Healthier Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Vegan + Gluten Free)

Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars made with simple ingredients like natural peanut butter, coconut sugar and rolled oats. These vegan gluten free peanut butter cookie bars are thick, chewy and studded with chocolate for a delicious healthy treat! Gluten Free & Freezer Friendly.

They're here, just in time for the weekend. The most addictive & delicious peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars that I've been teasing over on Instagram.

They're mega thick, chewy (almost wanted to call these vegan peanut butter blondies) and studded with the perfect amount of chocolate chips. When I mean perfect, I mean you can actually taste the peanut butter oatmeal cookie part because one of my pet peeves is when there is so much chocolate added to cookies that it just ends up tasting like a chocolate bar and thats not what I was dreaming for. But these you guys, these are on point and highly HIGHLY addictive!! Beyond excited so lets dive right in, shall we?

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Healthier Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Ingredients

What makes these vegan cookie bars so special is that they're made with simple healthier ingredients keeping them gluten free, oil free, refined sugar free! Here's what you'll need:

• Peanut Butter: All natural drippy kind without any added ingredients. Although these are peanut butter cookie bars, you could use sun flower butter if you have a nut allergy.
• Coconut Sugar: A healthier sweetener that also gives a lovely toffee note. But, you can also use maple granulated sugar or brown sugar.
• Miso Paste: Makes these special salted peanut butter oatmeal bars! Highly delicious but you can omit it and add some salt instead.
• Vanilla: For flavour, of course.
• Dairy Free Milk
• Aquafaba: Holds these peanut butter cookie bars together and what makes them so chewy. You can also substitute with more non dairy milk or a modified flax egg by mixing together 2 tablespoon ground flax + 4 tablespoon of water.
• Oatmeal: Yes, these are flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies too!
• Baking Powder: Helps bake them up thick.
• Dairy Free Chocolate: I like to use a combo of sugar free chocolate chips and chunks.

The Directions

Essentially, these are just vegan peanut butter oatmeal cookies made into bars. They're super easy to make & don't require any chilling or rolling the dough!

1. Make Oat Flour: Add 1 cup of the oats to a food processor or blender and blend until flour-like consistency.
2. Mix the wet ingredients: Add the peanut butter, coconut sugar and miso paste (if using) to a bowl and mix until combined. Doing this first ensures there are no large clumps of sugar, miso or peanut butter. Then add in the non dairy milk, aquafaba and vanilla and stir until combined.
3. Mix in the dry ingredients: Add the oat flour, oats and baking powder and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake: Transfer the oatmeal cookie dough to a 7x7 inch greased or parchment lined baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 24-27 minutes.
5. Cool: The hardest step but super important! They'll fall apart if you try to remove them from the pan right out of the oven. Cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes and then let them fully cool for another 15 minutes before slicing them.

Tips for making these peanut butter cookie bars

• Pan size: I used a 7x7 inch square baking pan for these peanut butter cookie bars which is what helps make them so thick and chewy. A 9x5 inch loaf pan will produce similar results as it has the save surface area. You can use a 8x8 inch tin but the cookie bars will be on the thinner side.
• Customize it: You can change up these oatmeal bars by adding in walnuts, raisins, dried fruit and seeds instead of or in addition to the chocolate.
• To store: These oatmeal chocolate chip peanut butter bars will keep at room temperature in a container for 4-5 days.
• To freeze: Once cooled, slice them and then place them into a freezer safe container or reusable bag. When ready, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature or microwave for about 20 seconds.

Crispy & crackly along the edges and tops, thick and chewy in the middle like blondies, puddles of chocolate and full of peanut butter flavour.

Last tip: make a double batch and keep in the freezer so you can enjoy them all week, any day & any time. Enjoy ♡.

More healthier treats to try:

• Salted Caramel Cookie Dough Bars
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies
• Cashew Butter Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies
• Date Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies

If you recreate this Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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