Skip to content
Open menu Close menu

Feed your appetite for cooking with Penguin’s expert authors

penguin logo

Melissa Hemsley’s Chocolate Peanut Butter (No-bake) Bars

Perfect for packing into lunchboxes for a healthy snack on the go, these delicious no-bake peanut and chocolate butter bars are full of healthy ingredients.

From the book

Melissa Hemsley

Introduction

A no-bake family favourite treat. Pretty irresistible but if you don’t devour them over a few days, they will keep for a week in a sealed container. Store in the fridge in warmer months. If catering to any nut allergies, swap the ground almonds for more oats and switch the nut butter for pumpkin seed butter. If you have a preferred nut butter, try that – I love a cashew butter but keep it to the smooth variety for a silkier texture. Look out for 60% minimum cocoa solids for your chocolate.

Read more Read less

Ingredients

250g smooth peanut butter
100g ground almonds
100g porridge oats
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Little pinch of sea salt
For the chocolate layer:
180g dark chocolate, roughly broken
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Optional Topping:
2 handfuls of toasted peanuts

Method

Takes 20 minutes, plus setting time. Keeps for 1 week, at room temperature.

Line a small tin or dish (about 15 x 8cm or square equivalent) with greaseproof paper, making sure it comes up high enough on the sides so that you can lift the mixture out of the tin once it’s set.

Mix the peanut butter, ground almonds, oats, maple syrup, vanilla and salt together in a bowl. Transfer to the lined tin, pressing down with the back of a spoon or spatula to make it even and compact.

For the chocolate layer, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of very lightly simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water). Once melted, stir through the peanut butter and pour this evenly over the base. If topping with the whole peanuts, scatter these over the chocolate layer. Sprinkle over a little pinch of flaky sea salt.

Set in the fridge for 1 hour or until firm, then cut into 16 pieces to serve.

Reviews

3 out of 5 stars

4 Ratings

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how it went by leaving a comment below.

Thank you for your rating. Our team will get back to any queries as soon as possible.

Please note: Moderation is enabled and may delay your comment being posted. There is no need to resubmit your comment. By posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use.

5 Comments

    default user avatar Phil Cape

    Yes, the tin size is totally wrong. And the chocolate benefits from a tablespoon or two of coconut oil to make it easier to cut and to eat. But the bars are delicious, so worth trying.

    See more

    default user avatar Hayley

    Could you use almond butter instead of peanut butter?

    See more

    default user avatar The Happy Foodie Team

    Hi Hayley,

    Thank you for your comment! If you are happy to experiment, the author Melissa Hemsley suggests trying your favourite or preferred nut butter, so we are sure that almond butter would be a suitable substitute for peanut butter in this recipe.

    Happy Cooking!
    The Happy Foodie Team

    See more

    default user avatar Krysia

    Surely the tin size is wrong?
    Haven’t made them yet, was just checking what I need.

    See more

    default user avatar The Happy Foodie Team

    Hi Krysia,

    Thank you for your comment. The tin size stated in the recipe is correct.

    Happy Cooking!
    The Happy Foodie Team

    See more

newsletter

Subscribe to The Happy Foodie email newsletter

Get our latest recipes, features, book news and ebook deals straight to your inbox every week