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Ready for the best no bake chocolate oat bars you will ever make? These amazing oatmeal bars are gluten-free and refined sugar-free making them nearly guilt-free. Everything in moderation. Though, you may feel the desire to devour the entire batch of these chocolate oat bars it’s probably not a good idea.

Best No Bake Oatmeal Bar Recipe

What You Will Need (Full Printable Recipe Available Below)

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp 85% cacao chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp 100%  cacao chocolate chips
• 1/8 cup raw cacao nibs
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts. pecans, etc) 

Wet:

• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• Nut butter
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup natural almond butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The best part about these chocolate oat bars when compared to Ina Garten no bake chocolate oat bars recipe is that these use clean ingredients that fall under the gluten free, dairy free, clean eating way of life. I’m not knocking her no bake chocolate oat bars, I’m just offering a healthier option.

How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Bars 

Before I get into how to make these chocolate oatmeal peanut butter bars I want to mention that they are a hit with every single person who has tasted them. My husband asks for a batch of these no bake chocolate oatmeal bars to bring to work, my kids love them and even friends drool over them. Also, keep in mind that I am a DIY blogger first, so my recipe posts may be a bit longer than you are used to. That being said, let’s get started

No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars Ingredients: 

• First, and foremost we need to gather our simple ingredients. Don’t get intimidated by the amount of wholesome ingredients, this is an easy recipe.

Oats

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These, like most clean eating desserts, are full of raw and organic ingredients. These old fashioned oats are rolled oats and not quick cooking oats. I also prefer gluten-free and order these gluten-free organic rolled oats online HERE.

Nut Butter

As far as peanut butter and almond butter I absolutely love Trader Joe’s brand. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, you can order them online HERE. But even if you prefer not to order online just make sure to read the label and ingredients. Make sure that the only ingredient in your creamy peanut butter is peanuts, and in your almond butter is almonds. Many brands tend to sneak in extra oils or sugars that you don’t need.

Honey

To keep these healthy oat bars refined sugar-free, we are using raw honey as a sweetener. Honey is a much better alternative to traditional table sugar. I often get this brand online HERE.

Coconut

Another staple in my kitchen is organic, unrefined coconut oil. Get some online HERE.

I never realized I needed so much shredded unsweetened coconut until all of a sudden I do. If you get yours at the grocery store make sure to look for unsweetened. They often sneak in that unnecessary sugar when you aren’t looking. If you prefer to order online, like me, you can get this one HERE.

Nuts

When it comes to the nuts, I always keep random nuts in my pantry to snack on here and there. Avoid the salted kind and look for natural/organic/raw. Again, check the ingredients and make sure there is only one ingredient – the nut. And stay away from any with added sugar, salt, and oil. I often use any nut combination for these homemade oatmeal bars from walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pecans. If you prefer your nuts already mixed you can get raw, unsalted nuts online HERE. 

Chocolate

When it comes to making chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars I guess you can say that the chocolate is pretty important. But it can also be loaded with sugar or sweetened with processed who knows what. To keep things clean I have found and love this brand of dark chocolate chips from Pascha. The cacao is the most delicious chocolate, without any of the additives or ingredients that might trigger allergic reactions for those with food allergies or intolerances. I can never find it locally, so I always order online HERE. Sometimes you can find it cheaper HERE. I also always tend to mix both the 100% cacao with 85% cacao chips.

In addition to the cacao chips, we are also adding a few cacao nibs. The main difference is that the cacao chocolate chips will melt while the cacao nibs leave a bit of a crunch. But they are bitter, so don’t try to snack on the nibs alone. They are best when included in a recipe. I get mine online HERE.

Vanilla

Last, but not least is the vanilla extract. I confess that I have made these chocolate peanut/almond butter no bake oatmeal bars both with and without the vanilla extract and I can’t taste the difference. But, for the sake of the recipe, we will include it.

Pan Prep 

Before we get started mixing our ingredients grab a standard brownie pan or baking pan. I use a square 8×8 inch pan for these chocolate oat bars. To minimize clean up I like to line the pan with parchment paper first. Since this is a no bake recipe you can also use wax paper if you have it.

How to Make Easy Oatmeal Bars

Let’s start with the dry ingredients. First, add the oats to a large bowl.

Next, add the unsweetened shredded coconut.

• Mixed Nuts

As far as the nuts go, I like to measure out my 1/2 cup of nuts first. Keep in mind that they are rather large and whole at this point. We need to smash them a little.

Next, place the nuts in a small plastic bag.

Using a small hammer, rolling pin, or wine bottle (whatever is handy) – smash those nuts into smaller pieces. You can also pulse a few times a food processor to chop the nuts.

These are certainly more manageable now.

Go ahead and add the mixed nuts to the rest of the dry ingredients.

Next, measure out your cacao nibs and cacao chocolate chips.

Add the last of your dry ingredients to the bowl and set aside.

Wet Ingredients

Moving on to the wet ingredients, start by adding your peanut and almond butter to a medium saucepan.

Next, add the coconut oil. If your coconut oil is hard you will want to soften it just a bit to make it easier.

Add the honey to your pan.

Heat the Wet Ingredients 

You now will need to heat the wet ingredients on medium-low heat.

Make sure to stir the wet ingredients as they heat and melt together. Make sure to get out any lumps. Do not let it boil or burn.

This step will only take a few moments, and you will have a nicely mixed smooth consistency. Once fully melted, remove from heat.

No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars – Mixing Wet & Dry

Now while the sauce pan and wet ingredients are still warm, we need to carefully add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Stir all of the ingredients together. The warmth from the pan and wet ingredients will melt the chocolate chips.

At this point, add the vanilla extract and continue to mix the chocolate peanut butter mixture thoroughly.

Once the mixture is fully combined transfer the chocolate mixture into your parchment paper lined pan. Use the back of a spoon to press a thick layer of chocolate oats into the prepared baking dish. Pop your healthy no-bake chocolate oat bars in the fridge to harden. As difficult as it is to wait you should leave them in for at least 4-6 hours. I often leave them overnight, to be honest.

Remove Your No-Bake Bars from the Refrigerator

 If you are patient enough, when your chocolate oat bars come out they will have hardened nicely and will be easier to cut.

Gently, pull the parchment paper liner from the square pan. If you are lucky the pan is still as clean as it was when we started. Use a long knife to cut your healthy homemade oatmeal bars. Depending on how big or small you decide to cut your chocolate oat bars will affect the calorie count. (with clean eating, I tend to focus more on ingredients than calories). I prefer to cut mine small and snack on them throughout the week. You can easily cut yours larger or however you prefer.

The Best No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

Try not to eat all of these easy chocolate oatmeal bars at once. These sweet treats will satisfy your sweet tooth and are the perfect treat for the whole family. Store these no bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Considering they taste like a candy bar they most likely won’t last that long. 

Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Bar Recipe (Printable Version)

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