6-7 large pitted Medjool dates)**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (or sub hemp seeds or leave out)
- 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- 1 (3 ounce) dark chocolate bar (around 70%), dairy free if desired
- Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
-
First soak the dates in warm water for 10 minutes before using in this recipe. This helps them become soft and the perfect consistency for blending with the peanut butter and oats. After 10 minutes, drain dates.
-
Add peanut butter, soaked dates, vanilla, chia seeds and flaxseed to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined. You want to process until the dates are somewhat smooth; there can be a few chunky pieces but not too many! Add in oats and pulse a few times until oats are somewhat combined into the dough. You may need to scrape the dough down the sides of the bowl.
-
Press peanut butter oat mixture into an 8 ½ x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
-
Make the chocolate layer by adding 3 ounces of dark chocolate to a small saucepan and melting over low heat until completely smooth. Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter layer and tilt the pan so that the chocolate covers the peanut butter layer entirely.
-
Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour before slicing into 10 squares. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Store covered in the fridge until ready to eat. Bars will keep for up to two weeks. Bars can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Recipe Notes
* Feel free to use natural creamy almond butter or sunflower seed butter in place of the peanut butter. If your nut butter is on the drier side, I recommend adding in a tablespoon of coconut oil.
If you don’t have a chocolate bar, you can feel free to use ½ cup chocolate chips of choice + 1 teaspoon coconut oil.
**Don't want to use dates? I've successfully made these with 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (honey will also work as a non vegan option) and they were delicious, but I liked the date version just a little bit more.
Freeze these bars: these bars can be frozen for up to 2 months! Simply store them in a freezer-friendly, airtight container. When you’re ready to enjoy, transfer the bars to the refrigerator to thaw it a bit before enjoying.