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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!
All about the vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars..
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
How to make the peanut butter cookie dough bars base…
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?!
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
Yes! Just make sure your rolled oats are gluten-free.
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.
You can use vegan milk chocolate, but it won’t be as healthy! And it’ll taste sweeter.
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
More vegan recipes you’ll love…
Ingredients
Cookie dough base:
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/4 tsp pink salt (or any table salt.)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
- 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
Choc/Peanut butter swirls:
- 100 g vegan dark chocolate (80% or 70%)
- 3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
Instructions
- Mix oat flour and pink salt. Then add in the rest of the cookie dough mixture ingredients. Once combined, press mixture into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- To make the chocolate and peanut butter swirls. Melt 100g dark chocolate and 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter over a bain-marie. Then melt the other 2 tbsp of smooth peanut butter over another bain-marie. Pour chocolate over the cookie dough. In teaspoon amounts, dollop the warmed smooth peanut butter over, then with a toothpick create swirls.
- Once you're happy with your swirls refrigerate for another hour or until the chocolate sets.
- Slice + enjoy!
Nutrition
- Calories: 328
