Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These no-bake peanut butter cookie bars are my favorite treat! A fudgy cacao topping covers a decadent peanut butter chocolate chip layer.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

These peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars… where do I even start!? If you make one dessert/snack recipe from this blog, I highly recommend this one! 🙂

There’s a delectable peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough layer underneath a rich cacao-date-walnut layer. That all sounds fancy, but these peanut butter cookie bars are actually very easy to put together. You won’t be able to stop eating them, and that’s ok! They’re made with some wonderful wholesome ingredients and a few (delicious) superfoods like cacao and maca powder. They store well in the fridge and freezer, but good luck keeping them for any great length of time. I’ve been trying to hide them everywhere, but, in my house, they have a way of quickly disappearing!

Mixing peanut butter with dry ingredients Dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars Ingredients

So what the heck are cacao and maca? Cacao is the most pure form of chocolate, and it’s packed with antioxidants, fiber, and magnesium (read: chocolate is healthy!). Maca is powder from the Peruvian maca root, and has a malty, vanilla-y, butterscotch-y flavor that’s insanely delicious in this cookie dough layer. It’s known to naturally support the body’s ability to adapt to stress and improve energy, vitality, and stamina.

Peanut Butter cookie bars recipe ingredients

While I love using these ingredients, they’re often hard to find and can be expensive at regular stores – which is why I’m SO excited to partner with Thrive Market today. If you haven’t heard of Thrive Market, it’s an online marketplace whose mission is to make healthy living easy and affordable.

Fancy superfoods aside, I found that so many of my kitchen staples – rolled oats, almond flour, nut butters, dates, organic maple syrup, and more – are all a fraction of the cost of the brands I find in the grocery store.

The last thing I’m going to gush about is the personal obsession I have with their peanut butter. I know it seems like peanut butters would all be created (somewhat) equal, but theirs has the best texture and flavor I’ve ever tasted – just look at the photo near the top of this post to see how oozy it is.

And speaking of that oozy peanut butter, you really need smooth, creamy peanut butter here, not the dry, stiff stuff that you might find at the bottom of a jar of natural peanut butter. If you store your peanut butter in the fridge, allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour before making this recipe.

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Once your peanut butter is nice and soft, it’s time to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars! First, make the cookie dough layer by simply stirring the ingredients together and pressing them into the pan…

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars Recipe Ingredients in a food processor

Make the cacao layer by pulsing the above ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Then the best part – layer them together! So yummy… I’m having trouble not drooling all over my keyboard right now.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with chocolate topping

To make them extra pretty, sprinkle the peanut butter cookie bars with a little flaky sea salt.

From here, you can dig these peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars out of the pan if you need your snack NOW… otherwise let them firm up in the freezer for 20 or so minutes so that you can neatly cut them into squares. Store the finished bars in the fridge. For longer term storage (yeah right), they can be frozen. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!

Vegan cookie bars with flaky sea salt

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Variations

The maca and cacao powder add extra nutrients and delicious flavor to these peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars, but if you can’t find them, that’s ok! Try one of these easy variations instead:

  • Skip the maca. No maca? No problem. These soft and chewy peanut butter cookie bars are still great without it.
  • Use cocoa powder. If you don’t have cacao powder, don’t worry! Regular cocoa powder is also delicious here.
  • Make energy balls! If you’re not in the mood to blend up the top layer of these bars, just mix up the bottom layer and roll it into balls. Store them in the freezer for yummy, on-the-go snacks!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

More Favorite Dessert Recipes

If you love these peanut butter cookie bars, give Thrive Market a try! They’re offering 25% off your first order and a 30-day free trial. No discount code needed, just check out their site! Then, try one of these treats next:


4.9 from 52 reviews

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

 
These peanut butter cookie bars are one of my all-time favorite treats! They have a delicious peanut butter chocolate chip layer with a rich cacao-date layer on top.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, snack
Serves: 25
Ingredients
Cookie Layer
Cacao Layer
  • 1½ cups walnuts
  • 2 tablespoons cacao powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 10 soft medjool dates
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • Flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top, optional
Instructions
  1. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until combined. Add the almond flour and maca and stir to combine (the mixture will be thick). Fold in the chocolate chips and press into the pan. Place in the freezer so that it firms up a bit while making the next layer.
  3. In a small food processor, pulse the walnuts, cacao powder, and sea salt until the walnuts are well chopped. Add the dates and pulse to combine, adding 2 tablespoons water if the blade gets stuck. Process until smooth, then spread onto the cookie layer. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Freeze for 30 minutes (this will help them firm up, making them easier to cut). Remove and slice into bars. Store remaining bars in the fridge.
  4. Finished bars can also be frozen. Let each bar thaw for about 15 minutes at room temperature.
Notes
*Look for creamy peanut butter with a smooth consistency to make this recipe, not the dry, stiff stuff that you might find at the bottom of a jar of natural peanut butter. If you store your peanut butter in the fridge, allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour before making this recipe.

This post was created in partnership with Thrive Market. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep us cooking!

125 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Glen
    04.16.2020

    Loved this recipe! I substituted the almond meal and used oat flour instead. Turned out really good!! Thank you!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.18.2020

      I’m so glad you loved them!

  2. Amanda
    04.11.2020

    They taste wonderful!! I really enjoyed making this recipe 🙂 it was super quick and easy.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.14.2020

      Hi Amanda, I’m so glad you loved them!

  3. Kiersten
    03.29.2020

    Made with coconut flour! So good!!

  4. Sarah J Lazzaro
    03.28.2020

    This is a great recipe! I wanted to make something sweet, but not too terrible for my wife and me for our quarantine date night dessert. My only suggestion to those trying this out is to add a little more liquid to the bottom layer as ours came out very crumbly.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.29.2020

      Hi Sarah, I’m glad you enjoyed them – thanks for the feedback!

    • Sonja
      04.18.2020

      Ours came out so crumbly, they would not hold together at all – more like dry sand or streusel even after an extra 1/4 cup of coconut oil was added. Even baking them at 350 for 15 minutes did not make them stick together.

      • Jeanine Donofrio
        04.18.2020

        Hi Sonja, I wonder if your peanut butter was as smooth as mine was? (you can see it in the picture above). Different brands of peanut butter can vary in consistency. I’d recommend adding water, next time, until it sticks together, or less almond flour if your peanut butter is thicker than mine.

  5. helena
    03.26.2020

    have these changed since the original? I seem to recall making them differently and melting chocolate to put on top!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.27.2020

      nope, they’re the same!

  6. Monkey Baker
    11.03.2019

    Super yummy!! I used sunflower butter instead of peanut butter and they turned out great!

  7. Nikki
    06.08.2019

    Made these delicious bars last night for friends. Everyone loved them. Even her husband who doesn’t care for sweets went back for seconds.

  8. Kelly from chickadeeartandco.com
    04.02.2019

    AMAZING!!!!! I’m obsessed and will make this again and again.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.04.2019

      Hi Kelly, I’m so glad you loved them!!

  9. Jacqueline Jacques
    01.26.2019

    My son and I make this recipe all the time – we absolutely love it. We often sub dried cherries for the chocolate chips – which is really delicious. This last time, I was got to making the Cacao Layer and to my horror had only about 1/4 cup of walnuts. But I did have a whole bag of raw pine nuts. I have to say I will make it this way on purpose in the future!. The pine nuts added a depth of flavor that was surprisingly delicious.

  10. stacy
    01.24.2019

    I love your blog. These look great. Can I use avocado or some other oil for the coconut oil?

  11. Lex
    12.23.2018

    What can I do to replace the Maca powder? Unfortunately I’m allergic to this

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.23.2018

      Hi Lex – you can just leave it out, it has no affect on the texture, they’ll still be terrific without it!

  12. Jen
    12.13.2018

    What would be a good replacement for coconut oil?

  13. Oh my! Just made these and they are off the charts YUM!!!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.17.2018

      yay, so happy to hear! Thanks for coming back to let me know!

  14. This dish certainly got my attention just by looking at the photos, Jeanine! The recipe shows exactly the ingredients and what to do on them. Can’t wait to give it a try!

  15. Wendy from wandymcnobledownunder.blogspot.com
    10.26.2018

    Made these the other day, they turned out great! I don’t have a food processor so I just soaked the dates in hot water first and blended the ingredients for the topping with about 2tbsp extra water. I love how filling it is as a snack but easily satisfies a sweet afternoon craving!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.29.2018

      Hi Wendy, I’m glad you loved them! Thanks for the blender tip!

  16. Beth C from bethcolletti.com
    10.16.2018

    My husband and I made these last night after dinner. SO YUM!!!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.17.2018

      Hi Beth – so glad you both loved them!

  17. Tina K Hamilton
    10.08.2018

    I made this without the Maca, amended as suggested. I used an ice-cream scoop to portion out the cookie layer into parchment baking cups. After freezing placed a smaller scoop of the cacao layer on top, sprinkled with Maldon salt. This way I have portion control (ha-ha) and an easier way to store and share. Thanks Jeanine for a yummy recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.17.2018

      Hi Tina, I’m glad you loved them! Thanks for the tip about the ice-cream scoop method!

  18. Jen
    10.03.2018

    Can I use whole wheat flour instead of almond flour?

  19. Jenn from daytripper28.com
    09.27.2018

    I love that they are naturally sweetened. I might have to throw these in the kids lunches! Thanks for the idea.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.27.2018

      Let me know if you give them a go!

  20. Yay!! I just bought some Maca a couple weeks ago. These look fabulous! I just wish my food processor wasn’t broken. I better get it fixed so I can whip these up! 🙂

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.27.2018

      Maca has such a wonderful flavor! Good luck with your food processor 🙂

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.