No Bake Healthy Peanut Butter Bars (Vegan + Gluten Free)

These easy 5 ingredient no bake healthy peanut butter bars taste just like a Reese’s peanut butter cup, only are secretly vegan, gluten free, and ready in 30 minutes!

What’s in these 5 ingredient healthy peanut butter bars?

Yes, you read that right. These vegan peanut butter contain only 5 ingredients, and trust me, the process is even easier to make them (but don’t worry, we’ll get to that in a second).

I always struggle calling some recipes “healthy,” as so many people have different definitions of healthy. But for me personally, I try to look at the benefits of all the ingredients in the recipe. And let me tell you, these fruit-sweetened no bake peanut butter bars are packed with nutrients!

Peanut butter. I use creamy smooth peanut butter. You can use crunchy, but I think the texture is better with smooth. The lovely part about peanut butter is that it’s packed with magnesium, which helps with muscle movements and energy creation!

Oats. I make my own oat flour, but you can absolutely purchase store bought. For store bought, I love Arrowhead Mills or Bob’s Red Mill. When making your own, I find it’s best to use sprouted oats. I’m not sure why this is but, it is much easier to turn into a fine powder. Not only that but rolled oats may help to regulate blood sugar.

Dates. Yes, these no bake peanut butter bars only contain fruit as a sweetener! Many people scoff at dates (because while they’re a fruit, they contain sugar…doesn’t phase me ha!), but the truth is that they might help with brain health!

Vanilla extract. Vanilla is my favorite part of these peanut butter bars, as it makes these bars taste like a Reese’s peanut butter cup in bar form. And a surprising benefit that I recently learned is that vanilla may help toothaches!

Chocolate. Well, who doesn’t love chocolate?! I like to use a Stevia-sweetened chocolate for these PB bars. And can we talk about the benefits of chocolate aside from being a major mood booster?! Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is high in flavonoids.

How to easily make no bake peanut butter bars

Now that we’ve gone over what you need for these easy peanut butter bars, let’s make them!

As with all of my recipes, the full written instructions, as well as measurements, are found down below in the recipe card. However, let’s go over the basics here!

1. You can easily make these vegan peanut butter bars in just one bowl. We’ll make the peanut butter dough first, and then melt the chocolate. The peanut butter dough should be thick, like below.
2. Freeze the peanut butter dough in the pan while you’re melting the chocolate.
3. Melt the chocolate as is, and then stir in the peanut butter. This will help make the chocolate much easier to slice into after they’re frozen!
4. Rinse your knife under really hot water first, and carefully wipe it with a clean dish towel. Then slice into your peanut butter bars!

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Can I make these bars sugar free?

Yes, absolutely! To make these keto friendly peanut butter bars, you can swap in a keto-friendly liquid sweetener, such as Wholesome Sweets Allulose or organic Monk Fruit.

For the chocolate, you can use stevia-sweetened chocolate or 100% chocolate.

Can I use another flour aside from oat flour?

Unfortunately, I’ve only tested these with oat flour, so that’s what I recommend! I have not tested these healthy peanut butter bars with all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 flour.

If you do choose to experiment with these bars, please make sure that you toast the all purpose flour.

Tips for these peanut butter bars

• Make sure you use a drippy and creamy peanut butter. Of course, you can absolutely make your own peanut butter as well!
• Use a large knife when you slice the no bake bars. This will help ensure that the chocolate doesn’t break when slicing.
• Make these Paleo cookie bars. To make these peanut butter bars as a Paleo-friendly cookie bar, you can swap in almond butter in place of peanut butter.
• Use your favorite vegan chocolate. I love using Lily’s sweets chocolate chips (specifically their dark chocolate baking chips!). Other great vegan brands include Enjoy Life, Hu Kitchen, and or Pascha Organics.
• Add in nuts, chocolate chips, or sprinkles to the peanut butter dough. If you want a fun and crunchy twist on these healthy peanut butter bars, throw in your favorite add ins!

I hope you adore these no bake peanut butter bars as much as I do! If you make them, let me know by leaving a comment down below, as well as a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find this recipe!

As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations, so be sure to tag @the_bananadiaries on Instagram and Pinterest!

Happy no baking 😉

More healthy vegan peanut butter recipes:

No bake peanut butter energy bites

Flourless peanut butter cookies

Healthy peanut butter buckeyes

Blender peanut butter banana muffins

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