Posted in Recipes on 18.02.2023
Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
prep: 10 mins / cook: 35 mins / inactive: 60 mins / total: 1 hour 45 mins / quantity: 12 bars Print recipe?
Delicious vegan dark chocolate oatmeal bars with a layer of creamy peanut butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. The oatmeal cookie base is sweet, buttery and cooked to chewy perfection!
And when I say perfection I really do mean it. The hardest part about these chocolate oatmeal bars is having to wait for everything to cool and set before you can slice up and start shovelling!
My first attempt at making these bars didn’t get further than the oatmeal cookie bars bit. I used too large a tin, this meant the oat cookie base was too thin and just wasn’t right. No drama, the mix is ridiculously easy to make and the crumbled, a little bit too chewy cookie bars made a great porridge topping once they were crumbled up!
The second batch was made in quick succession, the stars aligned and the base cooked perfectly. The thicker oatmeal bars are buttery, sweet with hints of caramel thanks to the brown sugar, and wonderfully chewy.
Topped with sweetened peanut butter and a layer of thick dark chocolate and a sprinkle of sea salt. Oh my, I NEED to make these again.
Village life.
I believe I live in the best village in the country. There’s the most amazing community here. Not to the point of intrusive but I lived on a housing estate for over 15 years and couldn’t tell you the names of people more than one door away. I’ve made more friends here in 12 months than I’ve had for literally years. And thanks to the village Facebook page I’m able to offer the things I bake for this blog.
This has a couple of bonuses – it means I’m not tempted to eat an entire cake/12 cupcakes/batch of cookies all to myself. No matter how much I could actually DO that. And because I’m also selling them, I get to donate the proceeds to a couple of charities. Win win. Oh and I get lots of lovely visitors on a slow Sunday. The downside is they sell a bit too well. And all I got of these chocolate oatmeal bars was the thin trimmings from one edge 🙁
The savoury recipes I develop for the blog are all good as I build those into my meal plan. Yum. All for me.
But the feedback for these baked oat cookie bars has been better than I could have expected. I’ve been stopped on dog walks to discuss them and Deb over the road could eat the whole tray. Good job she goes to zumba 😉
How to make these easy oatmeal cookie bars:
Start with the base. This bit needs baking but is really as simple as combining all the ingredients together until well mixed then popping into a baking tin. When it comes out of the oven it will have puffed up a bit so you’ll want to flatten it down with a spatula or palette knife. This makes the bar slightly denser, really adding to that chewy texture.
Leave to cool for around half an hour before adding the peanut butter layer. Melt the peanut butter, vegan butter and syrup together either in the microwave or saucepan over a gentle heat (keep an eye on it so it doesn’t catch and burn on the bottom)
Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl set over a bowl of barely simmering water)
Once you’ve got both your melted components, spread the peanut butter mixture over the oat cookie base until it’s covered. Then pour over the chocolate and use a cocktail stick/skewer/pointy knife to drag the chocolate through the peanut butter layer.
Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle over some sea salt (this is optional but throughly recommended) and either leave to set at room temperature or pop in the fridge for half an hour(ish) before cutting into bars.
And don’t be like me, do yourself a favour and devour some before everyone else does!
Looking for even more vegan cookie bars recipes? Try these:
Oat and Raspberry Crumble Bars
(No bake) Peanut Butter Oat Bars
If you make this recipe or any of the recipes from The Cook & Him I’d LOVE to see! Just snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #thecookandhim and tagging @thecookandhim in the photo itself (as this guarantees I’ll see your picture!)
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
prep: 10 mins / cook: 35 mins / inactive: 60 mins / total: 1 hour 45 mins / quantity: 12 bars
Ingredients
Oatmeal Base:
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/3 cup (80ml) cold water
3 cups (330g) rolled oats
1 cup (180g) light brown sugar
1 cup (100g) ground almonds
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (100g) vegan butter – melted
1/4 cup (55ml) oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup (250g) peanut butter
1/4 cup (60g) vegan butter
1/4 cup (60ml) agave or maple syrup
100g bar of vegan dark chocolate
pinch or two of sea salt (optional)
Equipment:
7 x 11 inch (18 x 28 cm) baking tin
Instructions
- In a small bowl or mug mix together the ground flax and cold water and set aside
- Preheat your oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 F and line a 7 x 11 inch (18 x 28 cm) baking tin with baking parchment
- In a large bowl or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together all the ingredients for the oatmeal base - flax water, oats, sugar, almonds, bicarb, baking powder, melted butter, oil and vanilla
- Tip into your prepared tin, flatten the surface and bake for 30-35 minutes until just firm
- As soon as you take it out of the oven use a spatula or palette knife to re-flatten the surface then leave to cool for around half an hour
- Melt together the peanut butter, vegan butter and agave syrup either in the microwave or in a saucepan over a gentle heat taking care it doesn't catch and burn
- Melt the dark chocolate either also in the microwave or over a bain-marie (a heatproof dish set over a pan of barely simmering water)
- Spread the peanut butter mixture over the oatmeal cookie base, spreading it out to cover it completely
- Drizzle over the melted chocolate and use a cocktail stick/skewer/pointed knife to swirl the chocolate and peanut butter together
- Before the chocolate sets too much sprinkle over the sea salt if using
- Leave to set at room temperature or pop in the fridge for around half an hour before cutting into squares or bars
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Hello and welcome to The Cook & Him.
We are Sam (The Cook), Phil (Him) and our little dog Nooch. What started with a plan to shed a few pounds back in 2016, soon became obvious that eating healthy doesn’t have to be bland and boring.
So, combining Sam’s 15 years of experience working within Michelin starred restaurants and our love for deliciously healthy food, we’re creating recipes for you to make and enjoy. We’ve added our own unique spin on traditional and contemporary vegetarian and vegan recipes that keep you (and your pets!) healthy and full. And we make sure they just work.
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Absolutely delicious recipe. Easy to make and loved by all in the family. Thank you 😘
Hi Aimee and thank you so much! So glad it was family approved 🙂
– Sam x