No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars are incredibly easy to make and super filling! Loaded with nuts, oats, and maple syrup, they make the perfect grab and go breakfast, after school snack or afternoon pick-me-up.
PREP TIME: 10 minutesminutes
COOK TIME: 1 minuteminute
Chilling time 2 hourshours
TOTAL TIME: 2 hourshours11 minutesminutes
Servings: 18bars
Ingredients
2 cups / 480gramsnatural peanut butter, or any other nut or seed butter
1 cup / 240mlsmaple syrup, or rice syrup
2teaspoonvanilla extract
1teaspoonsalt, omit if the peanut butter is salted
6 cups / 540 gramsrolled oats, or old fashioned oats. Not quick oats or steel cut oats.
INSTRUCTIONS
Line an 8 x 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and set aside. Alternatively you can half the recipe and use a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
Add the peanut butter, maple syrup and salt to a small pan and set on the stove top over the lowest heat for a minute or two until the peanut butter gets soft and they are easy to stir together. Once they are, remove from the heat, add the vanilla and stir to combine everything well.
Put the oats in a large mixing bowl and pour in the peanut butter mixture. Stir together really well with a wooden spoon until you can no longer see any dry oats.
Pack the mixture into the lined pan, pressing it down really well all over so it's really compacted. You can use your hands or the bottom of a glass or mug to press it down.
Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours. Lift carefully out of the pan onto a cutting board and using a large sharp knife, cut into bars. I recommend cutting into 18 bars.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
NOTES
Pan size - Use an 8 x 8-inch square pan or half the recipe and use a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Success Tips
Try not to use “dry” nut butter, a.k.a. the bottom of the jar. The nut butter you use should be smooth and creamy to help make the mixing process as easy as possible and to stop the bars from being too crumbly.
It's really important to pack the mixture into the pan well. Press it down with the bottom of a mug or glass or your hands. The tighter it’s packed, the more your bars will hold together.
Don’t attempt to remove or cut the bars from the pan until after 2 or more hours. Any sooner and they may fall apart.
Don't forget to line the pan with parchment paper or else the oatmeal bars will be hard to remove.
Since there is no added coconut oil or vegan butter in this recipe the bars are quite fragile. Some crumbling is to be expected.
Use a sharp knife to safely and easily cut the bars.
Make a double batch for Sunday meal prep and enjoy them all week long!