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 tbsp ground flax + 4 tbsp 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!
- Make Oat Flour: Add 1 cup of the oats to a food processor or blender and blend until flour-like consistency.
- 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.
- Mix in the dry ingredients: Add the oat flour, oats and baking powder and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Bake: Transfer the oatmeal cookie dough to a 7×7 inch greased or parchment lined baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 24-27 minutes.
- 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 7×7 inch square baking pan for these peanut butter cookie bars which is what helps make them so thick and chewy. A 9×5 inch loaf pan will produce similar results as it has the save surface area. You can use a 8×8 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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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 9 servings 1x
Description
Deliciously thick, chewy and full of peanut butter flavour! These vegan peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars are the perfect healthier treat.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup peanut butter (166g)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (96g)
- 1 tbsp miso paste, optional (15g // if omitting, use add 1/2 tsp salt)
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (60ml)
- 2.5 tbsp aquafaba (40g)*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (10g)
- 1 cup + 1/3 cup gluten free rolled or flaked oats (130g // divided)**
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (2.5g)
- 1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips (85g)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of a 7×7 inch baking pan or 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add 1 cup of oats to a blender or food processor and blend until flour-like consistency. Skip if using oat flour.
- Into a large bowl, add the peanut butter, coconut sugar and miso paste and mix until combined. Add in the non dairy milk, aquafaba and vanilla and stir until combined. Then add in the oat flour, rolled oats and baking soda and mix until combined. Fold in most of the chocolate chips, reserving a handful for adding on top.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly using a the back of a spatula. Top with remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 24-27 minutes (do not over-bake). 24 minutes for super soft and gooey bars and 27 minutes for crispier cookie bars. Cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes before removing. Then transfer to a wire rack and allow them to cool for another 15 minutes before slicing. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- *Aquafaba is the liquid from unsalted canned chickpeas. If you do not have aquafaba, sub with same amount of non-dairy milk or use 2 flax eggs. To make flax eggs, stir together 2 tbsp ground flax and 4 tbsp of water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- **If you already have oat flour on hand, use 3/4 heaping cup (100g) of oat flour and 1/4 cup (30g) rolled oats.
- Recipe slightly adapted from these Cashew Butter Blondies
- Helpful Equipment: 7×7 inch baking pan OR 9×5 inch loaf pan, mixing bowl, spatula
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, north american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 262
- Sugar: 16.9g
- Sodium: 209
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 3.4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.2g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 30.9g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 7g
- Cholesterol: 0
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
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These bars are amazing and way too addictive, it’s hard to eat just one!!! I love the healthy chocolate chip cookies but this recipe became the all time winner! Congratulations and tank you Lisa for creating and sharing all these amazing recipes!
Made these last night and they were divine. My husband liked them too! Will be making these again!
So happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed, thanks so much Rebecca!
These turned out perfect- lightly sweet and super fudgy texture! Love the addition of the miso too for a bit of saltiness, which goes perfectly with peanut butter.
Hi Jessie,
So glad you loved these! I love adding miso for that salted flavour instead of salt since it adds another depth of flavour too 🙂
I love peanut butter and chocolate together, and love that these are a healthier treat too!
Hi Leah! Hmm, I would give it a try. If it works for the non-vegan ones at that temp and time for your oven it should be pretty similar maybe 1-2 minutes less. Let me know how it goes!!
These bars look so yummy! I’m trying to get some more gluten free snacks into our routine, and these are perfect! Love the idea of the miso + peanut butter flavors together.
this is such a great treat! definitely one of my favorite
These are so delicious! I love how chewy they are and you can definitely never go wrong with bar that has a peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip combo!
Agreed! Peanut butter oatmeal + chocolate chip is forever the triple duo :’)
MMMMH -KAY, totally going to make them next week! They look divine! (and I can almost feel them and taste them!) could you sub an egg white for aquafaba? I may not have it on hand. Thank you!
Yes that’ll totally work, I hope you enjoy Eva!!