No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Bars

Name: No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Bars
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 14
Ingredients: ▢ 14 pitted medjool dates; ▢ 3/4 cup + 1 TBSP natural peanut butter; ▢ 1/2 cup rolled oats certified gluten-free if needed; ▢ 1/4 cup flaxseed meal; ▢ 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut + more for sprinkling; ▢ 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt just a pinch if your peanut butter has salt in it; ▢ 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted; ▢ 3 tbsp. cacao powder; ▢ 1/2 tbsp. pure maple syrup more if you like it less bitter

by Clean Plate Mama

14 bars

15 min

We’ve always loved a good granola ball or energy ball in our house, but recently I’ve started making bars to switch things up. These no-bake peanut butter bars are great as a snack and are perfect for that after dinner sweet craving. When we have these around, they are a favorite “treat” to add to my girls’ lunches.

These are made with clean, simple, good-for-you ingredients and are naturally sweetened using dates. They take only 15 minutes to make and then require a little bit of fridge time allow them sit and for the chocolate topping to settle. They are so easy and much healthier than store-bought snacks. You just can't go wrong!

Want more healthy homemade snacks? Take a look at my Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Balls and Nut-free Energy Balls.

-Sara

No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Bars

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Recipe details

Yield 14 bars
Time spent: Prep time: 15 Minutes Cook time: 0 Minutes Total time: 15 min

Show Nutrition Info

Per serving

% Daily value

Ingredients

No-Bake Bar Ingredients

▢ 14 pitted medjool dates
▢ 3/4 cup + 1 TBSP natural peanut butter
▢ 1/2 cup rolled oats certified gluten-free if needed
▢ 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
▢ 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut + more for sprinkling
▢ 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt just a pinch if your peanut butter has salt in it

Chocolate Spread/Topping Ingredients

▢ 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
▢ 3 tbsp. cacao powder
▢ 1/2 tbsp. pure maple syrup more if you like it less bitter

Instructions

Add dates to a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until only small pieces remain. You may need to scrape down the sides of the food processor or blender a few times until done.
After dates are blended, add peanut butter, oats, flaxseeds, coconut, and salt to the blender or food-processor. Pulse until all ingredients are evenly mixed. You may need to break up the date chunks with a fork from time to time (and if some smaller chunks of dates remain, that's okay too).
Place parchment paper in the bottom of a large loaf pan or square baking dish. Scoop mixture into prepared pan and press down firmly with fingers or the back of a spoon until mixture is evenly spread and packed down.
Mix the melted coconut oil, cacao, and maple syrup in a small bowl until cacao is completely mixed in. This will be on the thicker side. Spread chocolate evenly over bars. Sprinkle with shredded coconut if desired.
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes so chocolate and bars can set. Take bars out of pan by pulling on the parchment paper. Evenly cut into bars or squares.
Store bars in fridge in an airtight container. These should stay good for about a week in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!

Tips

I make my own chocolate topping for these bars to keep them completely refined-sugar free, but you can easily use melted chocolate chips to spread on the bars if you want. If using chocolate chips, use 1/3-1/2 cup chips, then melt. Also, look for organic and/or fair-trade certified to keep them as clean as can be (Equal Exchange Chocolate Chips are our favorite).
Nutrition info is calculated off of 14 bars, but if you cut into smaller pieces, you’ll have less sugar per bar (even though it’s still natural sugar from the dates, I try to limit my sugar so I like the bars cut smaller than 14 total).

Comments

Nicole P on May 18, 2021

delicious!

1 Reply
Renea Tartaro on Jun 07, 2021

Could you make these without the coconut?

Like Reply
- Clean Plate Mama on Jun 07, 2021
  
  Absolutely! You can just leave out - no need to replace with something else.
  
  Like

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