The No-Bake Bars I’m Making for Halloween

These no-bake peanut butter bars are the perfect Halloween treat. They taste like Reese's peanut butter cups, and they're easy to make with 5 ingredients!

In our house, Halloween has suddenly become a Very Big Deal. Before Jack and I were parents, we barely did anything for the holiday. On a good year, I’d maybe put on the same Dorothy costume I’d worn for the seven Halloweens prior.

But now that we have a four-year-old, things are different. Our house is fully decorated, we ALL have new costumes for Friday, and today, Ollie and I are making these no-bake peanut butter bars as a fun pre-Halloween treat.

Here’s why we love these peanut butter bars:

  • They taste like Reese’s peanut butter cups. With a fudgy peanut butter base and crisp chocolate topping, these delicious bars are like the best peanut butter cups you’ve ever tasted. Ollie might feel differently, but I don’t need any Halloween candy when I have a stash of these bars in the fridge!
  • They’re entirely no-bake, which makes them perfect for assembling with a kiddo.
  • They only call for 5 ingredients—graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. They truly could not be easier!

If you’re looking for a festive Halloween dessert to make this year, I can’t recommend these bars enough. Readers agree:

Diane wrote, “I made these for my family, OMG! So delicious!”

And Tyler called them a “10/10.”

I think you’ll love them too!

Get the recipe:

Spreading melted chocolate over bars with offset spatula

Want to make these bars? Here are a few tips:

  • They need to chill overnight. In order to become firm and sliceable, these no-bake bars need to chill overnight in the fridge. Be sure to make them the day before you plan to serve them. The chocolate top might look like it’s ready within a few hours, but the peanut butter base needs a full overnight chill.
  • Any type of peanut butter is fair game. If you keep conventional peanut butter on hand, feel free to use it here. But if you prefer natural peanut butter, I’m happy to report that it also works perfectly. A few readers have even used crunchy peanut butter! Make these bars with whatever type of peanut butter you keep on hand.
  • You can make them vegan and gluten-free. Have dietary restrictions? Not to worry! You can easily adapt this recipe to work for you. Use gluten-free graham crackers to make the bars gluten-free. To make them vegan, use vegan graham crackers, vegan butter, and dairy-free chocolate chips.

Get the recipe:

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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.