These easy, no bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are perfectly crunchy from the roasted peanuts, a little bit salty and oh so chocolatey. Plus they are vegan, gluten free and easily made refined sugar free. They come together in 20 minutes and spend the rest of the time chillin in the fridge!

Are there two foods that belong together more than chocolate and peanut butter?! I mean, chocolate goes with pretty much everything, but salted chocolate and roasted peanut butter with whole roasted peanuts, now that’s next level deliciousness right there. Throw in some rolled oats and you’ve got yourself one pretty amazing dairy free chocolate bar.

Why you’ll love homemade chocolate peanut butter bars

• no bake
• chocolate and peanut butter
• vegan
• gluten free
• crunchy
• salty
• did I mention chocolate and peanut butter!! 🙂

How to make these easy vegan chocolate bars

 

First up weigh and measure all the ingredients! If you are using a block of chocolate, rather than buttons, cut or break it into smaller pieces.

Then, using a double boiler, melt the chocolate stirring occasionally.

How to set up a double boiler

To set up a double boiler, also known as a bain marie. Use a medium sized saucepan and a heatproof bowl that sits firmly on top of the saucepan, allowing minimal steam to escape. Fill the saucepan with approximately 5cm of water. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl or you may overheat and burn your chocolate. Bring the water to the boil, and then reduce to barely a simmer. If you struggle to get the heat low enough, just turn your burner off then turn it back on low, as needed, to heat up the water a little more. You really don’t want the water to be bubbling and spluttering with heaps of steam getting into the chocolate and an increased danger of burning yourself.

Once the chocolate has melted add in the vegan butter, peanut butter and maple syrup. Stir until the butter is melted and mixed through. Now, add in the salt, peanuts and rolled oats then mix until well combined.

Finally, add the mixture to a lined baking pan and press down flat, using a spatula, palette knife or back of a spoon. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until set. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage, store in an airtight container in  the freezer.

How to roast raw peanuts

If your peanuts are raw, then you’ll want to toast them for this recipe. To roast peanuts, spread them out on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 160°C/325°F for about ten minutes or until starting to colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Substitutions

• I’ve used a crunchy roasted peanut butter, but you don’t have to! Use smooth, unroasted or even almond spread/butter.
• Don’t want to use peanuts use almonds, walnuts, pecans or pistachios.
• Easily make this into a refined sugar free chocolate bar by using a vegan dark chocolate that is refined sugar free.
• Use coconut butter instead of the vegan butter and make this a wholefoods option, if you like the coconut flavour.

Notes

• To get the best tasting vegan chocolate peanut butter bar use a good quality vegan dark chocolate.
• Use oats that are certified gluten free if needed.
• It’s best to use a vegan baking butter that has an 80% fat content, a spreadable butter will still work, but your bars will melt quicker once out of the fridge.
• The type of peanut butter you use will affect the end result. Use a peanut butter that has no salt, emulsifiers or sweeteners. As I said earlier, I use a dark roasted crunchy peanut butter, I love the flavour of dark roasted peanut butter and it’s perfect in this recipe.

For more no bake recipes try

• Chocolate Caramel Almond Bars
• Apricot Energy Bites

CONTACT

If you have any comments or questions on how to make this, please leave a comment in the comments section below!

If you made these Chocolate Bars and share on Instagram, I would love to see them, please tag me @sweeterwithdates and #sweeterwithdates