Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars Recipe

These vegan peanut butter cookie dough bars are rich, decadent & healthy-ish. The base is made with 5 ingredients and then topped with swirled peanut butter and dark chocolate. Enjoy this no-bake dessert as a dessert, a snack or even for breakfast (I’m not judging!)

These vegan cookie dough bars are the no-bake bars of your dreams!

Ease – this recipe is beginner-friendly, and even a fun dessert to make with kids!

Time – it takes 5 minutes to make the base and another 5 for the swirled chocolate peanut butter. These bars do need to be refrigerated for at least one hour. But I promise you, it’s worth the wait.

Texture – a soft, cookie dough base with peanut chunks, and with swirled chocolate peanut butter that melts in your mouth. YUM!

The 8 ingredients you’ll need to make this no-bake dessert…

oat flour
crunchy peanut butter
smooth peanut butter
maple syrup
vanilla extract
coconut oil
salt
dark chocolate

First things first, if you don’t have any oat flour, don’t worry! I make my own oat flour with rolled outs, and it’s SO easy to make! Just add rolled oats into a food processor and blend until it resembles flour. How easy is that?!

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Measure the oat flour, and add into a bowl with crunchy peanut butter, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract and salt. Mix until it resembles cookie dough. Transfer cookie dough into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper. Press the cookie dough into the loaf tin with your hands, a spoon, or the back of a measuring cup. Make sure you press the cookie dough into an even layer! Place in the fridge while we start on the swirled chocolate peanut butter.

How to make the chocolate peanut butter swirl…

Into a bowl, add the smooth peanut butter and warm over a bain maire. Set aside.

Into another bowl, add the smooth peanut butter and 70% chocolate chunks. Melt until smooth. Just before the chocolate is melted, remove the loaf tin from the fridge.

Pour the chocolate over the vegan peanut butter cookie dough base. In teaspoon amounts, add the warmed up smooth peanut butter all over the chocolate. With a toothpick, create ‘8’ all over until it creates a beautiful swirl. Transfer to the fridge for 1 hour or until the chocolate peanut butter swirl has hardened up. I like to leave it overnight!

Tips on making this recipe perfectly…

The base – make sure you press the cookie dough into the pan with a little force, because the tighter you pack the cookie dough, the more sturdy the bars will be!

Peanut butter – yes, you need both smooth and crunchy but it’s only because the crunchy one will add a lovely crunch to the base and the swirled chocolate peanut butter looks better with the smooth!

The swirl – don’t get carried away when swirling as you may just end up mixing the chocolate and peanut butter completely, and it’ll taste the same, but it won’t look as pretty!

Patience – ok, I know this isn’t something you wanted to hear, but you’ve gotta give these bars enough time to chill before devouring.

FAQ’s

Is this recipe gluten-free?

Yes! Just make sure your rolled oats are gluten-free.

I only have smooth peanut butter. Can I still make this recipe?

Whether you have only smooth peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter, you can still make this recipe. If you only have smooth peanut butter, just add in a 1/2 tablespoon of roughly chopped peanuts to the cookie dough base. The chocolate swirled peanut butter layer will look different if you use crunchy peanut butter.

Do I have to use vegan dark chocolate?

You can use vegan milk chocolate, but it won’t be as healthy! And it’ll taste sweeter.

How do I store these bars?

Refrigerate in an air-tight container for up to 1 week. You can either eat them straight from the fridge or allow them to come back to room temp.

The how-to tutorial

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